This section is really a broader intellectual memoir. I could have labeled it something like “Writing Online: Three Decades of Building a Personal Website” or “A Life in Essays: Reflections on Writing, Technology, and the Internet.” That might better convey that these essays are about far more than websites – they’re about documenting a life of reading, thinking, and writing. They are not really about websites or technology. The are about how to remain intellectually independent in the digital age.
This section is important to me because it connects many of the ideas that recur throughout my entire website: protecting my attention, reading deeply, writing honestly, resisting online conformity, valuing real relationships over digital engagement, and cultivating a lifelong intellectual life.
ESSENTIAL READING
- The Passionate Amateur’s Faith: Inspiration, Error, and the Work of Becoming – I embrace the freedom of being an amateur writer who pursues ideas for the love of learning rather than professional recognition. Growth comes through curiosity, humility, and the willingness to keep improving despite inevitable mistakes.
- Grateful for This Intellectual Space: Comfortable in My Own Skin – I reflect on the unexpected satisfaction of creating a personal website that has become my intellectual home for nearly three decades. Writing without chasing trends has allowed me to discover my own voice and remain true to my convictions.
- Breaking Up With Social Media – I explain why I chose to step away from social media and reclaim more of my time and attention. The decision allowed me to spend less energy reacting to the world and more energy creating something of my own.
- To Write in Public – I reflect on what it means to publish my thoughts openly for anyone willing to read them. Writing in public has challenged me to think more carefully, write more honestly, and continue growing as both a writer and a person.
- Creativity and Community Online: Unfulfilled Promises – I look back on the early optimism surrounding the internet and compare it with today’s online culture. While technology has connected billions of people, I still believe it has fallen short of its highest ideals.
Reflections on My Personal Webpage
- We learn not for school but for life.
- I explain why the pursuit of knowledge should never end with graduation or a diploma. Learning has enriched every stage of my life and remains one of my greatest lifelong pleasures.
- Reading in the Age of the Algorithm: “Where Do You Live, Richard?”
- I reflect on how the internet has transformed the way we discover information, books, and ideas. In an age of algorithms and endless distraction, I continue to believe that thoughtful reading remains one of life’s greatest rewards.
- “But nobody much reads my webpage. I can say what I think.”
- I consider the surprising freedom that comes from writing without a large audience or public expectations. My website has become a place where I can think aloud, experiment with ideas, and write honestly without fear of chasing popularity.
- To Be One Way in Public, Another At Home
- I reflect on the importance of authenticity in both my writing and my personal life. Character is measured not by the image we project to others, but by the person we are when no one is watching.
Reflections and Milestones
- Happy 25th Anniversary to My Personal Webpage!
- I celebrate twenty-five years of maintaining a website that has chronicled my thoughts, family, travels, and intellectual life. What began as a small personal project gradually became an enduring record of who I have been and who I continue to become.
- October 9, 1996 to October 9, 2016: Twenty Years for rjgeib.com
- I look back on two decades of writing online and the remarkable changes both my website and the internet have undergone. The essay celebrates perseverance, curiosity, and the unexpected value of staying with a meaningful project over many years.
- 19th Anniversary in 2015: The State of the Internet
- I reflect on how dramatically the internet evolved during my first nineteen years online. As technology has changed, I have tried to preserve a small corner devoted to thoughtful writing rather than fleeting trends.
- 100,000 Views!
- I celebrate reaching an unexpected milestone while remembering that the true reward has always been the writing itself. Numbers are gratifying in a very minor way, but the lasting value of this website lies in the ideas, memories, and experiences it preserves.
- The “Natural Candle” of Life-Giving Intellect
- I celebrate the remarkable capacity of the human mind to illuminate both ourselves and the world around us. Curiosity and lifelong learning remain among the greatest gifts we possess.
- Choosing to Be Positive and to Enjoy the Day: Reflections on A Sunday Morning and “Doomerism”
- I explain why I have chosen optimism over the growing culture of pessimism and despair. Every day offers reasons for gratitude if I intentionally look for them.
- The Attention Span of a Gnat?
- I worry that modern technology is quietly eroding our ability to think deeply and concentrate for extended periods. Protecting my attention has become one of the most important intellectual disciplines of my life.
- “For the World’s More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand.”
- I reflect on the quiet suffering that surrounds us, much of it hidden from public view. Remembering that others often carry unseen burdens encourages me to respond with greater compassion and humility.
- A Healthy Intellectual Life: Choices
- I explain how the books I read, the conversations I seek, and the habits I cultivate have shaped my intellectual life over many decades. The life of the mind is built one thoughtful choice at a time, and those choices ultimately become the person we are.
- Recent Updates: Late 2014
- I look back at a productive period in my website’s history and the essays, ideas, and projects that occupied my attention at the time. This archive reminds me how a personal website gradually becomes a record not only of what I wrote, but also of the person I was becoming.
- “Tell them I am old-fashioned.”
- I embrace the values that many people now consider old-fashioned because I believe they have stood the test of time. Courtesy, responsibility, honesty, and integrity never truly go out of style.
Social Media and Online Culture
- Let Twitter Sink Into the Sea: #riptwitter
- I reflect on what Twitter became and why I ultimately believe the world would be better without it. Public conversation flourishes when it encourages thoughtful dialogue rather than constant outrage.
- Memes as a Cultural Metaphor For Our Troubled Times
- I explore what the popularity of memes reveals about our culture, our politics, and our shrinking attention spans. The way we communicate often says as much about us as the ideas we are trying to express.
- “Que Sais-Je?”
- I reflect on the importance of intellectual humility in an age overflowing with information and certainty. The wisest response to a complicated world is often to recognize how much I still have to learn.
- The Baidu Search Gods and Me
- I recount the unexpected experience of discovering my work through one of the world’s largest search engines. The essay reminds me that once something is published online, it can travel far beyond the audience I ever imagined.
- “If they actually knew who I was, would they really like me?”
- I reflect on the difference between the image we project to the world and the more complicated people we really are. Authentic relationships begin when we have the courage to be known rather than merely admired.
- People Need to Chill Out
- I argue that modern life has become unnecessarily anxious, angry, and combative. We would all be happier if we approached one another with more patience, humility, and perspective.
- “A New Age is Upon Us.”
- I reflect on the profound technological and cultural changes reshaping our society in real time. Living through a period of rapid change reminds me that every generation must learn to adapt without losing its core values.
- Murderous Avian Flu and Locking Down Schools in Florida
- I consider how fear and uncertainty influence the decisions societies make during times of crisis. Preparing wisely matters, but allowing fear to dominate our lives carries its own costs.
- Leave JK Rowling Alone, FFS
- I reflect on the importance of allowing disagreement without demanding personal destruction or public shaming. A healthy society depends upon open discussion, intellectual charity, and the willingness to tolerate dissent.
- YouTube Is Worried I Might Kill Myself
- I recount an unexpected encounter with YouTube’s automated systems and what it revealed about life in the algorithmic age. Technology can be remarkably helpful, but it also reminds me how imperfect machines remain at understanding human beings.
- On Extremism and the Need to Belong: Shortcuts to Finding Meaning and Purpose
- I explore why people are often drawn toward extreme movements in their search for identity, belonging, and purpose. Lasting meaning is usually found not in ideology but in family, friendship, work, and service.
- Richard G. versus Google, Inc.
- I reflect on the complicated relationship between independent writers and the technology companies that increasingly shape what people discover online. Building a personal website has taught me both the opportunities and the frustrations of creating in the digital age.
- Against ‘The Metaverse’ — (“Eschew the digital opium.”) — A Benediction to My Daughters
- I encourage my daughters to build lives rooted in real friendships, meaningful work, books, nature, and face-to-face experiences rather than digital substitutes. The greatest joys of life are still found in the real world, not the virtual one.
- The Metaverse Future and Me, Part II
- I reflect on the promises and pitfalls of the emerging metaverse and what it may mean for the future of human relationships. New technology offers remarkable possibilities, but I believe we should embrace it without losing sight of what makes us genuinely human.
- Joe Rogan and the Zeitgeist
- I reflect on Joe Rogan’s remarkable popularity and what it reveals about the changing cultural landscape. His success says as much about the public’s search for authentic conversation as it does about the man himself.
- Is It Time to “Panic”?
- I consider the growing temptation to believe that every new crisis signals the end of civilization. History reminds me that perspective, resilience, and calm judgment are usually wiser responses than fear.
- The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: A Rumination on the State of the Internet
- I reflect on how the Internet has transformed modern life, bringing extraordinary opportunities for learning, creativity, and connection while also encouraging distraction, superficiality, and excess. Like every powerful technology, its ultimate value depends less on the tool itself than on how wisely we choose to use it.
“Kill Your TV”
- Kill Your TV, Twenty Years Later
- I revisit an essay I wrote decades ago and consider how my relationship with television, technology, and leisure has evolved over time. Although the screens have changed, I still believe our attention is one of life’s most precious resources.
- “Kill your TV”? I Count Myself “Killed” by YouTube
- I reflect on the irony that I escaped television only to spend countless hours watching YouTube. Technology changes, but the challenge of using it thoughtfully remains the same.