The Difference Between an Academic and a Blogger

May 22, 2009 by EnnisP
Filed under: Blogging, Philosophy

On the surface you would say there is no comparison between an Academic and a Blogger but a little thought can highlight some interesting insights. Don’t be fooled by the stuffy snobbish nature of Academia or the brashness of bloggers. Both are valuable, neither more so than the other, both have weaknesses and the initial impression is they work at cross purposes.

The object of academia is the search for truth, although few Academics (Ac’s) expect to find anything absolute. Freedom of speech is the principle which allows the blogosphere to exist but the real issue is more significant, freedom of thought. Blogging endorses and even encourages the free expression of new ideas for old topics. People learn to think for themselves only when they think for themselves and ideas take shape only after they are out in the open.

Academics miss this point and freely and eloquently take critical aim at blogging but they, probably as much as any, have encouraged the trend. I have written out a few comparisons to illustrate the nature of both and the importance of blogging.

First of all, Ac’s seem insecure and must prove every little thing they write. They do have opinions (in fact, they start with one) but attempt to hide this fact as if opinions were ugly warts common only to the less privileged. That makes them hypocritical not objective.

They love to give the impression that their method for searching out truth is the only valid approach and they keep you busy with so many references you don’t have time to query the process. Don’t kid yourself. The pleasure and anticipation derived from truth-search is smothered by their methodology.

And, green it is not. With the amount of paper they waste making one simple point, about which they are neither certain nor clear, you would expect green agencies to attack them and their institutions rabidly. That doesn’t happen. The two institutions are complicit. One is identified with the other.

Bloggers on the other hand are not insecure. They say what they think and in many cases are concise, mostly clear, interesting, creative and constantly giving new perspectives to every possible topic. They simplify information and by means of the internet make it very accessible to the largest number of people. bloggers often take Ac-babble and convert it into brief, readable and sometimes useful information. Ecologically, they are super conservative. You can’t get greener than the internet. Hosting companies even boast their green status.

Academics cost you money. They have no option but to use the internet but not as openly as bloggers. There is a huge veil restricting access to the findings of the Ac-world. The key to opening the veil is money. As clever as they are they haven’t figured out how to monetize a site other than by charging for their content. It will take a research grant for them to figure out how to do otherwise. Thankfully bloggers are so excited about the opportunity to be heard, they lay everything out in the open for free.

Academics give you puzzles. You must first figure out what point they are making (if they are actually making one) before you can thoughtfully engage the topic. Simplicity and clarity, not Ac-speak, are signs of intelligence. Thankfully, Bloggers give you messages that stimulate thought immediately. In some cases you are driven to take action. People rally to a cause or take initiative or become downright angry all because a blogger painted a word or multi-media picture they couldn’t resist. They provide basic, sometimes raw information and that is what people want.

Bloggers not only encourage you to think they invite your response. They provoke conversation and the upside is, the people who participate develop better and more creative ways to express themselves. That is to say, bloggers stimulate the development of good clear conversation generally throughout society. Anyone can read, think and respond to what bloggers have to say. Not so with Ac’s.

Ac’s are often too proud to be interested in what you have to say. They ignore or dismiss the under-informed. Their only fear is another clever Ac who in one brief statement debunks the main points of their 500 page thesis.

Debunking is the only time Ac’s are clear and concise about anything and they do it with relish.

Bloggers learn to be humble quickly. They are often wrong, no more so than Ac’s, but through the comment forum are shown to be so publicly. A thick hide doesn’t always help. Sometimes an honest “I was wrong” is the only acceptable response. Bloggers learn, through humble responses, to feed the conversation without killing or insulting the participants, mostly.

By the way, being proven wrong publicly produces the kind of pressure that encourages a real change of mind. That isn’t something that happens easily with Ac’s. It took years before the medical profession accepted the inconvenient practice of washing hands between patient examinations. Go figure! If blogging was popular during the mid 1800′s when this battle was waged it would probably have been resolved more quickly. You can read about it here. Ignaz Semmelweis, a primary proponent of hand washing, became an outcast in the medical community for his “radical” ideas about germs.

Prominent Ac’s are usually associated with some theory relative to some specific field of research and, like religion, each theory’s leader develops a following of disciples and groupies who consider it traitorous to entertain divergent ideas. Once a theory becomes the social/political norm it develops subsets of leaders with groupies. Evolution, for example, is a primary theory which has hundreds of academics from every discipline clamoring to offer the “missing link.” And, even though Ac’s claim a superior sense of objectivity, don’t believe it. The cat fights that occur in Ac circles, though hushed, can be vicious. The different schools of Ac thought do not work well together and often don’t even talk. ”Amenable to reason” does not characterize every academic.

Bloggers on the other hand are very well interfaced. Everything they say is out in public view and subject to public scrutiny. You can move from one blogger to another, grasping the primary thoughts of each and either accepting or rejecting those thoughts based on your own opinion, experience or knowledge. Blogging keeps free thought moving. It has freed the public from the tyranny of Academia.

Blogging is a great addition to modern society. Any person can think and free blog platforms give every person the opportunity to express their thoughts. And who knows, you might say something that influences real change in the life of another individual. You might just make a difference. Don’t worry about the particular words you use or how sophisticated you sound. Just write. Say what you think as clearly as you can and people will listen.

If you are ambitious enough to develop your own personal blog site, with a personalized name (URL) and you are willing to take complete control of publishing and advertising, then check out this post. But, if you want a quick start with no capital outlay then check out this site for free blog platforms. Don’t waste time mulling it over. The best thoughts are shared so start writing today.

Oh, and while you are at it start by telling me what you THINK!AboutIt.