We are living at a time when individuality is more elusive than ever before in the history of the human experience. With six billion people and counting, the world is overflowing with others eager to take your place in the eternal climb to the top of whatever. and then there are the inevitable masses of shortfallers, those unable to achieve the impossible expectations of society.
and what of the communication of ideas? three thousand years ago, a scant handful of texts contained all the written wisdom of humanity. As time passed, the amount of printed matter increased in a linear fashion until the invention of the printing press. Then things really got interesting.
Today, the author of several books has no reasonable expectation of being known outside the narrow confines of whatever discipline or genre he writes in. The proliferation of printed matter has become ridiculous - what significance can one even find in being printed?
Yet the internet revolution has expanded this situation exponentially. Anyone, anywhere can write whatever they want. But who is listening? Does it matter if anyone is?
I say it does not. While some might like the idea of a large readership following their words with bated breath, this is ultimately a shallow motivation that is not likely to produce anything worth our still-finite time.
Do I know who reads these words? Do I believe I will somehow affect or impress them? Surely not, for who am I? Just a college student, pontificating about subjects beyond my ken. If Noam Chomsky's ideas about governmental policy are full of shit, then who am I to offer up my own alternative?
Rather, I think the matter of blogging has to do with the matter of free will and self-expression. These two concepts are, in my view, intimately intertwined, and both are perhaps at the root of man's resemblance of G-d (i.e. we are created ""in the image of G-d,"" but how so?).
The belief that one has control over one's actions is essential to mental health. Ellen Langer got tenure for her finding that giving senior citizens greater control in a nursing home environment actually increased the length of their lives. She emphasizes the significance of the ""illusion of control."" Even if it is an illusion, which she believes it is not, it is nevertheless better to believe that we have control than to know ""the truth.""
What does free will mean? It means that we are responsible for our actions, of course, but also it means that we get to decide who we are. What kind of person are you? Although temperament may have some genetic basis, and cognitive ability, surely the realm of opinion is almost entirely subjective and self-determined.
I like x and y artists (see my profile) and z and w movies (profile again). Why is it important that I make that known? Because it represents the determination of my conscious will. We discuss these matters with one another because the most interesting thing about people is the choices they make.
Along these lines, D. A. Pennebaker has found that journaling or having regular sessions of deep disclosure (talking about your feelings) has significant positive effects on mental and physical health. This, of course, connects us full circle with the whole blog idea. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, it is imperative for people to have their feelings and ideas heard. or at least to say them. and maybe online forums like this one are just what the doctor ordered.
I've heard plenty of social-network-site bashing recently, as I'm sure many of you out there have as well. While you may cavalierly dismiss such criticism as being due to the jealousy or failure of comprehension of an older generation, I think that a more potent defense of our social-networking world is more easily to be found.
The ease of communicating our ideas online, in a world where it is increasingly more difficult to have our voices heard in real life, can only have a positive effect on our mental well-being. The dramatic rise in depression during the past fifty years may in part reflect sociological trends. The cities and suburbs have become more crowded, more plentiful and more homogenous. Individuality is to be attained at an ever higher premium.
At least we have this outlet here, this naive dream that someone out there, somehow, somewhere, is listening.
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