Althouse: "I've written 1274 blog posts so far this year, and I will write 1 more today."

June 10, 2025

"I've written 1274 blog posts so far this year, and I will write 1 more today."

"Starting tomorrow, how many posts must I write per day in order to have 3,000 when the year ends?"

Answer: 8.4559 posts per day.

"For a long time, I've done at least 3,000 a year, but the last 2 years, I've cut it close. That's not because I'm writing less. I'm probably writing more, just writing longer posts. But there's something motivating about the 3,000 goal, which I've hit ever year beginning in 2008. Give me a structured framework for analyzing whether I should go for the goal or break it on purpose or just go without calculating and let what happens happen."

Things I asked Grok.

43 comments:

Danno said...: Was grok really necessary to figure this out? Your sidebar shows how many posts ytd and any calendar could tell you how many days have transpired of the 365 in a normal year.; 6/10/25, 10:18 AM
Original Mike said...: There comes a time when you've got to slow down. Don't fight it.

That's what I've been telling myself lately; to little effect.; 6/10/25, 10:19 AM
Chris-2-4 said...: It's your blog and all, so with all the acknowledgments that go along with that, I'd say that what is probably valued by your readers is not a quota of posts, but a level of engagement on something that truly promotes thoughtful conversation.

I can't imagine that readers would prefer 8 posts per day with no engagement to 2 or 3 posts with substantive dialogue.

But I could be misreading the audience and recognize that this is a very real possibility.

And I could be misunderstanding what you want to do with this blog, an even greater possibility.; 6/10/25, 10:31 AM
mccullough said...: Just do your thing. If it’s 3,000 posts or not so be it; 6/10/25, 10:34 AM
n.n said...: A billion dollar enterprise, a first-order forcing of climate change, reduced to service as a calculator, a Mechanical Intelligence. You go, Grok.; 6/10/25, 10:34 AM
Chris-2-4 said...: Another thought. Based on the Grok comment and Danno's response above, I suggest that with your audience, I think a better use of AI, might be to ask your audience your questions, and then ask Grok to Synthesize the responses rather than ask Grok your question.; 6/10/25, 10:35 AM
FullMoon said...: "Give me a structured framework for analyzing whether I should go for the goal or break it on purpose or just go without calculating and let what happens happen"

Well? What was her answer?; 6/10/25, 10:43 AM
Eva Marie said...: What I like about your sunrise photos is that your goal is to do them daily but you miss days when it’s practical for you to miss them. You don’t rearrange your life to meet the goal. The amount of blog posts can also be a goal but not an all consuming one. Maybe that’s easier said than done.; 6/10/25, 10:48 AM
FullMoon said...: AA not looking for permission from audience to miss the goal, will no doubt hit 3,000, even if it requires last minute rush.
Continuity, self satisfaction, and accomplishment are worth the effort.
Has anybody is the blogosphere even come close?
Numerous commenters here have links to their own blogs. Most were sporadic, then gave up.; 6/10/25, 10:51 AM
MOfarmer said...: Once a person gets to the 70's, I think that "motivating" thing becomes more important. I hope you go for it, as the commenters will benefit.; 6/10/25, 10:57 AM
Gerda Sprinchorn said...: Yikes!; 6/10/25, 10:57 AM
Jupiter said...: When comparing contract work to employment, I figure there are 2,000 working hours in a year. So, $50/hr is $100K. Writing 3000 blog posts at 40 minutes apiece would be a full-time job.; 6/10/25, 11:03 AM
NT Dave said...: For a number of years, first thing I do in the morning is to make coffee and then turn on the computer and read Althouse. Thank You.; 6/10/25, 11:08 AM
Howard said...: Amazing. Your consistency and breadth is why it's the only block you need to read. We got lots of samplings of other blogs via comments.; 6/10/25, 11:11 AM
wildswan said...: "NT Dave said...
For a number of years, first thing I do in the morning is to make coffee and then turn on the computer and read Althouse. Thank You."

This. See if Grok has the wit to say something like that. Anyhow, it's almost a psychological blot test. I would be horrified and constrained by a set requirement, even to do something I was already doing and liked. But there's other psychologies that are assisted by a promise or a set goal such as a Lenten resolution. And, then, to add complexity, I'm always assisted in Lenten resolutions by the promise. So that complexity then circles me back to NT Dave where the idea is to say thanks as a factor Grok should consider.; 6/10/25, 11:19 AM
Steve said...: Ann Althouse: You probably have, or can find, the time spent on your blog by an individual user. Another metric would be how many times an individual returns each day. Increasing those numbers would tell you how well readers enjoy your blog.
My quick estimate says you will have to almost double your daily output to reach 3,000. If you can do that while increasing the readership metrics, you should get a star on your chart.; 6/10/25, 11:22 AM
Nice said...: I always thought that this Blog was kind of unstructured, and just whatever you felt in the moment, and that over the years you may have experimented with different formats and such, yet nothing was ever locked in, or promised. This is just my own observation, as a reader, that with Althouse: There were no guarantees, of any particular format, quantity, or (dare I say it) quality. I'm not here every day, but my impression is that you've tried to stay away from self-imposed parameters. I got the impression that you felt that writing was like living on the edge, and a kind of freedom, so the question of whether or not taking on new goals puts any constraints on that freedom.; 6/10/25, 11:32 AM
Mr. T. said...: You are the hero we do not deserve.; 6/10/25, 11:39 AM
T J Sawyer said...: Be careful about trusting Grok's arithmetic! About a month ago, I asked both Grok and ChatGPT, "Is 17077 a prime number?" Both replied that it is not. Grok said, "it is not because, 17077 = 113 x 151."

I may be an old mathematician but not that old. I am pretty sure that a product of a number ending in 1 and a number ending in 3 is going to end in 3. When challenged, Grok said "... This is incorrect, as 17,063 ≠ 17,077. The factorization 113 × 151 was an error."

Grok may hallucinate, but has moments of lucidity if you keep an eye on him.

This is the flaw of all the LLM models based on "transformer" technology (the T in GPT), they don't reason, just listen and repeat.; 6/10/25, 11:40 AM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/10/25, 11:55 AM
Kate said...: In other areas of your life do you have a completion obsession? If so, how do you deal with the times you fail to complete the goal?

This should be part of the structured framework for your analysis.; 6/10/25, 11:55 AM
MadisonMan said...: Maybe a more interesting metric would be #comments/post. More interesting to me at least.; 6/10/25, 11:56 AM
Quaestor said...: Those fractional daily posts should be easy. Samples follow:

Did you see the latest Truth Social from Tru...

The Democrats are a pile of dogsh...

Thanks to my anosmia, the aroma wafting from Hakim...

Meade photographed me this morning while I was...

I've decided to forego my sunrise walks for a while. This morning I tripped and fell on my a...; 6/10/25, 11:57 AM
Rabel said...: Althouse, you mentioned a few days ago that you used a speech to text program. Could you say more about what you are using and how well it works?; 6/10/25, 12:30 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Can you have an unstructured framework?; 6/10/25, 12:36 PM
Big Mike said...: and I will write 1 more today.

Will that be the cafe post? Or will there be 2 more posts?; 6/10/25, 12:57 PM
Big Mike said...: @NT Dave (11:08), +1; 6/10/25, 1:01 PM
Lazarus said...: Ask Grok if he'll help you out and write some posts for you, and I'll ask AI if it can tell which ones Grok wrote.; 6/10/25, 1:04 PM
CJinPA said...: Chris-2-4 said...
"It's your blog and all, so with all the acknowledgments that go along with that, I'd say that what is probably valued by your readers is not a quota of posts, but a level of engagement on something that truly promotes thoughtful conversation."

Chris, I find conversation to be difficult to come by here without the "Reply" option. I see hitting back against our friendly trolls, but not as much convo as other blogs.

Not that it stops me from making this my first stop of the day.; 6/10/25, 1:09 PM
Leora said...: The China Syndrome made Americans averse to nuclear power for a couple of generations.; 6/10/25, 1:16 PM
Nice said...: "Can you have an unstructured framework?" Carefully-planned spontaneity.; 6/10/25, 1:33 PM
BudBrown said...: Maybe crazy times require more thoughtful posts requiring more time. So no 3,000 you can blame on Trump. Or maybe spending too much time with Grok. But poor ol Grok got born into the maelstrom. May take extra scraping to decipher 2025.; 6/10/25, 2:12 PM
Caroline said...: Althouse, have you discovered napping yet?; 6/10/25, 2:28 PM
Rocco said...: Quaestor said...
“Those fractional daily posts should be easy. Samples follow:”

Madlibs time!

Did you see the latest Truth Social from Triple H?

The Democrats are a pile of dog supplements. Billed as being good for you - or at least your dog. But unfit for human consumption.

Thanks to my anosmia, the aroma wafting from [the] Hakim rifle didn’t give me - but gave Meade - a contact high from the gunpowder smell.

Meade photographed me this morning while I was in the shower. Doing research for my next post: Tips on sealing grout.

I've decided to forego my sunrise walks for a while. This morning I tripped and fell on my azaleas.; 6/10/25, 3:09 PM
Wilbur said...: AA, I can only speak for myself.

You provide a service (or is it a product?) I have not found elsewhere: a daily look at the news, especially in the political arena, with incisive commentary. The most important word in the preceding sentence is "daily".

I usually don't get to your blog until mid-late morning, and don't read every post, but a day doesn't go by without a look at Althouse.

Whether you get to 3000 matters more to you than me.; 6/10/25, 3:36 PM
Enigma said...: @Althouse: Don't ever buy a fitness tracker watch/bracelet. You will kill yourself to get to 10,000 steps, stand for 12 hours per day, etc. Metrics can lead to chasing your tail.

Now, let me stand up for a minute before the hour, so I can reach my goal today...; 6/10/25, 3:55 PM
Ann Althouse said...: “Althouse, you mentioned a few days ago that you used a speech to text program.”

It’s right here in blogger as far as I can see. I’m using it to write this. I use it to write comments sometimes because I’m using my iPad and I don’t have a keyboard other than the image of a keyboard. I prefer to type to write and I do that on a desktop… which is what I used to write virtually all the posts. In short voice to text has no impact on the front page posts.; 6/10/25, 4:27 PM
Ann Althouse said...: “ Don't ever buy a fitness tracker watch/bracelet. You will kill yourself to get to 10,000 steps, stand for 12 hours per day, etc. Metrics can lead to chasing your tail.”

That’s built into the iPhone so I see the number of steps every day. I take some interest in it, but it doesn’t trigger obsessive behavior in me. And I don’t feel obsessive about the Blog either. I completely feel like I’m doing it because I enjoy it and from day one I’ve done it for its intrinsic value for me. I don’t feel driven or obsessed at all; 6/10/25, 4:29 PM
Ann Althouse said...: And thanks to everyone who is reading this blog. Your reading it is part of why it is intrinsically valuable to me. I enjoy the writing, but part of what it is is something other people can see and I know they’re looking at it, so that’s been very cool to me for more than 20 years; 6/10/25, 4:30 PM
Kit Carson said...: The velocity of life in the 21st century is very high. Breaking news is breaking at breakneck speed on a daily basis. We're living thru a revolutionary period of AI, CRISPR (and its successors), and the formation of the first ever global civilization. And all of this is "knit" together by the first ever low-cost, easy to access, instantaneous global communication system. Since your topics are kinda encyclopedic, it's more likely you'll break 5,000 posts.; 6/10/25, 4:58 PM
Quaestor said...: The Hakim rifle... unlike the AR-15, a true direct gas impingement semi-automatic battle rifle. Not the Hakim I had in mind, but that's where the fun lies.

I had some a-words ready to counter the crude but obvious implication. If I fell on my arugula, it would only affect my choice of salads. If I fell on my abacus, I think I would feel it for a day or two.

Grout... With no complete predicate in mind, I was eager to see where someone would run with it.

Dog supplements... Bizarre, but more useful than the Democratic Party is likely to be for the next decade.

Triple H... That one ruffled my do as it zoomed over my head at transonic velocity. Turns out HHH is likely to be a regular Truth Social contributor.; 6/10/25, 5:04 PM
Big Mike said...: So 8 posts so far today plus a cafe post certain to come later. You’re still on track for your 3000.; 6/10/25, 5:24 PM
lonejustice said...: I admire your tenacity, Professor Althouse, and I say this as a former law student and lawyer. But I also think it is important to take a break from blogging occasionally, just to keep your sanity and perspective on life. One of my favorite bloggers is James Lileks, a conservative columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and he sometimes takes a break for a week or two, and still posts stuff when he is gone that he has saved up, and allows comments, but posts nothing new. I think he and other bloggers like him benefit from this. When I was a lawyer working 60+ hours a week, I thought taking a break or a vacation was somehow wrong and would hurt my career. Now I know that I was wrong.; 6/10/25, 5:55 PM