Welcome New Readers!
Some thoughts on Handful of Earth’s growth and development
Building rapport in person and online are two different things—if nothing else, this fact was hammered home during the pandemic. I’m admittedly not very good at building rapport online. I’m probably even worse after deleting all of my social media at the beginning of this year (I might write about this here in the future, including why I don’t use Substack Notes). As such, I try and stay focused on my writing and let the content speak for itself.
With that caveat, there is something to be said for stepping back and reflecting a bit on the writing process and the social aspects of hosting a Substack. Indeed, Notes notwithstanding, Substack feels different from other online platforms and I believe that there is a real possibility of forging meaningful connections on this site. Substack has increasingly become my go-to website as a reader for writing on a wide range of topics. Whether on technology at
or , philosophy at or , politics at or , or culture at or , Substack offers a wonderful combination of breadth and depth (and this is just a small sample of newsletters I could mention).Returning to this Substack, I want to take a moment to welcome new readers here at
. After writing intermittently on Substack since early 2022, I decided to get more serious in May of this year. Since then, I’ve revamped this newsletter and have been posting Weekly Groundings every Friday, Monthly Musings at the end of each month, as well as original essays and articles once I feel that they are polished enough to be worth your time.While I don’t like to count too much, it was gratifying to recently see “hundreds of subscribers” appear on my Substack profile. A warm welcome to everyone who’s new here. For those of you who have been around for a while, I want to thank you for sticking with Handful of Earth long enough to see my work begin to reach a larger audience.
It’s hard to know what will happen when you put things out into the ether, especially when they don’t fit into a box that is sure to please a certain crowd. While my recent essays, “Telos or Transhumanism,” “The Truth of the Anecdote,” and “Ted Kaczynski and the Paradox of the Postwar Predicament,” have all touched on so-called “culture war” issues, I strive to intervene in these debates in unconventional ways, ways that don’t conform to one familiar, pre-packaged narrative. After all, as I have argued recently on Handful of Earth, narrative should not replace the quest for truth.
It is also not enough to be unconventional for unconventionality’s sake. The political, cultural, and technological moment we are currently living in demands unconventional approaches grounded in principled thinking. If we’ve learned anything from history, today’s unorthodoxies can become tomorrow’s orthodoxies, today’s counterculture can be incorporated into tomorrow’s dominant culture, and today’s dissidents can become accomplices in tomorrow’s “new normal.” That’s why I strive to avoid the construction of new, comforting—or, for that matter, “edgy”—narratives. Instead, Handful of Earth is committed to commentary and analysis rooted in the sincere search for truth.
If you value this framework and are enjoying the content here on Handful of Earth, I have two requests of you:
Share Handful of Earth with a friend who may be interested. While it’s certainly heartening to get more subscribers, the depth of reading is more important to me. If you know someone who may appreciate engaging with my writing and commentary, that one person means a lot.
Write to me by responding directly to this email. I’d love to hear what you think about Handful of Earth, including any testimonials, questions, or feedback you’d like to share privately.
Thank you all again for your support, and I look forward to writing more for you moving forward.