From 91cc949b579d7d803c65fb7f1bc3465f1595786f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Danny Guo <dannyguo91@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2024 02:16:29 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Add a draft for numbered lists

---
 astro.config.mjs                              |  1 +
 .../blog/prefer-numbered-lists-to-bullets.md  | 65 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 66 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 src/pages/blog/prefer-numbered-lists-to-bullets.md

diff --git a/astro.config.mjs b/astro.config.mjs
index 5d61619..99e457f 100644
--- a/astro.config.mjs
+++ b/astro.config.mjs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
         mdx(),
         sitemap({
             filter: (page) =>
+                !page.includes("blog/prefer-numbered-lists-to-bullets") &&
                 !page.includes("blog/the-black-hole-problem") &&
                 !page.includes("blog/beat-the-drum") &&
                 !page.includes("blog/the-power-of-the-link") &&
diff --git a/src/pages/blog/prefer-numbered-lists-to-bullets.md b/src/pages/blog/prefer-numbered-lists-to-bullets.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6dd0543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pages/blog/prefer-numbered-lists-to-bullets.md
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+---
+layout: ../../layouts/BlogPostLayout.astro
+categories:
+  - communication
+date: "2024-12-01"
+unlisted: true
+title: Prefer Numbered Lists to Bullets
+---
+
+In the spirit of small communication tips that can add up to help someone become
+a much better communicator, like [no hello](https://nohello.net), my suggestion
+is to prefer numbered lists to bullets. Because numbered lists give others an
+easy way to reference your specific points.
+
+I try to make my communication more efficient. One way I do that is to batch up
+what I need to say. For example, if I'm getting started on a project, I might
+read the requirements and come up with a list of questions for the project
+manager.
+
+Me:
+
+> 1. What if \<insert edge case\> happens?
+> 2. How urgent is this project?
+> 3. Do we need legal department approval?
+
+Project manager:
+
+> 1. I hadn't thought about that. If it happens, how about we \<insert manual
+>    workaround\>?
+> 2. The CEO wants this ASAP.
+> 3. They already did.
+
+Me:
+
+> 1. Yeah, that works. We can automate it later.
+> 2. Okay, should we stop working on project A or project B so that we have
+>    bandwidth to pick this up?
+
+Project manager:
+
+> 2. Let's stop B.
+
+This is a contrived example, but the point is that because we're using numbers,
+it's easy to maintain multiple conversations. Numbers create lightweight threads
+that are easy to follow, even if there are many points, and the back and forth
+involves more than just short sentences.
+
+When people use bullets instead, I've seen others respond by copying the entire
+message and then replying inline with a different color. This seems to be a
+common pattern in email (as opposed to something like Slack). I don't think
+that's necessarily bad, but numbering things is easier and can be enough for
+many conversations.
+
+One objection could be that there is semantic meaning between numbered lists and
+bulleted lists. Numbered lists imply that the order is important, which might
+not be the case. My response is that:
+
+1. This is about effective communication between humans, who are generally smart
+   enough to understand when order is important.
+2. The writer can always be specific that order is or is not important if the
+   distinction matters.
+3. If I used bullets here, and you wanted to argue that my second point is
+   unconvincing, you would effectively be converting a bulleted list into a
+   numbered one for convenience, which is exactly what I am saying we should be
+   doing.