Is it worth writing a blog?
I am led, today, to ask whether it is worth writing a blog. Now, this might seem like a funny question from someone who has written about 1400 posts...but it is one that has been prompted by the experience of the past few week or so.
I have been receiving enormously offensive, hurtful and spiteful anonymous comments - which I have not posted - on some of my recent articles, in particular the one about Singapore's Intellectual Class. The venom in these comments is so intense, so violent, so disgusting, that it has brought me to the point at which I am considering not writing anymore, on the internet.
Whilst the internet affords many opportunities for positive self expression, it also allows the worst people in the world, to attack others, anonymously. I am very tired of it. I write, always, for a positive purpose. I am trying to achieve some good in the realm of ideas, understanding and social development. Yet, sometimes, I am viciously attacked for it - in an extraordinarily abusive fashion. It isn't right.
Now, I must say, I do enjoy and have enjoyed my correspondence with many interesting, intelligent, thoughtful, and even kindly people around the world. Yet, so intense is the unpleasantness of some of my recent anonymous commenters, that I am thinking of foregoing these pleasures, so that I never have to endure the insanely hostile comments I have been receiving, ever again.
I realize that I have two choices I can make: the first is to stop writing altogether, never post again and turn off all comments so that I never have to receive any more hate mail. The second choice, is a "halfway house" - and that is to turn off anonymous comments, and see if that improves the tone and civility of the comments I receive.
I shall decide in one week from today. So, please, if you are a civil anonymous commenter, feel free to comment in that period. Thereafter, please secure yourself an online id, if I decide to continue blogging and receiving comments, with identification. (4.53 pm I am enjoying our correspondence, so please get yourself an online ID, if you wish to continue...)
I will add this: if all my readers could see the unpostable anonymous hate mail I have received over the years, you too would not want to write anymore. You would also have a very low impression of that portion of "humanity" that would shelter behind anonymity to hurl hate, spite and insult, at another human being, who is simply trying to express ideas in a way that they can be understood.
I have some thinking to do on this matter. I would like to thank everyone who has commented intelligently, benignly, productively or humanely. I have had many enjoyable internet conversations, through you. Thank you very much. As for the hate mailers: why are so many of you American? (Many of the others are Singaporean). Just what is wrong with those two countries that they can breed so much hate? Given the kind of sentiments I have seen expressed by a minority of commenters, from those two countries, I really don't think I could ever live, in either place. I would not be comfortable, living there, knowing that there are people in the society around me, capable of writing such things, to people they have never met. It is loathsome.
Thank you to all those who are worth thanking. As for the others, I hope fate gives you what you deserve. I shall decide soon. Either this blog will fall silent, forever, or there shall be no more anonymous comments permitted.
(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html
I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.
My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/
Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/
This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)
Labels: anonymous commenters, blogging, hate mail, is it worth writing?, the internet is an awful place, tired of all the abuse
32 Comments:
I would suggest (for what it is worth) to turning off Anon comments then allowing the venom to come through...after all most of it will only prove your point. When a question is asked for the purpose of intelligent discourse and the replies are venom it usually means that a raw-nerve has been touched.
Thank you for the suggestion, Anthony, I shall consider it. However, one issue does emerge: I have a family, and I don't really want them to read venom, at all.
Re. "raw nerve". Yes, some people seem to have them...but I intend to evoke, thinking, not raging.
I have some reflecting to do.
Kind regards
If you strongly oppose shunning of freedom of expression, aren't you doing the same? Dual standard I can see, cheers.
Mr Cawley, I am a Singaporean Chinese. That being said, I want you know I do agree with what you have had stated in your post regarding the 'Intellecture Class' that LKY proposed. It is laughable to 'import' talents as if it is just another commodity. But then again, the powers that be are not 'creative' enough to nurture our very own talents and intellectual class, like Ainan and many others.. What we have created are scholars who are good in passing exams and staying within the box.
A blog is also a platform to share one's ideas and views. This is your blog and you are fully entitled to your views and while people may disagree, they should be 'gracious' and not resort to name-callings and passing venomous remarks.
Lastly, I appreciate your blog and views. The Chinese have a saying that bystanders almost always can see clearer what is going on.
Err...no. You appear confused. There is no double standard here, there is a STANDARD of behaviour here. You seem to understand little about civilization if you think that hate mail is part of it. Freedom of expression is vital. However, it also comes with responsibilities which are even more vital. Those hate posters are in breach of those responsibilities in a big way.
Dear Singaporean Chinese. Thank you for your comment it is refreshing. It is good to hear that you support my view of the intellectual class situation in Singapore. It doesn't have to be that way, and there are long term, educational and societal solutions. However, immediate results are wanted...hence the import model.
There is much wisdom in the Chinese saying you refer to. I think that, by being a bystander, I AM equipped to see more easily certain aspects of the situation. It is a pity, however, that that is not more widely appreciated.
Best wishes to in Singapore. Your implicit well wishes are much appreciated. Thanks.
For what it's worth (while you deliberate the fate of this blog) I am going on record as someone who has enjoyed your writing. I found your blog to be a seed of intelligent discourse even if it has been hijacked by venom bearing comments. It is all the more refreshing to find such a blog originate from this part of the world where often it feels like living in an intellectual/cultural desert - speaking from the Western point of view. Obviously there is a culture here but it is for one or another reason beyond my reach as a non-native (speaker).
You ask what is wrong with these two countries, referring to USA and Singapore. May I offer a different context in which to couch this question? That is, what is missing in those two countries that results in such bigoted outbursts. Seeing through the filter of right or wrong may not be an effective way to glean the essence of the issue.
One last thing that I wish to comment on is that oftentimes I felt like applauding you for the courage that you've shown in characterizing the world around you the way you see it instead of bending your views to the prevailing ones. perhaps you've not made it clear that these are your views as you've observed them from your individual point of view. That distinction is often lost for it seems to be a subtle one.
What follows might open up a philosophical discussion. I've wondered at times who is responsible for the message being communicated. Is the person delivering the message responsible for modulating the message such that the audience can receive that message? Or is it the responsibility of the audience to apply thought and discernment in order to make sure that they have received the message correctly? Obviously the issues here is more than just the mechanics of communication. The issues as I see it is the colour and tone of the communication as well as the content which were not agreeable to some. Given though that the audience is free to read or not to read those who are not happy with what they read are free not to read it.
It is more than that still, because you said that you do not want your family to ever read such venom as you have alluded to. You propose to censor it from them. Equally those displeased readers might have similar intention and are showing their outrage at the material being published in the first place.
I wish that we all were able to carry on a dispassionate, well reasoned and ego-less discourse on any topic whatsoever. Obviously that is but a wish as the prevailing reality is not that.
Lastly, we are all seeing the world as much as our eyes will show it to us and no more. And some of us go through our lives with eyes closed, others have them somewhat opened and yet others seem to see so much more. Yet we all have blind spots.
Cheers. And I wish you good deliberations and making an empowering choice.
Dear Slawek,
Thank you for your erudite comment. I am happy to hear that you have enjoyed my writing. As for me: I enjoy yours! (At least this post, that I have seen).
Much of the venom, at times, amounts to personal attacks, Slawek - so it is not so much a wish that I had not written, but, perhaps, a wish that I did not exist. It is isn't funny to read them. I find it upsetting.
Yes. I write of my world view. It seems, however, that there are those who do not accept that someone should have their own world view and express it. It is most disheartening.
Yes. You are right. This part of the world needs more commentary of the kind I have been providing, not less. There is too little public thought going on.
I wish I could write more at this moment...but I am disquietened by the nastiness I have had to read in recent days.
Thanks for your well wishes and kind and thoughtful words. They are appreciated.
Eh?
Mr. Cawley, I had just subscribed to your blog in Google Reader after chancing upon it a few days ago (I know I'm a little late). What's the point of me doing that if you're planning to fall silent forever?
Your blog is an excellent read. It'll be a shame if a voice like yours disappear.
im so sorry that i hurt you these much. i love ur blog. i've been reading ur blog since 2008. but, i just hate the way that u comment on the commenters in previous entry. it is just not you.
but, after all, its all depend on you to continue this blog or not. i think, all great man can overcome with negative comments. because they got that a lot than positive one.
happy blogging.:)
~wan the patriot
Valentine, again, I'd follow the money trail. Here in the US, a huge industry is devoted to conventional, state-run education. The idea that most kids would be better off without it stirs fear in a bunch of folks. They genuinely care about kids and hate the idea that their professions (or belief in the system) might be causing more harm than good.
As far as blogging goes, if you express an opinion publicly it's inevitable there will be reactions. The more different the opinion, the stronger the reaction. I'd just chalk up hateful comments to having said something thoughtful and worthwhile. It's a rite of passage for independent thinkers.
Personally, I hope you continue writing. My wife and I are planning to start having kids in the next year and I really appreciate your thoughts on raising prodigies. Of course we'll home school but most of what I see in the homeschooling community is just state-run education at home with individual religious values inserted. I haven't found any resources by people who have directed a child to real creative thought and mastery of any academic material.
Re: comments, if you migrate to WordPress, there's a good amount of control on commenting. Should you want to filter out offensive language, you could do that. Another option is to only allow trackbacks. That way people can only comment by commenting on their own blogs. Another good feature is the ability to subscribe to comments so a commenter would be notified if there was any follow up.
I appreciate your writing and hope you continue it.
It seems, or is rather obvious, that the comments you've received recently have struck a chord in your very identity. The reverberations from this experience have been most unsettling, even until now. I suppose you are struggling to reconcile such extreme views or such unadulterated and focused outbursts of hate with the goodness, kindness and love that you know and have an experience of. Or perhaps not. I did go out on a limb with that "insight".
What drives me to write this is that I am deeply saddened to read of your pain. I wish that you are able to transmute this experience into one that will leave you empowered and free to express yourself fully.
While you are so shaken that you are not able to write it may not be apparent. What I see, is a great opportunity for you in the face of this assault. One frame of mind you may find helpful is that the challenges we have thrust upon us are there to leave as stronger and wiser for the experience. And they are always just big enough but not too big to overcome. Given the perspective of time you may even look back with a sense of gratitude for the growth surt that you have gone through. I am not saying that metamorphosis is a painless experience - far from it.
Lastly, take a look at nature. It uses manure (venom) for it's growth. Isn;t human nature fashioned in a similar way?
Dear Chickenwaffle
Thank you for subscribing to my blog. I am sorry that you did so only recently. Please check back in a week or so to see how I decide to go. Thanks for reading...and appreciating my writing.
Wan the patriot. Thanks for your apology. However, though your comment was negative, it was not the strongest comment by far. The really offensive ones were much much stronger (in particular a couple from the US...and others from places unknown).
Yes. There are more positive than negative comments, but sometimes the negative comments can be truly disturbing in their sheer nastiness. I do wonder how anyone can write such things to someone they do not know, on the internet.
Best wishes.
Dear Louis,
Thanks for your advice regarding Wordpress and comments. I will look at it but migration is unlikely since I have so many inbound links on this blog now.
Regarding your children, I wish you luck on homeschooling them. In some countries that is not even an option. Funny though you should mention religion because many of the Asian homeschoolers we have met are doing it for religious reasons, too.
Re. reaction to independent thinkers...it is sad, because quite a few are hounded into silence by the nasty netizens. I have found examples of bloggers, whose interesting work has been cut off due to abusive responses...they just couldn't take it anymore. I can understand that.
Good luck with raising your future kids...and thanks for your supportive words.
Dear Slawek,
You write beautifully. Thank you for trying to reframe, for me, my view of the experience into a positive one. I am not sure that I will ever be able to see it as such...but thanks for trying.
The difference between humans and plants is that plants are nourished by manure...humans usually wither beneath the human equivalent.
Yes. The comments have been deeply, personally offensive and wounding. Also they are completely uncalled for...it is quite a shocking experience.
Best wishes to you. Keep writing yourself. It is worth reading.
Dear Slawek,
You write beautifully. Thank you for trying to reframe, for me, my view of the experience into a positive one. I am not sure that I will ever be able to see it as such...but thanks for trying.
The difference between humans and plants is that plants are nourished by manure...humans usually wither beneath the human equivalent.
Yes. The comments have been deeply, personally offensive and wounding. Also they are completely uncalled for...it is quite a shocking experience.
Best wishes to you. Keep writing yourself. It is worth reading.
Please don't stop posting D: Or at least get a private Facebook or something! I don't know where I'd be in raising my son, or even "believing" he can do what he can, without your posts!
I'll beg if I have to :(
Dear Ishy,
Thanks for your appreciation of my writing. I am happy to hear that it is helpful to you, in raising your child.
The issue I face at present is whether it is worth writing the blog, when I have to deal with the world's most seriously unpleasant comment posters, as a consequence. I have come to understand that there are some really nasty people out there...and all you have to do is write something a little controversial or just a little different, and you will attract them. It is really perturbing, at times, what they say.
So, I am just taking some time to think whether it is worth all the negativity, that writing in freedom, attracts. If I wrote what everyone else wrote, I suppose I wouldn't get any such attacks...but then, I wouldn't be really writing, would I? I am not going to do that. Either I am going to write what I wish...or not at all.
Please check back next week to see how my thinking is then.
Thanks, Ishy.
i see you have succumbed and hae finally posted ainan on wikipedia :D
Mr. Cawley, I hope you don't stop blogging on account of some rabid posters, for I enjoy reading your thoughts on a variety of things. Your insights on children, intelligence, perception, learning and social issues have provided much food for thought, and I've been chewing over a couple of questions to ask once I've decided how best to frame them.
I live in a housing co-op in the immigrant urban core of a large city. Of course there are kids, and we know them well. And there are two of them (brothers) who strike me as highly gifted due to their retentive memories and their quickness to grasp things to an uncanny, and (unfortunately) exploitative degree that frightens some. They are literally exploding with energy at times, wreaking havoc (often enough that neighbours fear and sometimes openly predict that they might wind up in jail, or shot one day). To explain why, exactly, would make an intended brief comment of encouragement rather too long, and it would be inappropriate. (This is just to give you an idea of one reader's perspective and motivation for reading your blog.)
But back to the subject at hand, i.e. cyber-bullies, etc., it would be so discouraging to imagine these hate posters having the satisfaction of silencing you. I don't know if it's a growing trend, but I have witnessed quite a few intelligent and generous people attacked in a most backward and cowardly way. I'm sure you have a great deal of your own insight as to what might motivate them. And I hope that you can resolve it. In any case, try to take heart in the appreciation of some of your readers.
Cyen, Montreal
Re. Ainan on Wikipedia. I puzzle at what you mean: Ainan has long been on Wikipedia. Various people have posted about him...then various other people have taken the posts down, for reasons unknown, for the past three years. Ainan being on Wikipedia is not a new thing. What is new, however, is that the information there, now, is correct, since sometimes it has been not quite.
Thanks.
Hi Cyen,
The kids you speak of, look in danger of misapplying their gifts. I hope not, however. Some criminals are rather clever - and perhaps they might have started out as the two kids you speak of are doing. I think one element is missing from their lives: moral and social guidance. Hopefully, someone will enlighten them before it is too late.
Regarding cyber-bullies: there are some awfully unpleasant people out there, evil even. I think the internet allows them to vent their true natures and feelings anonymously, so they do. The people who hate intelligent people for instance (out of a lifelong jealousy, perhaps) spend their time doing just that: pouring hate over those they perceive as smart. No doubt there are many categories of victim. In Korea, the celebrities get a lot of online hate - and, as a result, they have an horrific suicide rate - an uncountable number of Korean celebrities have killed themselves in the face of this online barrage of hate.
What other examples do you know of intelligent people being attacked online? Should this, indeed, be a trend, then it would be very sad for the quality of discourse on the internet: gradually, those who had been striving to make an intelligent contribution would fall silent...leaving the net to those who are so ordinary as to excite no comment, or attack of any kind. It would be a dull unnourishing future.
Thanks for your comment, Cyen. Great name by the way. Please check back next week when I plan to have made a decision on what to do next.
"...but I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from."
"Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this, the peak of your civilization. I say your civilization, because as soon as we started thinking for you it really became our civilization, which is of course what this is all about."
-Smith of the Matrix
There is far more truth to the dialogues in the three Matrix movies than more would care to think or realise.
Smith said something about deference to authority, if you listen (or read) carefully. Far too many simply let figures of authority think for them.
"Denial is the most predictable of all human responses."
- The Architect of the Matrix Reloaded
Which is to course the responses that you received. On a more positive note,
"Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness."
- The Architect of the Matrix Reloaded
"That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are."
- Trinity of the Matrix
I see no need to add anything more, for the 3 movies already revealed all that one needs to know.
Historically speaking, the more a change is needed, the more it's resisted; the more words are required, the more they're incinerated, flagellated, suffocated, prohibited; the larger the idea, the more violent its opposition; the more brilliant and creative the mind, the more scathing the ridicule, unmerciful the disdain, and sometimes unappreciated the concepts until posthumous points.
Perhaps the more this world tells you to give up,the more resistance you encounter --- the more a universal higher power is telling you you're onto something really important. Maybe it's saying you have potential for some significant good beyond the unchallenged status quos. Ordinary things face little strife because they're no threat; greatness, however, is always burdensome be it scientific, logical, artistic, literary, or conceptual. Would you face the same strife if you were posting pictures of sneakers, or talking about restaurants, or talking about those recalcitrant curtain rods and IKEA returns? Probably not.
Perhaps your present adversity is actually a compliment to you, even if it feels like a curse. I feel like you have something important to contribute here.
I truly enjoy reading what you have to say, and I hope you wont silence your voice. I learn something new each time I visit nearly, and even when I don't I'm compelled to look at things from a new perspective (which is often more valuable than new information). I was identified as gifted as a child. I can't say that the term means much to me now, at twenty-seven, (and that's when I bother to acknowledge it) but I do feel a certain connection to the subject matter and there is no other blog like this one, that I've seen, anywhere, at all.
It's comforting to read, and offers a wealth of understanding on many topics.
Although I've never commented, I've read off and on for a couple of years, at least. I really am sorry for any horrible things you may have read. A body behind the anonymity of a computer screen becomes a kind of ... weapon, a sniper with night vision. You, of course, are obligated to no one save your family and yourself, and I understand your concern for your own welfare and theirs... but I sincerely hope you stick around. Perhaps it's too much to ask, as a stranger. I simply wanted to appear out of that same cyber blackness that brought you such horrible, vile things, and tell you that your words do matter in the lives of those you can't see.
Erica D
Thank you for your quotes from the Matrix. I, too, find that film interesting. In some ways, our world is not so different, from that, in that, in our world, most people believe what they are told, without pausing to think on whether it is true, at all. They imbibe a world view, constructed for them, by others - and never, perhaps, come to understand the world as it actually is. To do so, they would have to insulate themselves from what others think and begin to think for themselves - and very few people have the intellectual strength and personal integrity to be able to do that. Thus, we have this world filled with somewhat brainwashed individuals, living somewhat second hand lives. It is not impressive.
Yes. I have been receiving a lot of "denial" when I am simply trying to awaken them to a truth that needs to be told.
Thanks for your comment
Erica, if, as you suggest, importance is measured by the hate engendered, then my writing is quite important indeed. Thankfully, that hate is not universal: there are many like yourself, who enjoy it (and it is good of you to take the time to tell me). I think my words garner different reactions dependng on the nature of the reader. Some readers are threatened, perhaps, by what I say - or unsettled by it, because it challenges some fundamental aspect of their world view. Those open to change, would not react negatively - but those who wish for eternal stasis, can get truly unpleasant.
It is strange writing this blog, because almost none of my readers comments (which is normal for a blog). Most people are passive in their reading: they absorb, but do not espond. Thus, I do not know that they are there - and I do not know how they feel and think about my writing. I did not, until this moment, know that my writing had touched the life of Erica, for instance. Perhaps, in not knowing this, it is more difficult to judge the worth of the enterprise. If, for instance, it has no meaning for anyone, why would one post at all? Without being valued, by others, there would be no reason to post: it could remain as a personal journal, never to be read by anyone at all, but myself and, one day, my children.
So, it is helpful to hear that my words mean something to you, Erica. It allows me to better calibrate the worth of continuing to write in public, as opposed to writing purely in private, with no audience at all.
hmm..."espond" = respond!
Thank you for your warming words, Erica. They help balance my view of how people see what I write.
Re. no blog like it.
That is an interesting observation. I think this is because giftedness is something which most people try to hide in some way...because there are too many in society who react with envy, or hate. So, it becomes something not discussed. I have encountered, for instance, many an online forum, in which giftedness is discussed, but on which EVERYONE is using pseudonyms and obscuring any details of their lives that might identify them. It is sad. They behave like criminals on the run...not like intelligent human beings with something to contribute to the world. They behave very much like a persecuted class of individuals...which perhaps they are.
It is telling that there should only be one voice like mine, therefore. I think it is time that this particular minority had a voice...something I have tried to be, but not without penalty. At times it has been very unpleasant, like recently.
Best wishes to you, Erica, wherever you are and whatever you do. If you were gifted as a child, I am sure you are gifted as an adult, so I hope you find a fulfilling avenue for the expression of whatever you, in particular, have to offer.
Good luck.
Re: Waking people up
Waking up a bear in the middle of winter can be unpleasant for the bear and dangerous for the alarm clock. When spring will call it forth the bear will gladly arise and go out into the world.
Yes, Slawek, regarding the bear: it may be dangerous to awaken it early (as I have seen)...but if it is left to awaken naturally it may be too late for the bear and its world. The bear slumbers as adversity approaches: how pleased will the hunter be, to find the bear asleep? An easy kill...and a silly bear for not listening to the one who tried to warn it.
Hi,
I was the one who posted the Matrix comment.
If one tries to search for the meaning of the NAMES of the characters in movies, one would find the results astounding.
Alice in Wonderland
Alice = of a noble kind
Absolem = father is peace
Harry Potter
Harry = house ruler
Ron = ruler's counsel
Hermione = messenger. travel.
Alice and Harry Potter are not just movies nor are they merely children's stories. I was reading one huge stack of study materials, and found "Absolem" (from Alice) and "Severus" and "half-blood" (HP & the Half-blood Prince) mentioned in it.
No one ever shoots the Wachowski Brothers, Warner Bros and Walt Disney Pictures for the same messages that bloggers post, even if movie goers were only aware of the message at a sub-concious level. Many movies' plots are derived from ONE SOURCE, and one source only, which was written in the 18th century.
Take heart, for the same messages that you're delivering are also being delivered by the media megacorps. The only difference is the lack of denial in the responses to the movies.
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