-- Albert Einstein
I have, of late, been often of the mind to ask myself what the hell it is I think I’m doing. In other words, why do I have a blog? At first I thought of myself as the greatest mind of my generation, youthful exuberance and a touch of inferiority complex gives one an ego that outmatches one’s hat size. This is not my first blog, but I started this one with the idea of joining the pool of atheist bloggers. However that community has become polluted with cookie cutter counter-apologetics with a few choice sites. Look at a few of my atheist posts, I can show you a dozen like them on a dozen other blogs. For every Pharyngula and Daylight Atheism there are dozens of one note teenagers ready to spit back quotes they picked up from the God Delusion. No, the atheist blogosphere is not a place for aspirations.
At one time I pondered working out a niche in the political blogosphere. However I invite you to read any of the top 10 political blogs. What do you see? The exact same layout with an intro, a news article as reported in the main stream media, and then a party line about how this relates to a victory for their ideology. I played with that a little but it was not only tedious but repetitive. What was the point of adding my voice if it sounded like everyone else’s. Of course I’m not saying I will never blog about politics, only that I will do so when I feel I have something unique to add to the conversation.
The problem with any blogosphere community is that it requires extensive commenting and online networking. This elicits either pointless back slapping or a fruitless argument. Now we come to the meat of the matter. As I have said before public debate is unproductive with rhetorical tricks and personal attacks instead of detached reasoning. What happens when you comment to disagree with a blog post? Pointless public argument. I can name a few choice blogs with fairly good content and an awful public persona when responding to comments. Let’s keep some of those names between us, lest they come barking in my backyard.
Even when discussing argument itself I have yet to encounter anyone who believes argument will change the mind of the opponent. Most reply that it is for the betterment of the peanut gallery, a few say it “plants the seed of doubt”. Of course if they wanted to look at the opponent’s argument all they had to do was go online and check out a blog or an article supporting said view. Blogs are the death of argument, perhaps for the best. The only reason left to have an argument online is when you want to make a name for yourself (rational response squad comes to mind) or to hone your arguments. I must admit I have recently engaged in a couple of private arguments using pseudonyms purely for this reason, to write better arguments. Maybe that is the one saving grace of debate.
What does this really have to do with blogging? I feel all too often that I have nothing original to offer on many fronts. Certainly I have opinions but they have been covered before in part or in full elsewhere. So why blog? I have seen professionals and academics who have made points both contrary and in line with my opinions. They have the structure and discipline of education compared to my raw gumption. So why blog? No matter how niche my opinion or outlook is there are those who espouse it, sometimes far better then I can. So why blog? If I’m wrong, make a mistake, or make enemies then I’m screwed. This is my one true online persona through which I have been involved in a number of communities. Even if I come up with a better argument I could be known forever as the guy who made that absurd argument. So why blog?
So why blog? That question helped me step back and take a look at what I can do and what I want to do. I need to abandon any vestigial notion of becoming a “professional” blogger. I won’t win any awards, my views are niche enough not to form a following, and my writing skills need honing. What good is a blog then? Well, it’s a place for me to write out loud. I have a handful of subscribers and no commenters but writing gives me a chance to put my thoughts on paper where they can be more easily deciphered and edited. But what of the danger of thinking out loud? I am working on becoming more comfortable with being disliked. My views are going to be seen by some to be irrational and wrong. I was ready for that with my atheism because of my feeling of certainty. However there is little else I feel as certain about. Recently I watched the film Revolver, by Guy Ritchie, and it contained a line in regards to chess that felt like just the advice I needed. Consider this my new comment policy...
