esoteriic.com

I'm not a fan of blogging. I don't like the implications of the word. In the vernacular sense of the word a blog is a diary or journal of personal events. Using the general definition of the word 'blog' then even this website is a blog. I'll admit to knee-jerking everytime someone mentions the says 'blog' or 'blogging'; I can't help but think about all those mundane blogs detailing people's personal lives. The events and thoughts of most personal blogs are dull. Even my own daily routine is uninteresting but that's not to say what I study is dull.

When I read a comment on youtube I might laugh but rarely (if at all) are we provided with a profound statement that encourages deeper thinking. Most status updates on Facebook are mundane snippets of people's lives: "I'm updating my status while drinking tea / sitting on the toilet / messing around at the library." Everyone can relate to these modes of being but they are not what I would call interesting or thought provoking. A look over at livejournal and we can see myriad posts about people's lives but I'd wager that most of the entries are uninspiring.

Personal blogs encourage herd mentality: the author wants the reader to like them, they'd rather the reader agreed with them or shared their experiences. Commonality in thought is found and the pair can act as metaphorical crutches for each other. Only by promoting populist ideas can the author become someone whom is liked and understood. I hold this method of communication (and being) in disdain. I'd rather someone explained reality without sugar coating it. If a topic is controversial but logical then I want to understand it -- no topic should be taboo in academia. I feel more compelled to read something that is unconventional, contrarian or controversial because it is likely saying something that people can't handle emotionally. Life is tough and unfair. Reality is harsh. Time doesn't wait for anyone and the universe has no morality. Did nature ever stop to think about how many lives will be taken in the next disaster? Nope. Is it fair that taxpayer money is used to bail out banks? Nope. The latter is something that can be avoided by choice while the former is not. The lesson is still the same: life is unfair. No matter how hard we try to make life fair for everyone it will never work. There is no absolute definition of 'fair' or 'just', the universe does not provide one.

Blogs that act as crutches among social groups choose to ignore the harshness of reality. Sure they might pick out supposed injustices in the world but none will reason that this injustice is in fact a human construct. Something is proposed as injust via a constructed worldview. Such blogs / posts are dull, the ideas are old and regurgitated. Only one conclusion is permitted: the populist one built from ad hominem arguments.

While I prefer websites that provide articles and discussions, I don't have to agree with the article but I enjoy being made to think and learn. Hence I like to set myself and this website apart from livejournal type blogs. This website focusses on articles about anything I find interesting (my bias) but provides almost nothing about my personal life or feelings. The nature of the articles are academic (analysis/ explanation/ opinion/ reasoning). There is a bias towards topics that I enjoy and find interesting but I think that is wide enough in scope that almost anyone can find something interesting to read about. Once this site has been established for long enough then I hope to explore topics from the arts to physical sciences: music, history, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, physics, economics and so on.