Why do you write answers on Quora?

I discovered Quora in 2014 but never wrote anything. I just lurked. As 2015 and 2016 drew on, I noticed that there was increasing focus on issues associated with membership of the European Union, prompted by the upcoming vote in the UK.

This is a subject I care about, a lot. I have worked with EU institutions since the start of my career as a regulatory policy economist in the 1990s. During my career, I came to the view that the EU’s approach to regulation was incompatible with the UK’s long-established principles of good practice. But the UK’s influence on EU policy was limited (and reducing over time). As regulation is one of the key drivers of economic performance, I came to the view that the UK’s interests were best served outside the EU.

I am not a social media type, I don’t make a big thing about publicising my opinions. But I noticed the discussion on Quora was heavily unbalanced, which I found quite annoying. In particular, I noticed the Quora discussion was:

superficial, with limited knowledge and experience of the key issues

overly tribal (probably linked to the above), with too much focus on the personal characteristics of people who voted this way or that

economically uninformed, with little knowledge of the key economic advantages and disadvantages of EU membership

Now, as someone with knowledge and experience of the economic issues, particularly the regulatory dimension but also, trade, I decided to add my thoughts to the mix. Accordingly, I wrote my first Quora answer in January 2017. Since then, I have gained a certain notoriety on the topic of Brexit, gaining lots of followers but also being singled out as a target by those ideologically committed to EU membership. That lot are convinced I’m a bad person but they can’t agree between them what sort 🤣. Watching them guess and occasionally provoking them is part of the fun.

As a private individual with no personal skin in the game, I’ve come to regard writing on Quora as an enjoyable hobby. Even the personal attacks have become part of the fun because they demonstrate the tribalism and bad faith of those who have committed themselves to an ideological position without understanding the issues.