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Posted September 21, 2002
Everyone's a critic.
Well, so it is commonly said.
But this common saying has it wrong. A few people are critics. The rest are criticasters.
Now that blogs are everywhere, and get so much attention, the inevitable has happened and the critical have cast their eyes toward the blogs themselves. The result? They say things of varying perspicacity.
From Jesse Walker's blog I learn, courtesy of the criticism of Martin Wooster, that bloggers commenting on bloggers have no life.
But, I doubt if Mr. Wooster would say that critics commenting on critics have no life. Nope, I bet he only means to say that bloggers should be strung out on a rung or two below the critic — who, we all know, is lowly enough.
But I'm dubious about this wisdom. (Yes, I know, it was mere joshing.
) All bloggers have lives, if only to blog. To say that this is inglorious, and thus no life, is a value judgment I won't make.
And I certainly won't follow the thought through to its natural conclusion: that reciprocal commentary is a bad thing.
Bloggers commenting on other bloggers are debating, thinking out loud,
and sometimes even rethinking. The critical thinking that goes on amongst the Blogs is very healthy, and only the most recent version of the intellectual community that the Internet has spawned. To say this is no life
is to suggest that debate should be beneath us. Perish the thought; we don't want thought to perish, do we?
And not only is debate good for us individually, surely it is good for us together, in whatever collective our collected posts and ripostes make.
My only complaint about the Blog phenomena is that not enough debate goes on. Reciprocal commentary should increase. And not only increase, become more effective and organized. I foresee a more orderly reciprocity to the present haphazard debates. I see the many blogs and professional articles linked in more interesting ways. I have an idea about the technology that would do this, a technology better than now present on the Web. (Internet wizards may inquire; let's start this up soon!) And this new organization would encourage more real debate, and less mere blogrolling.
For now, I've got to get back to my life.
NOTE: Nothing in the above should be construed as evidence that this site — Instead of a Blog — is a mere blog. Perish that thought!
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