Navel Gazing Rant

This is here for contemplation. I don't do enough introspection, I used to when I was young. I could fill my blog (if I had a blog then) with philosophical dissertations, I used to keep a notebook of all my revelations, proclamations and observations...maybe posterity would one day be grateful for these rough ideas, jotted down during moments of inspiration - finally accessible and available for academics and biographers to mull over, the thoughts of the "genius" as a young man.
Just as well that I turfed these notes. And then, I thought, wait a minute! Here I am doing it all over again. This time I'm on display for all the world to see. Or whoever cares to read what I have to say. What a giant fantabulous wank! People reading my thoughts. Who would ever have imagined that one day, people could and would masturbate their minds in such a public way?

What's even better, you could shove you dickhead into somebody else's public display of stupidity and participate in mutual mental masturbation. Virtual hostilities and hurl abuse and insults without fear of recriminations. It's the playground made in heaven for all those chicken shits who would never have the guts to put forward a comment, given the opportunity to make thier moronic remarks as ANONYMOUS.
Have you noticed how the more vicious the diatribe is, the more likely it will be anonymous?

I often wonder what is the best response to such people. Should I (a) ignore them? (b) politely disagree? (c) roll up the sleeves and let loose?

Does it matter? Who cares?

Well it does matter because nobody blogs just for themselves, no matter what they might proclaim. Blogging is interacting with other people, others that you probably would never meet in the normal course of your life. And yet, you make contact, a spark of common interest or common ideas occurs and there's a discussion, an exchange of thoughts, and exchange of ideas, and exchange of information. Emotions are expressed.

And then I realize, it's not wanking anymore, it's something altogether more glorious and fascinating than had been imagined or anticipated.

There is the question of whether people are influenced by blogging. I ran a poll to see what the response would be. Those in favor outnumbered those who thought blogging didn't influence.
And I think, in many ways which we might be unaware or unconscious, we are influenced.

I always felt frustrated with TV. It was an entertainment of last resort, and not very satisfying.
Passive viewing, being a couch potato, was a way to unwind at the end of a long hard day at work but I think that form of entertainment has run its course. People want something different and "reality TV" was popular as a novelty but quickly became stale with its audience. This was a signal that seems to have been missed by those who create TV entertainment.

I remember the early days of the net, when online chat was new. For me this was an interest that became an obsession that took over every spare moment of my life. There was the inevitable private chat rooms where you could have virtual sex, or anything else your imagination could conceive within the boundaries of the written word.
Live chat was as exciting as it was inane, a stupendous waste of time and effort but at least it was better than television. Our imaginations are always more creative without the visual impediments of TV.

So, where will blogging take me, where will it take us? When I contemplate my navel, the whole world contemplates it with me.