Comments on: Blogs vs. Classics: The New Experience of Language

By: Bible in a Year, Follow up: It’s not that big a deal! | The Journeyman Project: Blog

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:35:18 +0000

[...] than we think. A year ago a friend of mine posted an astounding analysis of this very phenomenon on his blog, and it seems appropriate to share the results [...]

By: BJ

BJ — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:59:44 +0000

I am wondering about the reading vs. scanning idea.
When you come across a more hardy read, requiring digestion, does that effect how much you are able to ingest. (i.e. read) Or, would said ingestion, be found to be more related to scanning if kept at such pace, 250wpm? I know that when I take in books that make me think, process and/or challenge moral normalcy it slows me down a bit. Am I just a rookie when it comes to processing beyond factual information?

By: David

David — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:07:17 +0000

Great insight. Irony that I’m reading a blog; not lost.

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:16:14 +0000

I had no idea there were Steelers fans here!

By: bleek

bleek — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:14:54 +0000

isn’t it curious how many of us keep reading this blog, and comments, in the face of our commitment to cut back on reading blogs? me = pot kettle black.

By: Chris Allison

Chris Allison — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:11:18 +0000

I also recently cut back on many blogs- I kept TechCrunch because I need to keep plugged in for work- but I’ve cut many of the social media “gurus” who all talk about the same thing, and many other blogs.

interesting post. dostoevsky rocks.

By: Amber

Amber — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:08:15 +0000

And I love this:

“TechCrunch. . . doesn’t develop a person morally or discuss what ought to be; it only tells us what is.”

In _The Poetics_, Aristotle writes, “The historian sees things as they are. The poet tells us what ought to be.” (And then Aristotle argues that the poet is superior).

Like all who have replied to this post, I am convicted about the time-wasting element of surfing the net. But I also see your deeper Straussian (tee hee) meaning; Robert Frost puts it poetically in “Neither Out Too Far Nor in Too Deep”:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/neither-out-far-nor-in-deep/

By: Amber

Amber — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:59:06 +0000

I love that you chose Dostoevsky and Faulkner; I feel like that’s a shout-out to your wife. =)

By: Chris Dattilo

Chris Dattilo — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:06:23 +0000

This post hit a nerve – OUCH! I am trying to cut down on blogs, twitter, and screen time in general. In my pruning, I still spen way too much time.
Laying it out like you have will help me rethink this conundrum once again. It’s time to take the pruning shears out once again.
Thanks!

By: bleek

bleek — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:09:14 +0000

I agree with Charles. I have cut out some significant time drains – reading blogs (trimmed the list to REALLY good ones, like yours :), twitter, google discussion groups, and even my own blogging. by “significant” I mean they take more time than I need to devote. I still find them fun, interesting, and often edifying.

in their place I have committed to reading a minimum of 20-30 minutes per night. this has been an amazing blessing. my thoughts are clearer, deeper (not necessarily more profound), and more extended. it’s extremely pleasurable.

I also limit TV to LOST, AFV, and major sporting events (i.e., not EVERY football game, but ones such as playoffs – go Steelers!).