Maybe I’ll do the website thing and post a bunch of other sites that I find interesting, but does anyone click on those? Instead, let’s talk about Lou Keep.

He kicked off a blog that several smart people have praised with a post called Four Questions. He puts the issue really well:

There are only four questions that this blog will address. They aren’t the only questions, but they’re my questions for now.

I don’t have answers for them. I also don’t have the question part of the question. Call them problems, then.

While Keep can be a bit meandering, at least he identifies topics that interest him (math/the1960s/comedy/yesno; I’m not explaining — just go read him). That seems like a promising approach for a project, so let’s copy it.

What interests me?

1. Personal finance. God forbid I add useless frugality commentary to the world (my budget might call me a fraud pitching that). I suspect it’s more about the mystery of why certain gurus take off, the variety of financial instruments, and particularly the inadequacy of financial education in school. Which leads me to…
2. School. So many angles: how people conflate it with education; the origins of public schooling in the US; what we get for the money going into it; the political constituencies for the status quo vs. changes; degrees as signaling; etc.
3. Politics. Hypocrisy used to be a favorite topic here. Why people believe what they do still is, as is contemplating the demise of a government’s credit. But above all, the fight for individuals over unjust collectives.
4. Cooperation. This one might get confusing. I’m certainly confused (this is a website, not a scholarly article). However, isn’t it amazing that we manage to trade whatever it is that we produce for things that are priorities for us, and those priorities are generally available? And up a level from the wonders of free markets, Naval’s network tweetstorm.
5. Success. I like to think that I have some. I’d like to share what I know, and what I think I know, to help my friends and family take advantage of the same.

I hope to expand on these to clarify my thinking, and to produce when other interests arise.