Maybe let\u2019s do a quick roundup update of how this substack has been coming along so far. I started out with the generic name \u201cvisakanv\u2019s essays\u201d, temporarily switched to something like \u201cvisakanv\u2019s switchboard\u201d before I eventually got inspired to go with \u201cvisa\u2019s voltaic verses\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s a question for you Visa. What is your substack about? What\u2019s the point? There are many different ways of trying to answer this question. Most recently I was feeling inspired by the Federalist Papers, written by Hamilton, Madison and Jay, to promote the US Constitution. I wanna say, even to just contextualize it, to describe it. I would like the Voltaic Verses to be a kind of Federalist Papers. To describe what? The easy cached answer is something like \u201cfriendly ambitious nerdism\u201d. A way of seeing and being that leads to human flourishing. I believe I have my answer, or a partial answer, something that is useful, something that has resonated with some people, and I know in my heart that I am committed to the long haul. Wrote a thread about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
eviscerate me<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I often think something like, if I told the full truth of what I think I know, what I believe, I will be eviscerated for it. Writing it out, it seems rather dramatic. And\u2026 why not just get it out? Why am I holding it in? Eviscerate me, fuck it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2731<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years (since 2020) I\u2019ve built up a bit of a reputation as Mr. Friendly Ambitious Nerd on the internet, and part of the \u201cFriendly\u201d bit suggests that I\u2019m going to be a nice guy. And for the most part I think I do try to be kind, thoughtful, considerate. This didn\u2019t come super naturally for me growing up, it\u2019s something I consciously cultivated after bungling a series of social interactions as a teenager. I used to be disagreeable, combative, critical, nitpicky, that sort of thing. An \u201cargument bro\u201d. I like to think that I always had a good heart underneath it all, I never wanted to really hurt anybody. I just wanted to participate, to be constructive, to learn, to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, the interesting thing is, while people did often describe me as friendly, kind, thoughtful, constructive etc from say 2015-2020, there\u2019s something about publishing FAN that seemed to have led to me \u201cwalling off\u201d thoughts and utterances that might be perceived as uncharitable, mean, caustic, etc. I\u2019m always preaching \u201cfocus on what you want to see more of\u201d. I do believe it. I do stand by it. I do try to live it. But I do also want to be an honest human being, and sometimes being overly selective ends up being a kind of dishonest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinking now about Hasan\/Barack, emotionally dishonest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2731<\/p>\n\n\n\n the thing is that it\u2019s so obvious to me from people\u2019s utterances how they\u2019re likely \u201cgoing to do\u201d. and maybe you could say, that\u2019s bullshit, how do you know? or \u201cwhat do you mean by \u2018going to do\u2019\u201d? good questions. I don\u2019t know for absolute certain, sometimes I get it wrong, and more often than not it\u2019s something else that interferes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2731<\/p>\n\n\n\n VISA, EXPLAIN VOLTAIC VERSES RIGHT FUCKING NOW, IN ONE BREATH, STANDING ON ONE FOOT.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n behind the scenes of my essays<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n i\u2019m never quite sure what i want to reveal about my creative process<\/p>\n\n\n\n i suppose i can work backwards and write it first and then decide not to post it<\/p>\n\n\n\n i want there to be poetry in my titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n we were voyagers \/ the essays i have not published \/ a parliament of hallucinations \/ the messes i inhabit \/ make yourself comfortable \/ humility and arrogance \/ translucent beliefs \/ thingification \/ obsolete with grace \/ family drama \/ polite fictions \/ honesty can get you labelled untrustworthy \/ thinking in dominos \/ consecration \/ ads \/ the hypocrisy of trad \/ tired and wired \/ American cringe \/ Advanced Stupid \/ Bollywood steamroller \/ Public commons \/ gradient of intimacy \/ Desire paths \/ Frames \/ What does my gut want? \/ The tyranny of structure<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nuance of irl \/ Demonstrate that you are Serious \/ Primal eye contact<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to quote loads of my favourite authors in all my essays<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want the pictures I choose to be a beautiful collage <\/p>\n\n\n\n I want the essays to reference each other<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want each essay to have something of a thesis of sorts<\/p>\n\n\n\n define the problem gently and curiously: what do you want your essay to be? I want it to have lovely vibes, to feel like flowers and music, expansive, drenched with possibility. I want there to be forgiveness and redemption, lightness and joy, a sense that no matter how difficult or painful things are, there is still a light in the darkness, we can still find our way back to the deep relaxation that home is supposed to feel like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m tired of preaching and sermonising and telling people how they should act. I want to be a little baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nerdposting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I feel like I\u2019ve spent most of the first 12 posts on my substack writing about motivation and creativity and I\u2019m kind of done with that for now. I know from experience that this won\u2019t mean I\u2019m done with it forever\u2013 it\u2019s a cyclical concern and I will likely need to think and talk about it again, just as how we\u2019re full after eating a hearty meal but hungry again the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right now what I really want to do is some nerdposting. I define a nerd as someone who is driven by their curiosity, and for me nerdposting is a delightful kind of exploratory writing that\u2019s doing research in real time. Some of my favorite twitter threads fit this category. But I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve particularly tried doing it with essays. So this is a bit of an experiment. How do I start? I start with some questions. I hinted at one in the conclusion of the previous post: I\u2019m curious about how people\u2019s concept of personal identity has evolved over the centuries, particularly before and after the rise of the nation-state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But that feels like a topic for another day, it\u2019s more of a fun diversion from my primary interests. I\u2019ll look into it when I don\u2019t wanna do my main thing. My main thing is\u2026 pamphlets. I want to understand the history of the dissemination of ideas. I\u2019ve spent a few years tweeting a lot and I want to know more about my historical predecessors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Wikipedia, Thomas Paine was an influential pamphleteer, as were John Milton and John Calvin<\/p>\n\n\n\n The University Wits- group of late 1500s English playwrights and pamphleteers<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
I want to embody curiosity, to ask questions, to be led on interesting adventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n