- **Epistemic status:** #evergreen
![[digital-garden-tos.png]]
## For Visitors
Welcome! You are now browsing a [Digital Garden](https://joelhooks.com/digital-garden). This is a personal space for [Learning In Public](https://www.swyx.io/writing/learn-in-public). Tech changes constantly and to deliver the best content, the work in this garden will always be a Work-In-Progress. That means that what you read here is not authoritative or complete, and is not representative of my best work.
**Most importantly, I'm not a medical professional. Any notes are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice**.
However, it is representative of my interests and current state of knowledge, and if you have the same interests, then this space is also yours to use as a reference. Feedback and social sharing is welcome – that is the whole point of being public!
### 1. Right to Be Wrong
I have a right to be wrong or incomplete in my Digital Garden, either due to paucity of time or knowledge. You will not hold this, or my readership, against me because I will keep learning, with your help. Everything in the Digital Garden is a living document, and I will retract or rephrase things I no longer agree with.
### 2. Constructive Criticism
You are expressly welcome to comment on, tear apart, counter-argue, or outright disagree on anything here. No compliment sandwich needed – I learn most from critics. I will listen to you, but I don't promise to agree with you. Please also suggest what else I should include, read, watch, or listen to, or tell me what you would have written instead.
Better yet, write a better version of what I did and publish it on your own Garden. I'd love to read it.
### 3. Copyright
All the writings in the Digital Garden are licensed under [GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.3](https://legal.orimorningstar.com/gnu-free-documentation-license-1).
## For Gardeners
Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of your own corner of the Internet. This is a second brain that exists outside your natural one – it is very good at remembering everything, searching and organizing facts and links, and saving you keystrokes. Your second brain is fertile ground: If you tend to it well, your Digital Garden will help you be a lifelong learner, catch your friends while you sleep, and bear fruits in unexpected ways.
However, there are some ground rules to being a responsible Digital Gardener, and some things you can do to increase the yield on your work.
### 1. Consideration of Others
- I will not publish private conversations or confidential information.
- I will consider the feelings of others if I ever write negatively about something people have worked on or said.
- I will do my best to cover my bases and check that I have not assumed incompetence or malice due to my ignorance of the full body of work.
- I will err on the side of treating others as THEY want to be treated.
- I will "steelman" arguments – the opposite of "strawman arguments" – instead of picking on the weakest piece of their argument, I will confront head on their best argument by seeking first to understand before trying to be understood.
### 2. Epistemic Disclosure
- I will report how strongly I hold my beliefs, always reserving the right to be wrong and change my mind.
- I will report how much experience I have in the topic, by disclosing how much work I have done so far on it and linking to others who will know more.
- I will link to further resources so that readers can discover influencing and contrasting opinions from the original source.
In the spirit of this, [the practice of disclosing epistemic status and effort originates from Devon Zuegel](https://devonzuegel.com/post/epistemic-statuses-are-lazy-and-that-is-a-good-thing). It won't always be disclosed if it is obvious from context.
### 3. Response to Feedback
- I will not get discouraged if I don't receive feedback. I plant ideas in my Digital Garden for my own use, not solely to get visitors.
- I will reward feedback by listening and immediately correcting things I got wrong.
- I do not promise to agree with or respond to all feedback.
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## References
- “Digital Garden Terms of Service ∊ Swyx.Io.” Accessed January 22, 2022. <https://www.swyx.io/digital-garden-tos>.
- swyx. _Digital Garden Terms of Service_, 2021. <https://github.com/sw-yx/digital-garden-tos>.