on blogging...

Elliot,

Well I'd like to start off here similar to the way you began, which is by considering the purpose of the blogging tool.

I think a good analysis should begin with background information, so as to set a clear context for further investigation. In this case, the context is quite impressive: there is an empty white square about a foot and a half from my face where I can hit buttons on a black button board and through an electronic process enter pre-configured textual characters that then appear in the white square. The process begins in my mind, then goes through my fingers, and into the square. The characters are published for the universe to see when I point and click an arrow on an orange (signifying danger?) "publish post" button.

Now that the context is set, I can more clearly investigate the utility of this tool. What buttons I choose seems to be what is important here. Because others will see what I'm writing, I must consider the full consequences of clicking the "publish post" button. As you allude to in your entry, I must consider how my typing will be perceived by the world outside my mind.

You note that writing requires a higher degree of self-reflection and personal definition than non-writers. Writers, more than talkers, must filter what thoughts they keep and which they thoughts they share. This is what made the stream of consciousness writing of Jack Kerouac so interesting. His aim was to get rid of the filter between his mind and what he shared on paper. The product of his work was groundbreaking because of the window it opened into the internal dynamics of his mind. His work is weird for sure, but brutally honest.

While I don't suggest that we follow Kerouac’s stream of consciousness model in our blog - as it would likely make for a very difficult read - , I do think that we can benefit as writers by simply being aware of the filter . I think good writers strive for self-awareness. I think with awareness dishonesty becomes a lot harder and openness a lot easier, and that it ultimately makes for a much more interesting writer to read.

This leads me to your point about the benefits of this form of blogging. As an inherently interactive blog, we can aim to increase our self-awareness. You can tell me when you think I am wrong and vice versa. We can deepen our comparative perspective of how different minds work and hopefully expand the paradigms in which our minds operate. This is true as well to all those who may eventually read this blog and provide comments.

(Let me quickly note that I think you underestimate the power of person to person interaction by favoring an intellectual internet community over personal friendships. I think there is only so much to be gained in virtual language exchange. Personal interactions offer intangible human qualities that an internet community could never provide: a joke is always funnier with others to laugh with, and most would agree there to be a physical quality to loneliness. This is something we could talk more about in the future…)

To end, I like what you had to say about the importance of creating. I hope to be challenged to think differently and introspectively here. What better way to do this then by creating something which can be looked at over and over again and which others can view. I may look at this writing in forty years and learn something that I would never have learned otherwise. This blog is no different from a time capsule that can be re-examined as the future unravels and the present becomes the past.

My Mom is begging for the computer. I look forward to many future debates and discussions.

Two words: BRING IT!

Zach