Michael Wei-Chih Liu

有時候，一個決定改變了很多事。

這篇文章，是那個決定之後的故事。

那個讓我停下來想的瞬間

某一天，我盯著自己的個人網站，突然覺得哪裡不對。

網站確實存在——有網址、有頁面、有按鈕。但點開來，它只是一串連結：Medium、Substack、Facebook、Twitter……一個個箭頭，把訪客送離這裡，卻沒有一句話說清楚「我是誰」、「我在想什麼」、「我為什麼值得你認識」。

那個頁面，像一張沒有照片的名片。

我決定，這不夠。

一次意外的自我盤點

在開始動工之前，我和 AI 做了一件事：把我在網路上所有的身份找出來。

這個過程，意外地像是一場考古。

我以為自己有七八個帳號，翻著翻著，最後數出來還記得或曾經使用的是 17 個。有些是幾年前熱情滿滿開設的寫作平台，有些是當時覺得很重要的社群帳號，有些則是學術圈的識別身份。它們散落在網路各個角落，各自沉默著。

最讓我心頭一緊的發現，是一個叫 Matters 的平台即將關閉部分平台功能。

我在那裡寫過兩個帳號，累積了將近 176 篇文章。那些文字，是 2019 到 2021 年間的我——剛開始認真寫作的那段時光，留下的痕跡。

幸好，Matters 在關閉部分功能前推出了備份工具。我搶在最後，把所有文章完整儲存下來。176 篇，一篇都沒有少。

那個下午，我鬆了一口氣，也悄悄地感謝了過去那個持續寫作的自己。

找到一句話，說清楚自己是誰

備份完成之後，真正的工程才開始。

建一個新的個人網站，第一個問題不是「要放什麼」，而是「這個網站要說一個什麼樣的故事」。

我現在是醫療科技評估（HTA）的研究者，這是我希望建立且深化的現階段專業。但我同時也對 AI 與科技著迷、關心歷史與人文、思考科技和社會之間的關係。我不是一個容易被單一標籤概括的人。

我們花了一些時間，找到了這樣一句話：

「從科學到社會，好奇心是我探索世界的羅盤。」

這句話，後來成為整個網站的靈魂。每一個設計決定、每一篇文章、每一個頁面，都從這裡長出來。

一張插畫，一個關於自我呈現的選擇

建網站的時候，有一個問題我思考了很久：要不要放本人照片？

最後，我選擇了另一種方式。

我用了一張自己喜歡的插畫作為頭像——藍色的頭髮、側臉的構圖、帶著一種若有所思的神情。它不是我，但某種程度上它又很像我——或者說，像我希望自己呈現出來的樣子：有溫度、有深度，不急著把自己解釋清楚。

那抹藍色，和整個網站的色調幾乎一模一樣。像是早就說好的事。

從一頁，長成六頁

最終完成的網站，有六個頁面，每一頁都同時以中文和英文呈現：

首頁 — 讓初次見面的人，十秒內大概知道我是誰
關於我 — 更完整的自我介紹，學術背景與人生路徑
研究 — 學術發表、研究領域、專業識別
寫作 — 過去與現在所有寫作平台的整合入口
專案 — 各種跨界實驗與創作嘗試
聯絡 — 找到我的各種方式

每一頁都可以切換深色與淺色模式，讓不同習慣的訪客都能舒適閱讀。

從「有網站」到「會說話的網站」

這篇文章，就是這段旅程最新的一章。

現在，當我有想法想分享，我坐下來寫，寫完之後，一個動作，它就出現在網站上。電子報會自動送到訂閱者的信箱，部分內容也會同步出現在我的社群媒體上。

我不需要在各個平台間奔波，不需要反覆複製貼上，不需要記住一堆流程。

寫，就夠了。

這是我們花了好幾天，一起把它建起來的。

還有很多事要做

這個網站還在成長。

176 篇塵封多年的文章，還在等待以更好的方式重新出現。我的知識庫和網站之間的深度連結，還在慢慢摸索。也許還有更多我現在還沒想到的可能。

但最重要的是——

這裡，現在有了自己的聲音。

從科學到社會，好奇心是我探索世界的羅盤。

— Michael Wei-Chih Liu 劉威志

English version below

Sometimes, one decision changes a lot of things.

This article is the story of what happened after that decision.

The Moment That Made Me Stop and Think

One day, I stared at my personal website and felt something was off.

The website existed — it had a URL, a page, buttons. But clicking through, it was just a list of links: Medium, Substack, Facebook, Twitter… arrows pointing visitors away from here, without a single sentence explaining who I am, what I think about, or why I might be worth knowing.

That page was like a business card with no photo.

I decided: this isn’t enough.

An Unexpected Inventory of Myself

Before building anything new, I did something with AI: I tracked down every version of myself on the internet.

It turned out to be a kind of archaeology.

I thought I had seven or eight accounts. When I finished counting, the number was 17. Some were writing platforms I’d set up years ago with great enthusiasm. Some were social accounts that felt important at the time. Some were academic identity profiles. They were scattered across the internet, each quietly sitting in silence.

The discovery that unsettled me most: a platform called Matters was shutting down.

I had written across two accounts there, accumulating nearly 176 articles — traces of who I was between 2019 and 2021, during the years I first started writing seriously.

Fortunately, Matters launched a backup tool before closing. I managed to save everything just in time. All 176 articles, not one missing.

That afternoon, I breathed a sigh of relief — and quietly thanked the version of myself who had kept writing.

Finding the One Sentence That Explained Everything

Once the backup was done, the real work began.

Building a new personal website, the first question wasn’t “what should I put here?” It was “what story should this website tell?”

I’m a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) researcher — that’s my profession. But I’m also fascinated by AI and technology, drawn to history and the humanities, and deeply interested in the relationship between science and society. I’m not someone easily captured by a single label.

After some thought, we arrived at this:

“From science to society — curiosity is my compass.”

That sentence became the soul of the entire website. Every design decision, every article, every page grows from it.

An Illustration, and a Choice About How to Be Seen

When building the site, I spent a long time on one question: Should I use a real photo?

In the end, I chose a different path.

I used an illustration I love — blue hair, a side profile, an expression of quiet contemplation. It isn’t me, but in some way it feels like me — or like the version of myself I want to present: warm, layered, not in a hurry to explain everything.

That shade of blue matched the site’s color palette almost exactly. As if it had always been meant to be.

From One Page to Six

The finished website has six pages, each presented in both Chinese and English:

Home — A ten-second introduction to who I am
About — A fuller self-portrait: academic background, life path, research interests
Research — Publications, research areas, academic identity
Writing — A unified gateway to all my writing, past and present
Projects — Cross-disciplinary experiments and creative attempts
Connect — All the ways to find me

Every page supports both dark and light mode, so every visitor can read comfortably.

From “Having a Website” to “Having a Voice”

This article is the newest chapter of that journey.

Now, when I have something to say, I sit down and write. When I’m done, one action later, it appears on the website. A newsletter goes out automatically to subscribers. Some of it syncs to my social media.

I don’t need to rush between platforms. I don’t need to copy and paste over and over. I don’t need to remember a complicated process.

Writing is enough.

That’s what we spent several days building together.

There’s Still More to Do

This website is still growing.

176 long-archived articles are waiting to resurface in a better form. The deeper connection between my knowledge base and my website is still being figured out. There are probably possibilities I haven’t even thought of yet.

But most importantly —

This place now has its own voice.

From science to society — curiosity is my compass.