On evolving opinions

I recently came across a tweet that suggested me to undo my blog post on Web3 after sharing some bad things I’d uncovered in the technology. I couldn’t understand why an undo and not a follow-up. I see opinions as alive entities that evolve and change. The initial opinion that I had when I started reading about Web3 evolved as I dove into communities and solutions build upon it. I went from having a high level of excitement with a vaguely-defined mental model to lose a bit of excitement as I defined the model further. I find the journey of evolving thrilling.

However, that doesn’t seem to align with what some people expect: polarized and somewhat religious opinions. They expect you either be a React Native lover or hater, a Web2 believer or a Web3 geek, or a monolith vs a micro-services advocate. Liking Web3 but disliking parts of it is inconceivable for them. You either like it or hate it.

Because I don’t want to be biased by my own static opinions, I avoid engaging in these discussions and keep and open mindset. Moreover, since I value openness and I enjoy sharing my learnings and opinions, that sometimes means seeing seemingly contradictory opinions at different points in time. And that’s completely fine.

My opinions about Javascript development have been a roller coaster. There are things that I like about it, for example the beautiful abstractions developers are building with it, and things that I hate about it, like the convoluted setup and dependency graph that you find in some projects. Similarly, I gave up a while ago on being religious about Swift. That gave me a unique perspective on where the programming language shines, what are the limitations, and how Apple’s interests drive the direction of the project.

I’m currently forming opinions around the nature of the technologies and tools they use. Do I want to continue using and supporting open-source technologies with business interests baked into it? Is my relationship with open-source sustainable long-term? Do I see myself doing the same thing for the next 10 years? 20 years?

My days are filled with questions, and the answers to those lead to opinions and more questions. Expect my opinions to change. Expect me to share those opinions, and also expect my opinions to move along a spectrum. “The only constant in life is change” they said.