Blogging, blugging, feeling bluggerish

Zach,

I think the best way to kick off this blog is to first take a jab at the culture of blogging. I have long had the question, why blog at all? I can think of a few reasons not to: I don't want my private thoughts being broadcast when I don't know the readers. Because, what if blogging my thoughts will come back to haunt me in some form? So by that token, if I am to blog, then my thoughts will undergo some regulation, which means my writings will be a less-than-honest reflection of my ideas. (To counter this, remember when Sullivan said that he never self-edited and was not worried about judgment.) And if I engage in not-quite-the-truth expression on a regular basis, it's possible that my behavior will influence my self-image and I'll become less-than-honest in my daily expression.

(A digression: This is, I think, what occurs when we read our own profiles on Facebook: We know our interests...it was us who entered them, after all! So why do we read our own profile? I think it's to learn about ourselves. But it's the most shallow way to learn about ourselves because we created the profile. Psychologist Daryl Bem calls this behavior self-perception*).

On the other hand, I think there are tremendous advantages to blogging. First of all, how can thoughts or ideas really come back to haunt you? Dave Eggers offers a critique on our generation in A Heartbreaking Work, when we says that we should not have an inhibition to share. What does it matter if we tell people the details of our lives or spill the contents of our heads? I think one possible fear is that we will be discovered to be non-normal, and then our ideas or our selves will be discounted. But Eggers's case for sharing, I think, overcomes this fear.

A benefit offered by blogging is that it offers the same kind of personal definition that is available through writing in many other forms. If you write letters, keep a journal, or write a column for a paper, you have to undergo a period of reflecting and personal definition that non-writers simply don't do.

A point about this blog is because I am writing a letter to you and receiving a letter in response, it becomes an interaction as opposed to an individual process. New ideas will develop as a function of interaction that would not otherwise come out writing by myself. And this latter principle is a feature of the blogging world. You can find people who express interests close to your own just by searching the blogosphere. You can interact with people world away by commenting on their blog posts. For someone growing up in Farmland, USA with a lot of intelligence and interests about the world, the Internet becomes a liberating force.

I think a powerful cultural/psychological debate to have is, should a person engage people in their immediate surroundings and give up personal interests in order to pursue friendships? Or should a person give up people in immediacy in favor of an Internet community where they can truly engage their mind? I lean towards the second option, but it's worth acknowledging that you stand to lose the potential for people dissimilar from you to expand your horizons. Although if you're into Russian literature and the boys are into drinking brewskis and singing Kid Rock on tha karaoke, I don't know how much horizon expansion is going on.

(By the way, as we were driving through Indiana's countryside last July 4th, I remember pointing out how it was fascinating to consider how it was likely that every one of those houses had Internet, so children and teenagers there were experiencing a childhood completely unlike children living there before 1998/1999 (or whenever Internet penetration reached Indiana's countryside). For that matter, young countryside Hoosiers have the same experience as a kid in Manhattan or Silicon Valley. And this dramatic change--from spending time outside and watching television to spending more time on the computer interacting on Facebook and YouTube--happened in less than 10 years time!)

Another big benefit of blogging is that your writings are being attended to by other people. An obvious point, I know. But the fact that we can broadcast our ideas and interested people can tune in and read our thoughts is an intriguing idea. Rhoni told me how her friend Jeremy automatically keeps track of and shares his runs on Facebook (he uses Nike+, I think). He told her that knowing other people will view his progress is a huge motivation to run. I think this point is fascinating. Most people run for its intrinsic incentive: to keep fit and keep the body's physiology in order. Now the main motivation is extrinsic: we want others to view our runs. (Though, to be fair, I think extrinsic incentives existed before Nike+ in the form of marathons. White people love marathons.)

Lastly, I'll say that blogging has importance in one more manner that is similar to other instantiations of writing: there is a huge benefit to creating. Writing is much more valuable than talking because you're bringing something into existence in a way that has permanence.

That's it for now. Up next: Reflections on Gladwell's Outliers.

Hope you're enjoying the Florida sun,

Elliot

(* I forgot Daryl Bem's self-perception theory, so I first searched Google to no avail. Then I asked Aardvark, and before I got any responses on Aardvark, I took the question I used on Aardvark and Googled with it again. This time I got a hit. That is to say, the whole process of having to crystallize a question for others to understand made it clearer for me. Although the only person who got the answer correct on Aardvark is a fascinating young researcher situated in Cambridge. If I were to continue the conversation, it would be a fascinating connection. Think about the role of the Internet and social networks now!)