What blogs are for

"I need a blog," I said to my friend, "because I have something to complain about and I don't want to have to tell everyone over and over again. That's what blogs are for, right? Complaining to large groups of people all at once?"

Not just complaining, but telling the stories, the news of one's life, and yes the little pet peeves that we all share - all without having to repeat yourself (well except for the constant nagging of your nearest and dearest to go check out the URL...that might get old)

So what have I got to complain about? Oh nothing much, just the rampant everyday failures of my fellow man to think logically. I teach Physics to high schoolers to help them learn how to think for themselves, because they and their classmates have forgotten how to. Their other classes have prepared them for nothing more than rote memorization and regurgitation. How do I know? I am a product of exactly that system - I scored highly on almost everything high school simply because I have a fascinatingly sharp memory for small pieces of information - numbers, odd facts, etc. I need a PDA to remind me of appointments and responsibilities, I need parents and friends to remind me of my moral convictions, but the truly trivial things I can remember forever and recall with photographic clarity. Thus high school was simple.

Since then I have come to appreciate the value of actually thinking. I can't imagine where I learned to do this for myself, since high school rarely required it of me. It must have been in the Presbyterian church, which is a singularly cerebral group of theologians - the "Frozen Chosen" we have been called, for our devotion to logic at the expense of emotion. However it happened, I have developed an absolute fascination with my own ability to think logically as well as a complete abhorrence of my countrymen's disability in this area. Clearly I am blinded and biased, but that is just something I will have to mature out of. I'm betting the maturing process takes longer than the lifespan of this blog.

Why do Americans choose to listen to poor quality music, watch worthless movies, and veg out on waste-of-time television without examining its meaning, message, value, or excellence? Why have we progressed to a view of art that assumes "All modern art is meaningless, inaccessible, and looks like finger-painting my two-year-old could do, so we will judge art based solely on taste - I don't know art, but I know what I like, if you will." Why do we accept in math class that 2+2 = 4 all the time every time no matter whether or not you believe that, in history class that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 no matter whether or not you believe it, and in Physics class that gravity always pulls objects towards the center of the Earth no matter how strongly you believe otherwise - but then we turn away from that, examine religion, and conclude "What you believe is right for you, and what I believe is okay for me, let's just agree to disagree".

Why is it that our culture has descended fully into postmodernism and relativism in general? A loss of the ability to think logically. This blog is even a bit anathema to me - the whole concept is an offshoot of our mass flight to the internet, preferring virtual experiences over real ones, moving ourselves farther and farther from truly interacting with other human beings, and thereby really and truly drawing farther and farther within ourselves even as we pretend to reach the world.

Why then do I have this blog? Because I have something to complain about, and I hate having to repeat myself...