In discussing the balance between public and private notes, Andy Matuschak offers insights into his approach. He acknowledges that while a third to half of his notes remain in their initial state after the first major revision, there is a significant portion that does not get published. His journal notes, though detailed and complete, do not typically get published due to their intimate nature. He also mentions that notes about people in his life are mostly private unless they pertain to public figures. This balance allows him to maintain privacy while sharing useful, durable notes publicly 1 .

For more insights, you can check out the full episode of The Lunar Society where Andy Matuschak and Dwarkesh Patel delve into this topic further Why Books Don’t Work, Spaced Repetition, Self-Teaching .