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Comments on: media, the problem of bloggers & mind https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/ aging idealist. ai and education, open web, open publishing. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:07:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: mtl3p https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4829 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:07:04 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4829 yeah. premature is good. but it’s not enough. good.

“i guess i think it rests evenly on both sides: as a reader, i must make time to read deeper, longer texts. as a writer, i must take the time to really think thru and craft what i am writing.”

It’s funny. In the last 2-3 years I’m doing a much better job at reading (which mostly has meant *not* reading, or reading much less with more attention). My writing hasn’t received any more attention though.

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By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4828 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:13:19 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4828 @mir: “An interesting parallel to the question of the value information production, is the question of information reception.”

… yes, surely they go hand in hand ..and i agree, the web is great for information, surface and new ideas, pointers, creating connections – it’s not so good for taking the time to really understand longer-term implications. (both as a writer, and a reader).

@mtl3p: i guess i think it rests evenly on both sides: as a reader, i must make time to read deeper, longer texts. as a writer, i must take the time to really think thru and craft what i am writing.

but neither of those things exclude the more surface, immediate info inputs/outputs that the web allows. it just means that I have to make space in my life to do the other deeper stuff.

which is why i was uncomfortable with calvin’s “post” (!) about inchoate writing: i disagree with him, when he says:

“…I should want to bring forth no embryos at all if I could produce only premature ones; in fact, I should rather abandon them as abortions than bring them forth before their time…”

I think there is value in the premature embryo, especially if you consider it in the context of a huge swirl of ideas: someone else might gestate it and bring forth that idea in a fuller way. Or I might, a year or two later.

The mistake, for me, is thinking that the inchoate is *enough* (I mean, for me). The inchoate is valuable to me to the extent that it helps make something bigger, more important and more lasting.

of course the big problem is that the inchoate is just so much damned *easier.*

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By: mtl3p https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4821 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:45:09 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4821 yeah – I think there’s a question of reader investment compared to writer investment. I think the onus is for the most part on information receivers to hone their skills and to realize through experience that learning takes investment, concentration, space.

I was wondering – You saw that the title was a reference to the quote at the bottom, right? Ironically, Calvin self-published his first work and it fell like a rock. He “blogged it” in the parlance of the times. So both shame in doing what he says we shouldn’t do, and acceptance that it’s no different from the course that he took in his youth.

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By: mir https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4782 Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:04:08 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4782 An interesting parallel to the question of the value information production, is the question of information reception.

It’s not just a matter of focusing to produce “real material” but also remembering to save energy to take in meaning.

There is a historical trend towards the simplification of textual processes, the average newspaper 100 years ago was text heavy- and used a more complex vocabulary. The demands on a general intelligence were much greater than they are today. I can skim a blog and think I know what I am talking about, but the fact is that reading a book usually results in a more nuanced understanding.

So we may be making more stuff, but it is not necessarily true that our capacity to take it in, or deal with complexity of meaning is following our increased production.

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By: Legal Music Downloads >> My favorite blogs https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4759 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:38:55 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4759 ..]recommend to my readers visit and read this intresting and useful blog..]

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By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4539 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:36:32 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4539 the interesting thing is not so much us – brought up on books, we can revert to our old selves as readers and calm thinkers, once the gadgets are put away for a day or two.

but what of the young’uns, whose neural paths have been laid down not to catcher in the rye, but to hyper-info-overload, IM, email, facebook, cellphones, as well as grandtheftauto, WOW (and not to mention all the porn they could ever want). i think they will end up as very different humans – biologically.

what does that mean for the human race I wonder?

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By: Nora https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4480 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:48:08 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4480 Thanks for the shout-out, Hugh. I think that the ‘scratch pad’ analogy works very well for things like blogs and hobby podcasts, and can be a good support for more sustained work. I am worried, though, that my ability to sit and focus on one thing is slipping away from me. I can almost feel it.

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By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4122 Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:08:51 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4122 i think lanier has shaken some interesting trees (have not seen the recent article), but i’m no fan of keen – i think he’s a pompous blowhard.

i don’t think you can go to a paid model for exactly the reason britannica and NYT can’t consider themselves information distributors …info is cheap and plentiful now, who’s going to pay when it’s free over there?

in any case the question isn’t whether newspapers are good and bloggers are bad (a la keen). the question is, how do we build media that is useful, given all the tools we have now?

stay tuned to find out, i guess.

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By: Mat https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4116 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:39:13 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4116 we need to figure out how to ensure that the quality stuff, the stuff that you rightly point out takes much time and effort to create, keeps getting produced…

that’s tricky, because the rewards/incentives are not clear.

did you see jaron lanier’s op ed recent (NYT i think) where he talks about the fact that the digital idealists were wrong… and that paid content must once again reign… well i fear little can be done to reverse the current momentum, but somehow we need to figure out better quality discovery (and production) facilities. this will be critical to avoid the destruction of culture that andrew keen has been going on about

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By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/comment-page-1/#comment-4109 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:32:48 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/23/media-the-problem-of-bloggers-mind/#comment-4109 so assuming 1 person*week is 35 hrs … that’s 3.37 person*hrs per minute of audio! and the results can be heard (for ref, This American Life is about 5 person*hrs per minute). in order to get this kind of quality and richness, much work must be done. and media and the rest of us have to figure out how to protect that valuable time required to make the really good lasting stuff.

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