Emotional Status: Self-Doubt, Epistemic-humility[1]
I find myself abandoning multiple written projects due to this idea: I am writing something someone has already done a better job than me at.
The Conditional: If I write something I've already encountered AND I may know less than that person, then I am cluttering the EA space, and possibly redirecting traffic from more intelligent, well-read individuals.
The Question: Thoughts?
On the other hand, I acknowledge that I might have some novel ideas and something to add.
Is it just me, or do others also feel that sense of overwhelm when encountering wonderfully thought-out posts by @Scott Alexander and others?
Sometimes, I read his works, or others on the EA forum or LessWrong, and I realize how small my knowledge map is.
Any advice, consolation, or arguments would be greatly appreciated. I'm attempting to overcome this subtle perfectionism and become more active on the forum.
- ^
I figured I'd throw in this "emotional status" instead of epistemic status disclaimer as a means to demonstrate the emotions that are influencing this since there aren't any fact claims going on.
Also, I recognize that epistemic humility is a good thing, but today I am far more epistemically humble than others due to multiple encounters with my hidden assumptions this week.
write, write, write.