tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8906697713462162467.post1482909920767225132..comments2024-03-26T09:05:17.508-04:00Comments on Doubt the Experts: MonologuesPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16298717917068277282noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8906697713462162467.post-58349876369668700762014-03-20T16:13:53.723-04:002014-03-20T16:13:53.723-04:00Try Google Analytics. It's like spying, the jo...Try Google Analytics. It's like spying, the joys of which, I've often found, are vastly underrated.Fariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03866017486978991106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8906697713462162467.post-43796233158026412672014-03-19T16:33:17.482-04:002014-03-19T16:33:17.482-04:00Good to hear from you, John. Actually, I have so f...Good to hear from you, John. Actually, I have so few people viewing my blog that when you said you had moved, Macintosh/Firefox/France disappeared and Macintosh/Firefox/Switzerland appeared in pageviews, it was easy tell that it was you.<br /><br />Geneva and Switzerland are one of my favorite areas in Europe. I spent two weeks there in 2000 and took trips to Italy and France with a rail pass. I assume you prefer it to Nice. I'm currently reading "Frankenstein," which is partially set there.<br /><br />I felt that my initial presentation of the blog placed an unrealistic pressure on readers to comment, and mainly wanted to relieve them of any sense of responsibility they might have.<br /><br />I fixed up my sentence spacing and will now try to work on my state abbreviations. It's been so long since I've seen the old ones that I hardly remember them any more.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298717917068277282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8906697713462162467.post-21503037239906386962014-03-19T15:40:32.054-04:002014-03-19T15:40:32.054-04:00I comment only to note that I continue reading you...I comment only to note that I continue reading your blog from my new and temporary home base (in case you were wondering). I've been tempted now and then to post a substantive comment, not about the meaning of life, to be sure, that never having been a topic of particular interest to me, but about your remarks on capitalism and inequality (I have tepid faith in both). Alas, the temptation has been all too easy to resist, as I have far too little energy after a day at the office. Work is draining enough, but then there's the rather agreeable but tiring twelve-mile bike ride, morning and evening, around the end of Lac Léman.<br /><br />Forgive me, finally, but <i>(dé)formation professionellle oblige:</i> You often use the USPS abbreviations for states; we editors prefer the AP abbreviations. That is, the ones that end with a period and are not uppercased throughout. These abbreviations are also followed by commas when they appear parenthetically (as are years, for that matter). For example: I was born August 17, 1969, in Athens, Ga., to parents of relatively slender means.<br /><br />JohnFariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03866017486978991106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8906697713462162467.post-8688770763023769652014-03-19T14:47:28.706-04:002014-03-19T14:47:28.706-04:00Obviously I agree. I was thinking of mentioning TV...Obviously I agree. I was thinking of mentioning TV, because that seems to have framed people's habits and expectations. Jon Stewart is a good example. People like the short version of the news contained in an entertaining package which they view passively. But Jon Stewart is a variation of Johnny Carson, whose motives had strictly to do with entertainment. <br /><br />At a broad social level, the passivity in U.S. looks like a result of thought control. It is never identified as such because there is no single ideologue that it can be traced to. I think it is an unintended consequence of capitalism. Ironically, the American system seems to be even more effective at producing conformity than communist propaganda.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298717917068277282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8906697713462162467.post-66289968159234395692014-03-19T14:17:41.647-04:002014-03-19T14:17:41.647-04:00An alternate way of framing your observation that ...An alternate way of framing your observation that people are generally not interested in discussion is to consider the fact that we do not live in a society that places much value on serious dialogue. The reality reflected back to us from the media, our government, and the corporate world (entities with increasingly blurred boundaries) is one in which soundbites, superficial statements intended to evoke strong emotion, and ubiquitous marketing tactics prevail. There may in fact be many people who would like to discuss the pressing concerns of our time, but have not been educated and/or socialized with the skills to do so. It takes a certain amount of practice and (more importantly) feedback from others to become any good at having a discussion. You have been able to reap the benefits of a liberal arts education, but the vast majority of the population will never get this opportunity. Additionally, consideration should be given to the amount of time it takes to craft a thoughtful response in writing to someone else's arguments. I think few people are willing to use the limited free time they have after work and household responsibilities to think long and carefully about how to come up with a counterargument to something they've read. In other words, there are very real social and economic constraints on people's ability to have serious conversations in our culture.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12533202943603657163noreply@blogger.com