Fake Blog

Fake Blog

            Experience is our own and like Huxley said, “incommunicable other than by symbols.” The apparent first to interpret symbols through only the means of art in the illustrative form should be taken with precaution. As art transmutes so can symbols. Another way to form the symbols that represent experience is by using letters, which we can use to formulate words, thus creating ideas based on our experiences in the form of sentences. The brilliance of writing when juxtaposed to the illustrative form of art is that it allows for a wider range of interpretation of experience. That is, the interpreter must formulate their own illustrations and ideas to the experience, while in art half of it is already done for you. While this may come off as a large generalization, which to some degree it is, there is a poignant inference that will hopefully manifest in time.

            Too often blogs come off as a simple copy and paste: Where I went, what I did, what I saw, and so forth. Before I proceed, I will put forth this disclaimer and that is there is nothing wrong with reading blogs like these. Especially for those that have the inability to travel for one reason or another, whether it be from having to work or to pay bills. To further expand on this disclaimer, blogs like those can be a wonderful way to share experiences with the loved ones that the writer may not have time to always talk to. Disclaimer over! So you may ask why is this a problem, to me at least? Blogs are a great way to share experience and at the same time let those that read it vicariously live through the blogger’s life.

            Experience, it’s what makes us who we are, it’s the tribulations to the exhilarating apexes. What one does with these experiences now makes the difference. Reflection is needed for both the reader and the writer of these experiences. No reflection and mere transcription is like having Netflix on in the background while working. Sure, you might have “watched” the show but can you formulate an adequate reflection? So that is the first problem in my opinion, a lack of substance due to a lack of reflection. Life without reflection is like a NASCAR race without a pit stop; you’re bound to break down at some point.

            My other problem with just mindless rambling, you might say that this is no different and I would be happy to contest, is that it feeds those that live vicariously. While books, like blogs, allow for the sharing of the experience, the reading of the experience will never replace the actuality of the real thing. An example, slightly extreme, but still a pertinent one was illustrated well in the book Visible Darkness by William Styron. Styron stressed how one that has never experienced depression first hand could not truly empathize with one that has. I think this holds validity with traveling as well. Take for example war. Americans, for the most part, at least ones that are my age (25) have not had to live through the conflict. What has this led to? Well over the top movies, glorified violence, reenactments, and etcetera. For us this may seem normal and part of the culture that is America and unfortunately to some degree it is. This skewed view of war might be augmented if one visits a country that is either still in war or recently war torn. For example, my visit to Bosnia illustrated the pure idiocracy that is a civil war reenactment. People are trying hard to escape a twisted dark past while we glorify something that ended 200 years ago. People wonder why racism is still so prevalent and we have yet to move forward from the past.

            Another problem with pure transcription is that it may not send an accurate message. I will set the stage by using Plato’s cave allegory. For those unfamiliar, it pertains to the misinterpretation of the form of objects by the inference- based on our previous experiences- of shadows on the wall. While I am talking about writing here and not exactly the forms of what we see, I hope you can see where I am going with this extrapolation. That is, we, just by reading a simple transcription, we may misinterpret the reality of what was experienced. The problem? Lets look at “Fake News” to further justify this analogy. You may see an article that says, “Obama and Trump were both working with Putin the whole time”, unfortunately most don’t go further than the title and start formulating erroneous ideas. The same can happen with blogs. Let’s say a callow traveler experienced a blemish during their trip, resulting in a mindset that is only expecting further dismay. The writer and their erroneous idiosyncrasies will go on to write a blog that may not accurately reflect the true isness of a country’s offerings. I will coin the term, if not already used, “fake blogs,” a blog that just rehashes what happened with no real inference or justifiable opinion. Example sentence from fake blog: I was so appalled when I got to my hotel and not one person spoke English.

            If this blog has come off scathing, well that’s ok, not everything about life and traveling has to be good jobs and pats on backs. This isn’t just directed to the writers or the readers but more to my generation as a whole. We have and are slowly becoming the sheep that chant “four legs good, two legs bad.” We have become inept in forming our own ideas and reflections. We use the internet and others as a crutch too often and for all the wrong reasons. I would appreciate more blogs where individuals interject real opinions or ones that raise poignant questions, something that can lead to a real discussion.

            I will end the blog with this story. When visiting Budapest, I went spelunking for the first time.  While spelunking I was put in some of the most uncomfortable adrenalin rushing situations. When I exited the cave, questions arose: why was I so scared, have I not accepted the fact that death is a part of life, do I not trust my body’s capabilities as much as I thought, is safety in numbers a guaranteed feeling? Did this experience cause a diffusion of “id” ideas to my “ego?” There is nothing wrong with taking a peer through the looking glass. If fear is the motive for the inability for reflection, then more is at stake. Writing blogs is an amazing opportunity for one to share reflections of their experiences not just to merely transcribe. It may provide one the strength they might have needed to take a look into the twilight zone that is the subconscious. Sometimes motivation comes in a weird way and that is to prove someone wrong. I hope someone reads this and wants to prove me wrong and show that they are capable of reflection of experience. Nothing feels better than proving someone wrong that doubted you.