Saturday, November 14, 2009

(Some) Bloggers These Days

I was reading through a few blogs when i stumbled upon two threads which link all the authors of the blogs:-

a) They are self-centred

b) They are hopelessly prone to self-justification.

The first thread is perhaps what makes these blogs interesting. Blogs are these amazing conduit through which the thought and behaviour of the bloggers can be deciphered. Most can't stop complaining about their "dreadful" lives when there are more unfortunate people who lack nutrition or education or freedom.

I am not sure whether it is right to say that the urban society is inherently insular. Nonetheless, John told me that the urban individual is less likely to be aware of and help other people compared to rural individual because there are simply too many "distractions" in the fast-paced city life. I can't help but hypothesize that one of these distractions may include being distracted with the self. High expectation, stiff competition and the thin margin between failure and success are responsible for the high stress level but could this be extended to explain self-centredness?

The second thread is somehow more subtle. When we were much youngers, mistakes were part and parcel of childhood. We have done something wrong and therefore receive retribution. With age comes egoism and the belief (whether justified or not) that we are sufficiently enlightened to argue against the perceived "wrong". When things don't go our way, most of us complain thinking that by doing so, we would feel better after such self-justification.

Strangely, it is not difficult to spot that people often complain about the same thing over and over again. Is it because they have not found the solution to the problem? Or are they just wallowing in their muddy pool of pain, hoping for the rain of sympathy to wash all the sludge away?

I strongly believe in blog as a personal space where one can write down outrageously creative ideas that just pop up in the head. I believe that it is an avenue for self reflection i.e. to review what has been done so far and what more could be done. Certainly, the role of a blog extends beyond complaining.

Before I go further, I should probably slap myself twice. Who am I to stop people from exercising their freedom of speech? Am I supposed to justify myself here and now? Probably not....

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