Comments on: Reading Is Programming Your Mind

By: max

max — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:45:53 +0000

@AnotherPeerReviewer – Good comments. (it’d be nice if you used your name instead). I’m not saying that looking at reading as ‘programming’ is the only way to look at reading, but it’s an interesting perspective that I wanted to explore. I can’t tell if your acknowledging this metaphor as a valid way of looking at a reading or you consider it arbitrary and irrelevant. So, I’m not sure how to respond.

Thanks for the constructive criticism on developing prose. That’s one the reason why I started this blog. I guess that clause about success was injected because I’ve had many discussions about the meaning of success and was trying to prevent that from being the focus of this post. In hindsight, the better decision would have been to do a post exploring the meaning of success.

And since you both touched on arrogance I’ll address both comments together.

I know I walk a fine line between arrogance and confidence but I’d like to think I’m on the confident side of the line. But I’m not the only judge. My peers are important judges as well. But this blog only gives a narrow window into the confident/arrogant dividing line, since the side you end up on is determined a lot by nonverbal communication.
Your comments brought me back to the question of, what is the difference between confidence and arrogance?

I value others opinions, especially if they are well thought out.
Many of my opinions are firm but by no means unshakeable. It’s complicated. If you say something smart invariably some people are going to call you arrogant. You can’t please everybody, so where I might draw the line is, if I’m turning people away who I’d like to get to know then I probably need to slightly tweak my behavior. To me, the more I think about this difference between arrogance and confidence the more it seems that it is not so much about the initial remark, but more about how you deal with the response.

I decided to google around a little bit to see what others had written on the topic. This article is interesting and gives some good perspective on this debate – http://successfromthenest.com/content/2-factors-to-determine-if-youre-arrogant-or-confident/

By: PeerReview

PeerReview — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:50:05 +0000

“I realize the way I’m writing it comes off a little bit arrogant”

Thats what your said.I’m speaking objectively when I say arrogant. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person, isn’t something to feel shame about, it is something to be aware of and to work on.

“This blog is a personal exploration”

Max I thought you’d be the first to understand that assigning
value to such terms as arrogant only serves to impede understanding. I’m sorry if I’ve been too harsh, just playing a little devil’s advocate. Have a Happy & Safe New Year!

By: Another peer reviewer

Another peer reviewer — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:47:37 +0000

I’m going to agree with the other reviewer completely. It’s normal for a kid your age who’s as clever as you are to latch on to intelligence like you do, and the sad result is arrogance. The truth is, there’s nothing more to the phrase “reading is programming your brain” than a poetic quip which illustrates one of the ways we can talk about reading, and of course, you’re smart enough to rationalize it which gives it that all-too-pretentious flavor of “obviously it must be true then.” Don’t muddle words with meaning, they’re two very different things, that’s why writing is so goddam hard, and that’s why it’s so easy to be wrong, no matter how convincing you are to yourself as well as to others. When you try to prove arbitrary statements like the main point of this entry you’re just restricting the way you look at things in a convoluted manner.

Another thing is you really need to cut down on unnecessary filler. The mark of a good writer is to be as succinct and straightforward as possible. Although phrases like “however you chose to interpret that concept” may seem incredibly relevant to you, they don’t really help anyone else glean additional meaning from your text. I would be more critical about shortening your prose.

Just my two cents.

By: max

max — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:54:34 +0000

This piece of writing is not intended to make you feel good. I’m focused on understanding an idea. You can continue to insult me on the grounds that you don’t like the tone of my writing, and then extrapolate that to who I am as a person, but in the end, you don’t know. You’re making wild extrapolations and missing the point I was making. Clearly, we are on different wavelengths when it comes to more intellectual topics. And if you want to talk about empathy I suggest you look at yourself. Because here, you’ve taken a disagreement about how to philosophically approach developing ideas, and made it about who I am as person.

By: PeerReview

PeerReview — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:46:07 +0000

You have an excuse for everything Max. There is a term for the type of excuses you keep making, they’re called rationalizations. In the end Max, you can rationalize and justify to your heart’s content without ever having to actually acknowledge the reality of the situation. When you mention that this writing may come off as arrogant, you make no apologizers nor do you feel that this is problematic. Let me tell you, it is problematic. When you go to college (which you obviously haven’t been) you will realize that your word choice isn’t nearly as important as your thoughts. You will also come to understand that even if you are in the ninety-ninth percentile, that still means one out of every hundred is as smart or smarter than you. Your arrogance is a character defect, and I say that with no value attached. There is no shame in it, however that does not excuse it. A big part of your growing up will be to learn to have empathy, thats something that you can’t learn from a book.

By: max

max — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:03:37 +0000

There are times when it makes sense to look at things from a purely logical perspective and there are times when it makes sense to look at things from a more emotional perspective.

It makes more sense to talk about the productive value of ideas from a strictly logical perspective.

By: PeerReview

PeerReview — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:59:02 +0000

So are you no more than a chronic plagiarizer? Sounds like you are just a “repeater”. You lack humanity in your writing, you have no empathy young man.

By: max

max — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:02:34 +0000

Those are good points Ryan and something I fully acknowledge. But therein may lie the key difference between a poet and an entrepreneur. Both are valid, but require different frames of mind. The poet aims to capture an emotional state. While the entrepreneur aims to increase their effectiveness.

I do appreciate poetry and the calm, serene state that goes along with it. You describe the mindset of the poet well. Maybe I’ll post some of the very amateur poetry I’ve written the last few years.

From the entrpreneurial mindset I think it’s almost always a good thing to know why you are doing something, even if it’s as abstract as it makes you feel good. But if you do have a specific reason it can increase your motivation and commitment.

I thought someone might reply about the ‘original thoughts’ idea. I personally don’t think there is such thing as a completely original thought. Even on the off chance that no one has ever articulated the idea you just came up, it will invariably be based on ideas you didn’t come up with on your own. Unless you lived in complete isolation and were suckled by wolves or something of the like.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:19:42 +0000

Stop to realize that you are a product of your environment. Poets in inner cities are not concerned with how a “text will change my behavior” they are simply in it for the moment to capture that emotion or to express themselves. Not to “learn you” on how to act or to “stimulate ideas”. they are writing to write. You should try and read to read instead of having some inner debate about what reading is for. The writer writes for themselves and the painter paints for themselves. So in that regard remove yourself from their thoughts and start thinking your own!
If you want “something” from a book, you should just set it down and take a walk outside.

By: Jtown

Jtown — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:01:40 +0000

“I try to brainwash myself to think like people who I consider brilliant and insightful. I want my thoughts to be flavors of ideas from people I respect.”

Don’t drink the kool-aid!