READ THIS: My Reflections on Blogs and Technology

It is Saturday morning and I have just begun to seriously look at the blogs. So far I'm finding some really good comments and ideas, but also some silliness that will have to be addressed. I will post my own comments later, but for now I would like to share some of my general thoughts about blogs and technology, based on some things that Kit and Laura wrote on their blogs.

One thing that caught my eye was Kit's “First Post (it’s the end of the world as we know it)” from 1/17, mostly because I have shared some of her apprehension about technology. Laura also expresses some of the same views on her blog. There might be others in the class as well who also have these apprehensions, but I have not had a chance to read all of the blogs.

When I first heard about blogs I was suspicious about them for two reasons:

First, as both Kit and Laura (the German speaker) remind us, the word blog is not a “real word” and sounds like something you regurgitate after a bad meal. Second, I was afraid it would contribute to the dumbing down of all the really important things, like history, philosophy, literature, and public intellectual debate. I was afraid that it would create so much knowledge and generate so many ideas that we would be overwhelmed by the convoluted logic and sloppy research conducted by any fool with an internet connection. In other words, we would be subject to dilettantes, amateurs who think they know more than they do, as opposed to specialists who really know what they are talking about in depth, or wise old generalists with a broad “Humanities” background.

I still share some of these apprehensions, but I have reevaluated my views:

Concerning “real words” and the ugliness of “blog:” Words are nothing more than arbitrary labels we place on people and things. As Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Words are constantly changed, forgotten, and invented – it’s what keeps dictionary publishers in business. When new technologies arise the old language cannot keep up so new words are invented. Before T.V. sets there was not a word for “television,” and I’m sure some people thought it was a pretty ugly word. However, it would be really strange to say today that “television” is not a real word. I think the word “blog” is like that and I find it exciting – when new words are invented it shows that we are in the middle of a technological revolution (like the agricultural revolution or the industrial revolution) and are scrambling to make sense of it by revising our vocabulary. We are at the forefront of history!

Concerning the dumbing down of society: The great thing about blogs is that they are open to the public, not just to fools with internet connections, but also to smart and thoughtful people anywhere. In other words, internet technology can have quality control, but it depends on the people who use the technology. Every time you personally comment on a classmate’s blog with thoughtful feedback you are doing your part to keep the internet from devolving into the dystopian catastrophe of Kit and Laura’s nightmares. Every time your blog entry is strictly some made-up craziness to try and fill a requirement, or every time you use childish one-liners, you confirm that it is babble space contributing to the fall of civilization as we know it. In other words, the value of this technology is up to you. The internet is arguably the greatest advance in the potential for democracy since the French Revolution, because it gives incredible access to incredible amounts of information. Unfortunately, this tool (and that’s all it is) can also be used for nothing but mind-numbing and distracting things that turn your brain to jelly and that manipulate your thoughts and desires. Are YOU satisfied with being a zombie dolt like Mildred in Fahrenheit 451 or are YOU ready to take responsibility for being the vanguard of history? Well, are you? ….

Confused by vocabulary? See “extra credit below” or read the comment with the vocab definitions.

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MY REFLECTION:

Okay, see what happened here? I just intended to write a quick response to a blog post that I liked so I can share my ideas with the rest of the class and it turned into something much bigger. Knowing that YOU, my class, was out there, really motivated me to try and write as well as I could with the limited time available to me and without going through a multiple draft process. Whether I was succeessful or not as a writer is another story (what makes a good writer anyway?), but the point is I took a chance by making my thoughts public. Ideas literally came “gushing” out, which normally does not happen because I typically have other minutia on my mind. A small idea, turned into a big idea, all because I was inspired by reading someone else’s post. That’s the idea! I hope that you find things on our class blogs and our class readings that also inspire you to write. Don’t be afraid to deviate from the prompts for Fahrenheit 451 if you are so inspired.

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EXTRA CREDIT

The first person who writes down the definition of these words and sends them as a comment on to this post will get extra credit, but you have to remind me at school.

Vocab words:

Dilettante

Regurgitate

Convoluted

Arbitrary

Apprehension

Dystopia

Dolt

Minutia

Vanguard