From my many years of activity in the world of networked humans, I have come to a startling revelation: I don't, as of yet, have a blog. Now, normally, a person wouldn't be surprised by this simple little fact - but I'm far from normal. Indeed, I strive on being anything other than normal. To me, being normal is just painful.
For instance, the normal comment you may see on any given web-site on any given topic will normally only be a few short simple sentences. Often direct and to the point. For some odd reason people seem to prefer this, forsaking the beauty that comes from a broader intellectual enlightenment in the process. Indeed, I am not normal.
Should you ever be so unfortunate as to come across one of my comments posted on YouTube, OSNews, or wherever else I find myself posting comments for one reason or another, take careful note of the length of my comments. On YouTube my comments are rarely within the limits and I spend fifteen minutes or more on each comment, merely trimming the fat. OSNews, however, actually has a reasonable character limit - my comments are generally the length of a full chapter in a rather short book. But I get my point across, and I generally help the reader gain a fuller understanding of my thoughts. This is not normal.
Sadly, no one is really very interested in other people anymore. They are stuck in a topic-based filing cabinet which they so complacently fooled themselves to believe is the best thing since sliced bread, while simultaneously confusing their own being's external actualization as who they really are. The internet is, certainly, almost the only place where two people can know each other for a decade or more without knowing the first thing about each other. They can talk almost weekly, or even daily, for years without ever knowing if the person on the other end is male, female, thoughtful, passionate, or what-have-you. This is the new normal. But, as simply as I have already stated: I am not normal. Not that kind of normal anyway.
Today my rant is focused on little more than an introduction to a blog that I'll hopefully not forget about before tomorrow morning. If I don't forget about it, then I'll probably have something to rant on about every day or so. Some would say I have no life - spending most of my time researching every topic I can find just for kicks - but I'd say they are missing out on what makes life beautiful. I mean, after-all, if someone can't fully understand the entirety of the world around them - from string theory to how to change a tire - then how can they really be enjoying their lives to the fullest?
Now, I'm not a normal person - I can't see an odd streak of green in the sky without wanting to know exactly what is causing the color, let alone watch the twin towers fall and not investigate the numerous theories created to explain the collapses - but I still don't get why anyone would EVER think that ignorance is bliss. Or why keeping everything as simple as possible is the right way. I'm of the mind-set that those incapable of understanding should certainly be given simple solutions, but those who are capable should be expected to invest some effort in understanding the technologies, peoples, or environments with which they are interacting.
I am never upset if someone who only has a few hours a week to devote to learning a complex computer program can't learn it in a month. I am never upset when someone who has never used a computer asks a "dumb" question - because it simply can't be dumb at that point, it is merely an uninformed question. "n00bs" do not irritate me, in lay terms. What I cannot tolerate are those who choose to be the 'normal' end-user. Totally ignorant of how the things they have actually work. I cringe at the thought of all those wasted dollars, while I'm half starving in the richest country on Earth. Of course, those same people are the reason why I'm only half-starving ;-).
By trade I am a computer technician and a general handy-man. I have a very simple motto - if it's broke, I can probably fix it. There are no qualifications as to what 'it' is, naturally. I've helped people who have been doing the same things as me for twice as long as me who are completely oblivious to the truth of things. I've made some really dumb people rather wealthy merely by using my knowledge to protect them - because I can't stand to see things broken, when they can so easily be fixed. Those same people rarely see how I allowed the wealth to develop - but I really don't care ( which can't be that true if I'm blogging about it, I guess ). The saddest part is when I try to help broaden the horizons of these individuals by explaining what went wrong, what they can do to prevent it, and often even how they can fix it themselves again - they normally recoil in horror at the thought of change - at the thought of learning something a little different than what they already know. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was the only one NOT doing LSD. Fortunately, I know why most of them behave the way they do - but that would be an article unto itself, and it is incredibly late right now, so I'm trying to keep this short and sweet :-).
Oh well, as usual with my rants - which are normally just comments on some web-site ;-) - I'll end by giving you some idea of exactly how tired I am. 2009 is now 3.625 hours old, and I guess I'll probably go ahead and get some sleep, but I'll be awake at in a few short hours. I never sleep too long, it gives me headaches. Really bad headaches. Which ain't normal... Which means I'm still me, I guess ;-)
--The loon
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