Dictionary corner
My last post was a bit unfair - after all, who knows what solipsism means anyway? I didn't.
It began when the 'Bard of Littlestone' suggested (by text) that most blogs are solipsistic. Whatever that word meant, I liked it. So, after quick reference to my Oxford Dictionary of English app, I was able to find out that solipsism is:
the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist
the quality of being self-centred or selfish
Blimey...
Now, is the Bard correct in his observation? Let is look at the facts.
Most blogs are written in the first person. They are normally based on what that person has done. Or thinks. Very few posts are written to inform the reader of something that is in some way not a part of the poster. However, what I would say (to steal from George Orwell) is this -
All bloggers are solipsistic, but some bloggers are more solipsistic than others.
So, at a time when there are more Yellow-browed Warblers in the UK than ever before, a Brown Shrike on top of every bush in Scotland and Two-barred Crossbills a virtual back garden bird, this blog isn't about birds at all, but dwelling on an observation knee-deep in the art of navel gazing.
Maybe this is the least solipsistic post I have ever written (except for the use of the words I, me and myself).
It began when the 'Bard of Littlestone' suggested (by text) that most blogs are solipsistic. Whatever that word meant, I liked it. So, after quick reference to my Oxford Dictionary of English app, I was able to find out that solipsism is:
the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist
the quality of being self-centred or selfish
Blimey...
Now, is the Bard correct in his observation? Let is look at the facts.
Most blogs are written in the first person. They are normally based on what that person has done. Or thinks. Very few posts are written to inform the reader of something that is in some way not a part of the poster. However, what I would say (to steal from George Orwell) is this -
All bloggers are solipsistic, but some bloggers are more solipsistic than others.
So, at a time when there are more Yellow-browed Warblers in the UK than ever before, a Brown Shrike on top of every bush in Scotland and Two-barred Crossbills a virtual back garden bird, this blog isn't about birds at all, but dwelling on an observation knee-deep in the art of navel gazing.
Maybe this is the least solipsistic post I have ever written (except for the use of the words I, me and myself).
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