I blog therefore I am.
"Blogging is an exploration.
You start from nothing and learn as you go."
(adapted from E L Doctorow)
It's week one of the ESL weblogging project on Yahoogroups. I had a hell of the time figuring out what to do and where to post, but I think it was more due to operator error than anything else.
My first assignment for week one is to comment on the photo above. Honestly, I think the phrase "I blog therefore I am" gives a little too much power to the blog and not enough power to the person who created the blog. Blogging doesn't "make" you anything. It's only on of the many forms of self-expression that humans choose.
I think the phrase should be "I create therefore I am."
posted by Rashunda @ 10:01 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Hey Rashunda! I agree with your response: blogging is an act that sprouts from the mind first. I create, therefore I am.
I wonder how 'I am, therefore I create' changes the meaning? Is creation is a conscious act or a phenomenal reality; or both or neither. No matter...let's blog! See you soon.
Hello Rashunda,
Congratulations on the new blog! Looks nice! I am sorry to know you had so much difficulty in figuring out what to do...could you drop me a line privately and explain. Your feedback is important because we can prevent it from happening to others.
As for the comment on the caption, it is meant to be provocative. Some teachers overestimate the power of technology and think it will solve all their problems.
I fully agree with you that it is the creative energy that makes you :-) What about the adapted exploration quote from Doctorow? What do you have to say about it?
Warm regards from Brazil
Aaron and Bee,
Thanks for your comments. Bee, I'll respond tonight when I return from work. Oh, my other blog is at http://www.rashundatramble.com if you'd like to check it out.
I think the quote sums up my blogging experience.
When I started out waaaaay back in 1997-98 (excuse me while I get my cane) I had almost nothing to go on. I'd seen a few blogs, but the authors were mostly hip, mocha latte-sipping techsters living in San Francisco. I was a not-so-hip, Folger's coffee-drinking journalist living in North Carolina.
I really understood why these folks were blogging but I didn't understand "how". I knew nothing about FTPing, blogging packages, or the like. So, I opened up Notepad and started designing a page in straight HTML (crude tables and all) that looked like what they were doing.
So, not only did I start from nothing in terms of what was on my screen. I started from "nothing" in terms of my knowledge too.
What you say is truth... People's thought and intelligence is what made blogging possible. Human beings are naturally creative (with some exceptions, of course) and tools like this facilitate it quite easily!
Thinking, imagining, desiring and creating are... as far as I'm concerned, our favorites words.
Best wishes
Be:)
About "I blog therefore I am." on Rashunda's ESL blog ... Away from my computer this week, and new to blogging, I haven't had much chance to view others' blogs, so I'm sure there's a lot more to discover. So far I seem to have found three sorts:
1) utilitarian ... which is what I am most interested in. By this I mean communicating in a way that enhances relationships and serves a useful function in a community of people who are already doing something together ... such as a teacher and students.
2) confessional ... "I blog therefore I am" ... Blogs that seem to exist only to express thoughts or feelings on no particular subject of no obvious interest to others. I don't mean to be harsh, it's just that I don't understand any other purpose than the owner's need to appear on the web in order to be convinced of existing as much as anyone else. What these remarks really show is my need to see a practical use for everything, I suppose.
3) knowledge sharing ... I'm amazed at the quality of thought, and information about things that I'm eager to learn about, that is shared on some blogs. In writing ... oops, blogging ... one's own thoughts are informed and clarified too ... so I guess in fact I've answered my own question in 2) to some degree.
Thanks for making me think harder about this, Rashunda.
Ann
Hi Ann,
You wrote:
"2) confessional ... "I blog therefore I am" ... Blogs that seem to exist only to express thoughts or feelings on no particular subject of no obvious interest to others. I don't mean to be harsh, it's just that I don't understand any other purpose than the owner's need to appear on the web in order to be convinced of existing as much as anyone else. What these remarks really show is my need to see a practical use for everything, I suppose."
Hmmm. So, what's the purpose of writing a book and publishing it? What's the use of painting and displaying it in a gallery? Writing for the web falls into this same category. Maybe it is a form of the vanity press (zines, etc) but it gives the "common wo/man" a chance to be heard.
Hi Rashunda
I think you're right that blogging appeals to people because it gives them a "voice", although I see blogging as far less a permanent thing than writing a book, or even publishing something on a normal website.
I think blogging falls inbetween chatting online and publishing on a normal website. For me, it falls somewhere between synchronous and asynchronous CMC, having some of the immediacy of the former, and also some advantages of the latter (it lasts longer).
In order, I would place blogging here:
Chat - synchronous - temporary - very communicative
Blog - almost synchronous - semi-permanent - very coimmunicative (potentially!)
Forum - mostly asynchrous - semi-permanent - not very communicative
Email - asynchrous - temporary - communicative
Website - asynchronous - permanent - one-way
I don't know if you agree with me or not. I must admit, that this has just ocurred to me, so I haven't really thought it out, but I think I'll continue this discussion by opening a post on my blog : http://mirandoami.blogspot.com
Hope you're having fun blogging, and great to see a stimulating discusssion starting here.
Hey Graham,
Interesting comments and I totally agree with the breakdown. Nope, blogging isn't permanent (unless you use Waybackmachine :-)). I wonder if the non-permanence of blogging makes it less "real" or "useful" for some?
But wait, what exactly is "permanent"? If someone prints their blog on paper, does that make what they say more "real"?
Just some thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.:-)
I agree with you 100%, Rashunda!
I must add in parentheses, though, that I felt the above picture was very appropriate in that it reminded me of the way I had to *juggle* all kinds of URLs, office work, housework, online tasks, you-name-it, to keep up with the blogging course!! :-D
Susan
Tehran, Iran
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