#1

To blog or not to blog...that is the question. I have been on the side of not blogging so far, because blogging requires commitment and concentration, and no one would read it anyway. It's a lot of work with no clear reward. I have found more satisfaction in situations where I know that “my voice will be heard”, like entering in the middle of someone's facebook argument. It's a nomadic, somewhat irresponsible mode of social behavior. I can enter into another person's worldview, criticize it from the inside, and leave at my own convenience – or when I'm kicked out. I criticize, but leaves very little revealed for my intellectual host to criticize in turn. There is an advantage to being a small target: I risk little harm to my philosophy and ego, while maintaining an offensive debating position. But the disadvantage to these gorilla tactics is that they can only attack; they cannot defend. As I grow up and become more involved in the world, I find that there are political, philosophical, and religious positions that I want to defend. In order to defend them, I must present them, to the best of my ability, as an option or possible target to my peers. This means putting some work into building an intellectual castle, where (if anyone reads it) I can entertain the thoughts of my peers and develop my own opinions through civilized discussion. So I invite the world (or what tiny portion of the world that knows me) to enter into Der Holzburg. More coming when I decide what to write about first...