Would You Rather

questions about writing, thinking, and pretending I have my life together

I am bored, so let us do something fun. Let me answer a number of questions just for fun.

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1. Would you rather understand everything deeply or feel everything intensely?

Let me just be understanding everything abeg. Omo the depth of these feelings is not something I want to go any deeper. I hate my heart man.

2. Would you rather publish raw thoughts or polished silence?

I really love my thoughts raw and unfinished. As far as my point gets across, I don’t mind the aesthetics of the publication. I just wanna be myself man, and perfection is not me.

3. Would you rather be misunderstood by many or fully understood by one reader?

If I am not misunderstood, I have failed in my life. What does being understood do for me? My goal is that the day I decide to shut down my substack, people should have a wide variety of opinions of me, preferably one that never actually matches with my opinion of myself.

4. Would you rather be known as brilliant or sincere?

Definitely sincere. Everyone is brilliant, but sincerity is a rare gem.

5. Would you rather lose your notebooks or your search history?

My search history. The main thing I was pissed about when I lost my old phone was the little notes I lost, I just hope a significant portion was backed up to the cloud. My search history is not relevant to my life.

6. Would you rather write under your real name or a legendary pseudonym?

Legendary pseudonym. I do not have a desire to be famous, and I don’t want anyone to really know my name. I know that when I make it big people will know me, but if I had a choice, I would rather no one knew my name.

7. Would you rather explain your ideas simply or keep them dense and exact?

As simple as possible. We live in a simple world, but the hardest thing to do is to do the simple things simply.

8. Would you rather build something useful or write something unforgettable?

Something useful for sure. If someone reads my work and says that my work was instrumental in them achieving something, or understanding a particular concept, I would feel more fulfilled than if 10 years from now, someone said that they never stopped thinking about in defense of the devil. What did that memory do for you?

9. Would you rather debug code all night or edit an essay all night?

This is a hard one. Codes are nice, but an essay is me. I can only code in someone else’s structure, not mine. I am not crazy enough to create my own programming language. I love my sanity. However, my essay is an extension of myself. And I like to see what I can do with my brain. I would take coding overall though because I like the challenge of doing something with another person’s restrictions.

10. Would you rather master one language deeply or touch many lightly?

I want to touch as many languages as possible. What does complete fluency in English do for me if I would still get sold in China?

11. Would you rather predict the future with data or sense it intuitively?

Sensing it would be more exciting, so I would be more positive to that option.

12. Would you rather be correct or be compelling?

If you are always correct, you are running the risk of leaving a blaze of bodies behind you. Let me be compelling with my arguments please.

13. Would you rather have clarity about your path or mystery that keeps you moving?

Absolute clarity. Please.

14. Would you rather be early-career and fearless or late-career and precise?

Early career and fearless. What am I doing til 40 before I start moving?

15. Would you rather read a book that unsettles you or one that comforts you?

Art is meant to be unsettling. It doesn’t work if I feel warm anytime I see a piece. I would always rather see the scream than a photo of a teddy bear.

16. Would you rather write about football as art or football as tragedy?

Football is an art form, and tragedy is part of art, so I see it as an art form.

17. Would you rather post consistently or only when it truly matters?

Only when it matters. Always posting will water down my craft, and I want it to impact as many people as possible.

18. Would you rather have discipline without passion or passion without discipline?

Discipline without passion. I know this as much as I am very passionate, but oh my god I lack discipline. If I would get like half of my passion as discipline, trust me guys I would be in Forbes. No worry. Very soon.

19. Would you rather have your ideas stolen or ignored?

Steal them please. If you ignore them, they’ll never go anywhere. Steal them and spread them far and wide. At least I would be part of the story of that idea.

20. Would you rather always notice patterns or always feel meaning?

I notice patterns. Always. And I hate myself for it. I also feel meaning deeply, and I cannot choose between these two hellscapes.

21. Would you rather teach what you know or explore what you don’t?

11/10 times, I am choosing what I don’t know. The way I love knowing new things, coupled with the way I hate teaching, I am choosing the latter option.

22. Would you rather write essays that age well or ones that hit hard now?

I want it to age well. As Drake said, just give it time and let’s see who is still around a decade from now. The future matters a lot.

23. Would you rather delete your drafts or reread them forever?

If I am not going to post my thoughts, I would rather delete them. I do not write to keep them in a safe. I write them to share with you all.

24. Would you rather be fluent in theory or dangerous in practice?

Dangerous in practice. Show workings.

25. Would you rather have one perfect metaphor or a thousand clean explanations?

Bro, have you ever experienced a perfect metaphor. Please give me that. If I make it my metaphor, and you do not understand, that is your business.

26. Would you rather be emotionally honest or strategically vague?

Depends on the person, but in the larger sense, I would rather be vague because you never know the intentions of people around you.

27. Would you rather write in the second person or never use it again?

NEVER USE IT AGAIN.

28. Would you rather lose your favorite author or your favorite footballer?

Ronaldo or Sidney Sheldon. Wow. What a choice. I really cannot make the choice. Damn.

29. Would you rather be praised for your thinking or your feeling?

Praised for my thinking. Feelings are too messy and unpredictable—I'd rather be known for the clarity of my mind than the chaos of my heart.

30. Would you rather always know why or always know how?

I just want to know why you left me on read. And nothing is not the reason, so I want to know why. Always.

31. Would you rather finish your final year project early or make it unforgettable?

This one, I want it to be unforgettable. The standard for all students after me. That was the goal anyway.

32. Would you rather work alone in silence or with noise and friction?

Alone, in silence.

33. Would you rather have your work read by strangers or friends?

I would rather strangers read my work, because all of you on Substack are strangers and I stay writing to you all.

34. Would you rather be feared in debates or quietly respected?

Fear me. I need all of you to be scared of me when I walk into the room. Hehehehehehehehehehehehe.

35. Would you rather know how people read your work or never know at all?

I wanna know how people read it. Let me react to your reaction. Oh my god that always.

36. Would you rather be consistent or unpredictable?

Unpredictable baby.

37. Would you rather build an audience slowly or find it suddenly?

Slowly. I like the crowd that I am building here together with each other, and I know that one day we would be worldwide.

38. Would you rather argue with culture or document it?

Argue with it, because that would break down walls and create new cultures, for better, for worse.

39. Would you rather be early to trends or late with depth?

I don’t even like trends like that. I don’t care.

40. Would you rather write when inspired or write no matter what?

Only when I am inspired. Writing is not a chore please.

41. Would you rather chase originality or chase truth?

If I am original and dishonest, what is the point.

42. Would you rather explain yourself fully or let people project?

People should assume as much as they want to. That makes the world go round.

43. Would you rather master structure or master voice?

Definitely my voice. I want you to read the first paragraph in a random publication and know that I am the writer of that book.

44. Would you rather be known for essays or remembered for one line?

One line is only part of the story, so I want my essays to be remembered. That is better.

45. Would you rather finish a piece and regret it or never finish it at all?

Finish and regret, so I learn my lessons and apply them to the better one I am working on.

46. Would you rather be ahead of your peers or aligned with them?

If I am ahead of them, I am not their peers, and I do not want to be the smartest man in the room anyway. So probably aligned. In other words, I would rather be Yuji than Gojo.

47. Would you rather write about pain while it’s fresh or when it’s healed?

Fresh pain, served hot with a side of tears is what I will deliver to you always.

48. Would you rather be vulnerable publicly or precise privately?

If you are not open to being attacked, you are not open to growing as a person, so I would rather be vulnerable publicly. However I am still scared to do it fully, so pray for me.

49. Would you rather write something people save or something people share?

Share it far and wide to impact as many people as possible.

50. Would you rather build systems or break them thoughtfully?

Break systems. A perfect system doesn’t exist.

51. Would you rather be technically excellent or emotionally accurate?

Emotions are fleeting, so technical excellence is the goal.

52. Would you rather have your ideas challenged or affirmed?

CHALLENGE MEEEEEEEEEEE.

53. Would you rather read comments or avoid them forever?

Read comments please. There are always going to be gems there.

54. Would you rather write weekly forever or intensely for one year?

What am I writing in one year. Omo please oo. Weekly writing please.

55. Would you rather explain complex things simply or simple things beautifully?

Complex things simply for sure.

56. Would you rather trust your younger self’s ambition or your current self’s caution?

My younger self’s ambition. Age makes you averse to risk in a detrimental way, and I don’t like it.

57. Would you rather be ahead of your time or perfectly in it?

I am so ahead of myself, even when I talk about the future I be reminiscing, J. Cole. I want to be so ahead of time you can’t even understand it.

58. Would you rather leave questions unanswered or answers unquestioned?

Leave the questions unanswered, open for interpretation and exploration.

59. Would you rather write essays that haunt you or ones you outgrow?

I am torn, but I would rather push towards growth than being stuck in the past like that.

how my past comes to haunt me when i think i have moved on.

60. Would you rather explore nostalgia or dismantle it?

Dismantle it for sure. Nostalgia is a drug that nestles itself in your mind and paralyzes your growth.

61. Would you rather write for your past self or your future self?

To my future self. My past is dead.

62. Would you rather be consistent with mediocrity or sporadic with brilliance?

Sporadic, pop in, pop out, and leave an impact for eternity.

63. Would you rather write until you’re empty or stop while you’re sharp?

Stop when you are sharp. Do not burn yourself out. You will not recover.

64. Would you rather know your limits or constantly test them?

Constantly push those limits to their natural limit, and break them to a level that will not hurt me.

65. Would you rather be disciplined enough to finish or reckless enough to start?

As stated above, disciplined enough to finish.

66. Would you rather write as confession or as argument?

As an argument. I am working on an argumentative piece right now, so watch out for that.

67. Would you rather be remembered for insight or empathy?

I want to be insightful, empathy is a crutch that people who don’t want to hear the truth lean on.

68. Would you rather build a body of work or chase a defining piece?

A body of work, the flops, the hits, highs and lows all documented for the world to see.

69. Would you rather write what you believe or what you’re questioning?

Resolving what I am questioning brings me more joy than exploring things that I currently believe.

70. Would you rather be shaped by what you read or what you live?

Oh what I live for sure. But then, in some roundabout way, I live what I read, so I am shaped by both. But I would rather real life shape me, and my readings give me escape from my real life.

71. Would you rather understand systems or individuals?

I want to understand the individuals that make up a system.

72. Would you rather be known for asking better questions or giving better answers?

If I no ask question, wetin I gain.

73. Would you rather write alone forever or collaborate once perfectly?

This is hard, because I read ABDULLAH☆ and Shakirah collab, and I do not believe I can create that piece on my ones, but then still. Wow. Maybe after a few more collabs, I would know what I prefer doing. Hey partner Fareedah Olawoyin.

74. Would you rather trust silence or fill it with words?

If there is nothing to say, is it not better to stay quiet than to make it awkward?

75. Would you rather create meaning or uncover it?

I wanna uncover it. Be the reason it is known. At least.

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What about you? Which would you rather?