Why I Blog

Why do I blog? It's not for the money. Lord, no. It's not because I like to hear myself talk. Although I confess that I'm probably guilty of that. It's not because I think my writing is any good. I freely admit to living up to Theodore Sturgeon's adage that "90% of everything is crap." It's not to persuade people that I have the answers. I'm not dumb enough to believe people are in the habit of having their minds changed because of something they read on the Internet.

After the jump, so what is it?

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When you write something online -- whether it's a one-sentence status update, a comment on someone's photo, or a thousand-word post -- you're doing it with the expectation that someone might read it.
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Studies have found that the effort of communicating to someone else forces you to pay more attention and learn more.

Source: Clive Thompson.

Yeah, I think that's it. Having to put words down on paper forces me to think harder about what I really believe. I'm not trying to convince you what to believe. I'm trying to figure out what to believe myself.

Read Clive Thompson's complete essay on how "Thinking Out Loud" helps make us smarter.

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Addendum 2022/03/11: I think this quote by Winston Churchill adds something to "Why I Blog": "Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king. He is an independent force in the world."

I don't inflate what I do to the level of talent. And I certainly don't compare myself to Churchill. But I do like the notion of being an independent force. These are my thoughts, my ideas. The emphasis on "Why I Blog" is on the "I".

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Addendum 2024/02/03: When asked by a reader whether I blogged to spur government officials to action or was only engaged in "idle musing," my first response was to say my intent was somewhere in between, but then they quoted this definition: "'Idle musing' refers to a state of contemplation or reflection. It can be used to describe quiet, thoughtful thinking or to introduce random, fun thoughts or ideas." I had to admit that with that definition, maybe my blogging was idle musing after all.

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Addendum 2024/02/05: I happened on this quote, which captures my intent in just six words. "I Write to Please my Self," Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, declared in her "Orations of Divers Sorts" (1662). Source: The New Yorker.