A Little Learning

A little learning is a dang’rous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again. - Alexander Pope

A somewhat interesting (but on reflection, not unusual) chain of events happened last night as I was checking my BlogLines feeds just before going to bed.

1. I read Will Richardson’s Weblogg–ed blog entry that…
2. Referenced David Weinberger's Jo-Ho blog (that I added to my feeds) that…
3. Referenced Karen Schneider’s Free Range Librarian blog (that I added to my feeds) that…
4. Linked to an article she wrote for Library Journal on blogging ethics that referenced…
5. A Bloggers' Code of Ethics on CYBERJOURNALIST.NET  and
6. Michael Stephen’s Tame the Web blog (that I added to my feeds) and his The Library Blogger's Personal Protocols.

My five-minute quick blog check turned into 45 minutes reading and the LWW asking “What are you doing on the computer? Having cybersex or what?” And this was 45 minutes I would have spent continuing to read Ray Kurzweil’s probably important book The Singularity is Near.

Now I’ve admitted that blogliness, like e-mail, exacerbates my ADD, but maybe things are simply getting out of hand. It’s starting to feel that I can exercise about the same degree of control over this sort of spontaneous reading that I have over my caramel corn consumption – I can't stop once I've started.

What I really am wondering is how is my reading time is best spent – snacking on blogs or feasting on books when I have time to do but one or the other in an evening. Strangly enough. I'm developing an ever greater degree of sympathy for the Net Genners who “satisfice” to meet their informational needs.

I’m pretty sure that reading Kurzweil’s book is good for me. Nice know just how much computing power a 2.2 pound rock contains should scientists ever figure out how to harness the processing power of atomic particles. I guess. Such a thick book certainly makes me look smart when I carry it about. And there is a genuine sense of accomplishment when I finish such a tome, much like a 4th grader feels after finishing a Harry Potter.

On the other hand, by blogging around last night, I stumbled on a relevant, important topic (blogging ethics) that I had not thought about before, and after reading three short articles, I now probably know more about the topic than than 95% of the rest of the blogging world– which I am quite sure qualifies me as an expert. Oh, and the knowledge gained will immediately guide my practice.

Is “a little learning” more important in a fast-paced world than "drinking deep?" Would Pope now have to write A little learning is a ness'ry thing? And just why would one want to be sober anyway, Mr. Pope?

Out of curiosity, did you make it through this entry without clicking on an external link? Adding  a new RSS feed? Are your kids' “hypertext” learning styles rubbing off on you? Shouldn't you be off reading a good book?

Comments

[Christopher Harris]

Out of curiosity, did you make it through this entry without clicking on an external link? Adding a new RSS feed?

Only because the referenced blogs are already in my feeds list. Welcome to, as John Pederson - http://pedersondesigns.com - would say, the Kool-Aid of the internet. Drink deeply!

[Kathy Clark]

Out of curiosity, did you make it through this entry without clicking on an external link? Adding a new RSS feed?

I made it through your post in one piece, because I've discovered that everything makes more sense if I read the entire text first, THEN go back and re-read and click around. This allows me to get a fuller picture of the topic and then delve deeper.

I guess it also depends on the topic, as some of the lighter blogs I read can take me far, far away, and it doesn't really matter so much. Work-related (education) Blog topics and blogs such as yours force me to think a little more, and sometimes, that's a good thing!

[John Dyer]

I have a blog ritual going. Start with the Blue Skunk http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/ around 9 pm and follow links, references, and Doug's list of blogs he reads for the next hour or so. Sound familiar? And I ask myself why I read these blogs instead of finishing "The World is Flat" which Doug recommends so highly?
At 1 am last night, I finally closed the laptop after Joyce Valenza's post about "streaming video." http://joycevalenza.edublogs.org/2005/10/13/media-solutions-yippeee/ But even with the brain on less juice than the laptop battery, I thought of Doug's earlier reference to outsourcing. Our building and one other in SLP subscribed to unitedstreaming http://www.unitedstreaming.com/ this year, for the very reasons Joyce relates. It is a terrific resource.
But, will this eventually lead to the loss of a job for the person who maintains and circulates our video collection? Most likely it eventually will. So I am contributing to the world getting flatter. At least I think so, however, I'm not sure, exactly, what "flatter" really refers to as I don't have time to read Thomas Friedman's book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374292884/km-20/ref%3Dnosim/104-5631126-2523940 because I spend my time reading blogs instead.
Am I better or worse off (or somewhere in between)?

[Claire Hazzard]

I didn't click on any of the blog links, because I'd already seem them earlier through my bloglines subscription. However, I did look up the details on Amazon of the book you are reading...

[Alice Yucht]

Already read those posts through my own Bloglines feed, as well as
--reports from the Internet Librarian conference in Monterey, by Liz Lawley at http://mamamusings.net
and Sarah Houghton at http://librarianinblack.typepad.com,
--the Unshelved comic strip about a library at http://www.overduemedia.com/,
--and the latest Carnival of the InfoSciences, at http://rochellejustrochelle.typepad.com/copilot/2005/10/tinfoil_bigtop_.html,
and even
--learned something about conceptual and perceptual remembering, at http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/

You were saying?

[Jacquie Henry]

And here I am - reading this post again - because you linked it to today's post. Ahh... The circle of life!

One of the perks of being a blog reader is that now I know how it FEELS to be ADHD.