Junk food for the mind

Miguel, this was supposed to be a reply to your post. But after writing my response and hitting submit at Around the Corner, it disappeared into the ether. Annoying,especially since each word in the original response was a brightly polished gem of thoughtfulness and originality...

Miguel Guhlin at Around the Corner riffs on my assertion that blogs are intellectual junk food and offers some  warnings. These are clever but I think he misses the biggest piece of advice for maintaining a healthy reading diet: It's not just about avoiding junk, but it's about seeking out  the stuff what's nutritious as well.

My fear about blogs and their addictive quality stems from my own dilemma that blog reading  uses the time I could be spending reading materials of possibly greater value. Here is where my pre-social web, old-school, Jurassic, print-bound biases come in - I still believe edited professional journals and books that treat a topic in depth are better for you than blogs. Sorry, but there it is. If you are reading The Blue Skunk at the expense of reading Kappan, Educational Leadership, KQ, Leading & Learning, and at least a few good professional books each year, then junk food reading is indeed hazardous to your professional health.

And  writing junk can be as hazardous to one's career as reading it. I should working on three articles (for print publication) due the middle of March right now, and what am I doing?

Comments

[pete reilly]

Doug;
I guess it depends on the purpose of one's reading. I read your blog and others with a strong sense of community. After finding and reading my favorite blog writers for awhile, I feel I know them. I want to keep up with the goings on in the neighborhood. I feel connected and I get to contribute on occasion.

At the same time, I am also reading Millennials Rising by Neil Howe, Teaching as a Subversive Acitivity by Neil Postman, and Buddha by Karen Armstrong. When I focus on these books, its for a different reason.

These formal resources appeal more to my mind; blogs have a special ingredient that I don't find in print media. Maybe its the fluidity and life that the best bloggers exude.

pete

[Miguel Guhlin]

Pete has hit it right on the head. But in case we need a few more words, here's my take:

http://www.mguhlin.net/archives/2007/03/entry_2911.htm

Miguel Guhlin
Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
http://www.mguhlin.net

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks, gentlemen, for the comments. I like Higher Edison's post on this topic at: http://higheredison.typepad.com/higheredison/2007/03/newclear.html (Reference above as well.)

I like his kitchen table/livingroom analogy. And I agree that we need both. But I've spent evenings with friends where the kitchen has been so comfortable, we never made it to the livingroom.

Maybe I am just distrusting of anything that is this much fun can also be good for a person. Must be my Baptist upbringing.

Doug

[sfens]

So I have to ask Doug, what's in the living room? Any recommendations for the newbie?

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Susan,

Right now my "living room" reading consists of:

Don Norman's Emotional Design
Florida's Rise of the Creative Class

I have a whole list at:

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2005/8/16/the-lazy-persons-reading-plan.html

Good luck!

Doug