A Lack of Interest Rather than Focus

Unfortunately for mister Carr, he isn’t the first person to come up with the argument that the Internet and Google are making our generation dumber.   It’s called evolution.  If we didn’t have evolution we’d all still be shitting in dirt and trying to make fire—then think how hard it would be to get caught in the narrative or strolling through prose.  I’m sorry but we’re a generation of multi taskers—we do eight things at once and sometimes we don’t put 100% into everything we do but things still get done.  Carr is living in the Renaissance days, which have long since come and gone.  He blames the Internet’s accessible information for his complete lack of focus—maybe instead of handing off blame he should take responsibility for not taking the effort to stay on track.  I am by no means saying that he is the only one that has a lack of concentration when it comes to technology—there is so much out there in the unknown that is readily available, its hard not get distracted and want to explore the endless caverns of information. 

I however condone the fact that they cannot disconnect themselves in order to read something like “War and Peace.”  Of course it’s lengthy and thick and complicated but if you put in effort isn’t it worth it?  If I had more time in life to sit and read minus distraction I’d be more than willing.  Over break for three days all I did was read—finished the “Hunger Games” trilogy.  Maybe those books aren’t the same as “War and Peace” but they still take concentration, which obviously I was able to prove I still posses.   I just don’t understand why Carr is so upset, you can ask most college students and I bet a good percentage have read a lengthy intellectual book, wither by choice or for a class.  I don’t think our problem is concentration—I think the problem is people are still trying to get liberal arts majors to do math.   I’d say there is a high probability that a Bio major wouldn’t really want to read “Don Quixote” or “War and Peace” because it isn’t of interest to them.  I think concentration is not a problem when whatever you’re reading has some interest to you.  I can tell you 9 times out of 10 I’d probably skim anything to do with science, but I know id read ever word in a history book.  It all comes down to interest.

Don Quixote, Harris, and a dash of Sullivan

In Harris’ view books, movies, plays, songs, paintings, sculptures, photographs, cartoons, videos, billboards, advertisements, web pages, as well as objects hold some type of meaning to their users.  However he also says not everything is a ‘text.’  “Texts refer to object that can be shelved, filed, or stored, and then retrieved and reexamined” (Harris 11).    So I can see how what Harris says is very relatable to Sullivan they both agree that their main mode of writing, is something that can be looked back on and examined.  Harris also goes so far as bringing up Jorge Luis Borges who decided to rewrite a chapter in the classic “Don Quixote.”  I’d say blogging is very similar to modernizing a classic novel.  I think Sullivan had to be original with his bloggings—more honest just like Borges probably had to be while rewriting.  “Of course, the idea of coming to terms also emphasizes that we are dealing here with words, with connecting your language to that of the texts you are reading.  Such work involves a dialectic between paraphrase and quotation” (Harris 15).  I think this part of Harris’ argument for writing is what got me to connect it to blogging.  It seems to me that blogging is a rather freeform type of expression.  At the same time though it must also be truthful to whatever the blog is about.  While reading Sullivan when he talks about writing about 9/11 there was complete connection between what was going on and the language that he used to describe it.  I can’t say I 100% agree that blogging is a real source of valuable writing but I do believe it has something very honest and important to express.

The Internet Addicts of the World

The world has transformed.  It is no longer a place where paper and pencil is for recording everything.  This is the age of the computer, Internet, i-pods, video games, and technology in general.  There is no denying my generation of students relies heavily on technology.  I feel like the only ones free of technology are the simple "uncivilized" of the jungle or those that live an Amish lifestyle.  In our society and more specifically at our school technology surrounds us, and we constantly are using it.  


After looking over my class mate's blogs I discovered the obvious--everyone at one point or another during the day visits at least 2 or more unacademic sites.  Like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,Stumble Upon, Netflix, and plenty of other time wasting sites.  Of course a few hours are wasted on sites like blackboard, Web central, The New York Times, or on blog sites for class.  I think a lot of my habits are the same as my classmates, checking Facebook quickly to see if any new notifications have popped up, or looking at something interesting that Yahoo has posted on their home page.  Yet I'm not sure how to compare how much I read and write regular material that isn't on the Internet.  It would be interesting to see how many people actually try to read their own book outside of class or who writes in a journal daily.  So much time is focused around the distraction of the Internet, we all forget to go back to basic reading and writing that we learned as children

Music in the Air

The hours I spend tapping away on my computer don’t usually consist of reading or writing academic papers or Facebook updates for that matter.  The majority of my time, as I recently discovered is focused around music sites.  Pandora, You tube, Hype Machine, and I-tunes and clog my computers open windows and history browser.  I never noticed it before how often I rely on music.  It plays on my phone walking to class, while I do homework, and while I’m just sitting around—music fills the air around me.

This isn’t to say I never visit Facebook, cause I obviously do.  If I didn’t I would probably be out of the loop on a ton of stuff.  However looking back at my browser history although Facebook was a constant, it wasn’t like I spent four hours looking through some random girls pictures that went back all the way to the 6^th grade.  Call me crazy but I don’t need to stalk a person’s profile information to get to know them.  That’s what talking is generally for.  My habits do draw me onto a variety of different websites, thanks to the ever addicting Stumble Upon.  Stumble Upon is perfect and awful at the same time.  It builds a profile around your interest and searches for sites it thinks you’ll like, and more often than not it succeeds in finding something interesting.  So more than an avid reader or blogger on the Internet, I’m more of a browser and music lover at heart.

An Honest Source of Expression feat. Andrew Sullivan

There is a thrill that comes from instantly posting your own thoughts and ideas on the Internet for the world to see.  It’s a little bit scary and at the same time very important to do so.  Blogging is instantaneous, there is no approval of sources, or years to revise and edit—there is only that moment to write and submit knowledge for the world.  It is my understanding that Andrew Sullivan views blogging as a valuable source of writing because it is one of the few ways for a blogger to be completely exposed to their readers. 

Sullivan makes a good point in arguing for blogging as a genuine source of writing by bringing up the honesty that goes into it.  There is an openness to blogging that isn’t present in new papers, magazines, or on TV news reports.  “Blogging requires an embrace of such hazards, a willingness to fall off the trapeze rather than fail to make the leap” (Sullivan 3).   Sullivan consistently writes about the closeness that he feels with his readers because of the honesty he expresses while writing his blog.  It seems as if the reason he finds blogging so legitimate stems from the freedom of bloggers to respond to an event personally and immediately.  He mentions the vividness that came along instantaneously with the events of 9/11.  The freedom for he to connect with all his readers in a matter of seconds in a way that a newspaper and TV news report can never do.  Blogging is its own form of writing, very similar to a diary, yet public to the world.  It allows anyone to share his or her thoughts in a matter of seconds and allows honesty—good or bad to flow across the 

The Start of Something New

And so it all begins... Well maybe not everything, but at least my blogging adventures begin with this—my very first blog!  It's interesting how many people around the world actually blog about their lives on a daily basis, and even more amazing how other people read it.  I can’t seriously imagine anyone wanting to read what I have to say about the random coming and goings of my life.  Alas here goes my attempt to adequately illustrate the inner workings of my mind through blogging for my writing class.

I imagine making a really great blog would be strenuous and take a lot of effort, however this blog has not been like that (at least not yet).  I found from the construction of this blog, my biggest challenge didn’t come from the words that the page showed but more the aesthetic appearance I wanted my blog to express.  I feel like the only way to attract a modern reader is to catch their attention, create something that draws them in to read your thoughts.  After all, the main goal of a blog is to get members of society to read what you have to say and give their opinion on the matter.  It probably becomes a good way to vent frustrations and opinions as well.  I suppose blogging can be a lot like writing more or less, as of now I would compare blog writing to that of diary writing—unscripted, honest, and very few people read it (no offense to big bloggers).  However I do agree that blogging can be a legitimate way to get thoughts across to millions of people—words is a powerful thing, it just depends how they are manipulated.