I deactivated as a sort of safeguard. I had transferred all of our company/project pages to my business partner at the time of deactivating. If something went wrong that prevented him from accessing those, I wanted to have a way to get back to them.
Like I said in the post, I’ll sign in one more time in the weeks ahead, and delete the account altogether.
As for the company/project pages, it’s not as though I intend to use them again. (I did delete a few outright.) That said, I also didn’t want to leave those urls/names open for someone else to grab—and spam from.
I understand your frustration with folks posting on Medium—and turning life/work events into a type of promotion. That said, while some do this purely as a marketing ploy, I think some just want to share their experiences.
Personally, I just like writing. I enjoy thinking through an argument/idea and seeing if my thoughts hold up. That’s part of why there were so many links in the post; they served as a way for me to force more research and find the gaps in my thinking—which, typically, there are many.
I try to be honest in my posts, and share the struggles I’ve experienced. To me, this adds a cost to them. For example, in this one: http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/in-pursuit-of-mental-plas... I admit to past beliefs I’m deeply embarrassed by. I know some will probably think less of me for even acknowledging such biases/stupidity, but without such admissions, I’m not sure the writing is worth much.
I’m carrying on, which perhaps also reinforces your point. That said, I read your initial comment and just felt shitty. I didn’t write this post to sell anyone anything, or trick anybody. It was just something I felt I needed to write down somewhere, and I thought others might also find the reasoning useful.