Quiet Frontier

Why I Keep Making Videos (Even When the Math Doesn’t Work)

Video (13:44): There is a deeper meaning behind purpose that goes beyond external validation and metrics. That’s what I explore in this video about content creation, personal growth, and societal trends. Ultimately, reclaiming your own attention is the first step toward finding true meaning in a loud world.

Chapters

Transcript

00:00:00 The other day a question came up and kind of stopped me. So I thought I’d talk about it here

00:00:14 a little bit today. And the question was, so why do you keep doing this? And it wasn’t shouted at

00:00:20 me during some kind of debate or it wasn’t an angry comment in the comment section. It was

00:00:27 really just asked with a really simple curiosity by someone who follows the channel. But it

00:00:34 is the kind of question that can kind of stop you mid-sentence, especially if you’re having

00:00:39 a bad day. Because if I’m being brutally honest, and I think I should be, the math for this

00:00:49 channel just doesn’t add up. And it certainly doesn’t scream success. It hasn’t led to a

00:00:58 massive secondary income. In fact, it really hasn’t led to any income at all. The view counts,

00:01:07 they’re certainly not breaking any kind of records. In fact, there’s days when the analytics look a lot

00:01:14 less like a growth chart, and more like a flatlined EKG. So when someone asks, why do you keep writing?

00:01:25 Why do you keep making these videos? They aren’t really just asking about my content strategy.

00:01:34 What they’re asking about is my purpose. And to answer that, I think we have to look at why

00:01:45 we do anything in a world that seems increasingly designed to distract us from the whole point of it

00:01:55 all. So my journey into content creation, and honestly, that’s a term I use very loosely,

00:02:03 because I certainly don’t feel like any kind of influencer. But the journey didn’t start with

00:02:10 an ambition for subscribers. It started in a much more practical way, and a much more boring problem.

00:02:20 I had to manage hybrid classes. I teach a few classes at a local college.

00:02:27 If you’ve ever been on the other side of that digital lecture, you know what the struggle is.

00:02:39 There’s this gap between being physically present, and being digitally engaged.

00:02:46 I started creating videos as a utility, basically a way to supplement my teaching,

00:02:52 to make sure that the information was accessible, and that it was clear.

00:02:57 It was completely about clarity. It was about making sure that the content was available

00:03:03 in a digital format. But along the way, something unique happened. As I started experimenting with how to

00:03:15 present ideas more effectively. I found myself drifting away from the syllabus. I started to create content

00:03:27 that wasn’t directly related to my curriculum. Some pieces that explored the why behind the facts.

00:03:36 I realized that the tools I was using to teach were actually a lot better suited to exploring.

00:03:46 Well, just about anything. I moved from content about specific subjects to content exploring ideas.

00:03:56 And that’s when I noticed something really troubling about how we consume ideas today.

00:04:04 As I moved into this broader space, I noticed a pattern, sort of a glitch in the way we engage with the world.

00:04:12 We’ve entered the era of the supporter. Have you ever noticed? It feels like almost every modern conversation

00:04:21 has been replaced by some form of tribal loyalty. We don’t simply have political positions anymore.

00:04:29 We’re supporters. Supporters of politicians, movements, parties, celebrities, influencers, brands.

00:04:39 We become devoted to a persona rather than being advocates for a principle.

00:04:48 Sometimes it’s not a person. It’s a group left-leaning, right-leaning, Democrats, Republicans,

00:04:55 progressive, conservative. These groups have been labeled. And those labels, for better or for worse,

00:05:05 whether they’re inaccurate or accurate, have become their personalities.

00:05:12 We’ve transitioned from being followers of ideas to being supporters of these personalities.

00:05:21 With very little attention paid to the underlying substance of the points they’re trying to make.

00:05:32 And the danger there, the real underlying rot, is that when you attach your identity to a person

00:05:41 or a group rather than a concept, the ideas themselves start to disappear.

00:05:47 The nuance gets sacrificed on the altar of loyalty. Sometimes, if you peel back the layers

00:05:58 of the persona, you realize there isn’t actually much of an idea underneath. There’s just a brand.

00:06:06 There’s this loud voice and a curated image. We aren’t debating policy or ethics anymore. We’re cheering for our team to win the news cycle.

00:06:23 We’ve turned intellect into athletics. And in that game, there’s no winner. Only a lot more noise.

00:06:32 And the worst part of it is, this lack of substance isn’t just happening in a vacuum. It’s being amplified

00:06:40 by an ecosystem that thrives on it. The modern media landscape, from news networks to social media

00:06:48 algorithms, doesn’t actually care about truth or progress. It cares about engagement. And what engages us

00:06:56 more than anything else? Outrage. We don’t see real debate anymore. We see talking points. We see gotcha moments.

00:07:07 We see people scoring points against an opponent, rather than making progress toward a solution.

00:07:14 It’s a lot easier to write a 280-word character assassination of a person than it is to engage in the complexities of their argument.

00:07:30 The media has turned communication into a series of skirmishes.

00:07:37 We’re constantly being fed content designed to make us feel angry. But rarely do we get content that makes us feel informed.

00:07:50 It’s all heat and no light. There’s a real cost to living in this constant state of manufactured outrage.

00:07:59 It’s a deep, deep sense of anxiety. A pervasive feeling of helplessness.

00:08:08 When you’re constantly exposed to outrage without understanding, you can really begin to feel like

00:08:16 you’re living in something like a constant state of fight or flight. You feel the anger. But because you don’t

00:08:24 actually understand the full scope of what’s happening, you feel powerless to do anything about it.

00:08:31 You see something wrong. You feel an intense surge of fury, and then nothing. The cycle just repeats again tomorrow.

00:08:42 It’s a real recipe for burnout and cynicism.

00:08:49 And maybe the most disempowering result of all this is where our focus ends up shifting.

00:09:00 We become hyper fixated on what others should change.

00:09:05 We spend hours dissecting the flaws of politicians, celebrities, or people on the other side.

00:09:16 Well, we completely neglect the one area where we actually have any agency.

00:09:24 We’re looking outward, trying to fix a world that feels broken.

00:09:28 While our own inner world is being neglected.

00:09:34 So that brings us back to this question, why do I keep doing this?

00:09:39 I keep doing it because I want to find a quiet frontier.

00:09:43 It’s a space where we can step away from the shouting matches and return to something a lot more foundational.

00:09:51 For me, creating this channel is really an exercise in reclaiming my own attention.

00:10:02 It’s about trying to build a space for three things that I care really deeply about.

00:10:09 And that are actually represented in the logo that you see here on the screen.

00:10:14 Reflection, rationality, and resilience.

00:10:18 These aren’t just words for a brand identity.

00:10:24 They’re reminders to myself.

00:10:28 Reflection, it’s the antidote to the noise.

00:10:33 The ability to pause and ask yourself, is this my thought?

00:10:39 Or was it planted there by an algorithm or a talking head in the media?

00:10:45 And rationality is the antidote to the persona.

00:10:50 It’s the commitment to looking at the ideas based on their merit, not on the messenger.

00:10:59 And resilience, well, that’s what allows me to keep making these videos, even when the views are low and the comments are sparse.

00:11:08 It’s the ability to find meaning in the process rather than in external metrics.

00:11:17 Ultimately, I do this because I believe in empowerment.

00:11:24 And true empowerment doesn’t come from winning an argument on the internet.

00:11:29 It comes from identifying what you can actually control.

00:11:35 I can’t change the political landscape of the world overnight.

00:11:39 I can’t stop the media from chasing outrage.

00:11:43 But I can control how I process information.

00:11:47 I can control how much weight I give to a headline.

00:11:54 I can control my commitment to thinking critically.

00:11:58 There’s a sentiment expressed by Mahatma Gandhi that I really like to use as my North Star.

00:12:04 It goes, if we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.

00:12:10 The world is a reflection of our collective internal state.

00:12:17 If we can cultivate more clarity, more rationality, and more resilience within ourselves, then maybe, bit by bit, the noise outside will begin to settle.

00:12:34 So, that’s my answer to the question, why do you do it?

00:12:40 And maybe, that’s a question worth asking yourself, too.

00:12:46 If your answer involves reducing the noise and increasing the clarity, I hope you’ll consider subscribing.

00:12:56 Thanks very much for watching.

00:12:58 Take good care.

00:13:00 There’s not much difference day to day.

00:13:05 No time to stop and pray to my God.

00:13:10 Won’t you grant me some relief

00:13:13 Obligations and ordeals

00:13:20 My heart, it barely feels

00:13:24 My soul go dry

00:13:26 Like a windblown autumn leaf

00:13:29 So many faces fill my mind

00:13:36 Most of them are so unkind

00:13:39 And I’ve turned so cold