How Blogging follows Chaos Theory

Having an opinion in an age of information is like screaming during a death metal concert: people may or may not hear you, but either way no one gives a damn.

close enough

Blogging is about composing those opinions into a coherent thought, much like forming your own screaming band. Many people try it, and you end up with infinite blogs blogging about blogging about opinions.

Does that make me a hypocrite?

Not exactly. I never said there was anything fundamentally wrong with having an opinion and expressing it. The frequency with which people are allowed to share their opinions is deafening, but it’s either that or shutting the fuck up.

One person CAN make a difference.

Blogging is much like Chaos Theory. You can either click the link to read the full explanation of Chaos Theory or you can listen to me try to summarize it for the mathematically less inclined (or both if you’re into that sort of thing).

Also in picture form

Chaos Theory, despite the name and its reputation for being abused by people who want to sound cool, is actually a term describing finding patterns within seemingly random sequences. This is dependent on variables that are too small for us to accurately measure, such as one-millionth of an inch. The best, and most popular, analogy is a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a tsunami on the other side of the world.

Now imagine you’re a novice blogger with big ideas. You write with your heart and soul, but no one seems to know you exist. No one leaves a comment, and your statistics show you barely get a single visitor every few days.

Now imagine there was this one person who randomly stumbled upon your blog, liked it, and never commented on it or followed you. They then start their own blog based on their interpretation of it (because no one credits ideas). This can spiral into dozens of other blogs spawned through a similar process. This is analogous to fractals, which are part of Chaos Theory even though we pretend they’re just pretty art...

nooo! my innocence!

Next thing you know, a popular celebrity/politician is talking about the topic. Then every fan starts a blog on that topic, and your blog becomes part of the crowd without you ever getting a comment or many views.

Did you cause a movement? Yes.
Do you know you caused it? No.
Are you left feeling hollow and worthless in a stream of crap that degenerates your beloved idea into some mainstream cult icon that has no relationship with its root intentions? Depends on your opinion of media.

"All I remember is getting hit by the truth"

Nothing is new, everything is relative

In terms of blogs, there are quite a few topics we actually care about, and they’re already categorized by bookstores. Marketing is based on culture, and we love hearing about food, relationships, sex, gossip, politics, and religion. Also money. Especially about making money from blogs.

If I were to make a blog about the religious sexual relationship I have with food and how it affects the gossip surrounding my political agenda... wait... that’s a money-making idea that you’re going to steal and pass around in the form Chaos Theory. Fuck you internet.

Anyway...

The comments posted on blogs, forums, and any other public space, have their own trends. I’m sure some expert already did the work for me, but I want to feel infinitesimally significant by naming my own categories.

• Strict interpretation: what is said is taken literally and is analyzed as it is represented. Sarcasm and idioms are subject to scrutiny. The intelligence behind the interpretation is up for debate.
• Loose interpretation: what is said is up for further interpretation. Reading between the lines is common and context is important. The intelligence behind the interpretation is up for debate.
• Trolling: saying things just to cause an outrage. People who have strict interpretations fall victim to the trolls.
• Dogmatting: using religious dogma as the basis for everything. “Logical” reasoning is futile with them. People who have loose interpretations end up in heated arguments with dogmatters.
• Illiterates: saying something without having read everything, or anything. Very difficult to ignore. People who are anything except a troll fall victim to their baseless remarks.
• Naysayers: what is said is immediately rejected and called retarded. On the same level as trolls.
• Lolgasms: what is said is immediately praised as the most amazing thing ever. Will fight with naysayers, trolls, and illiterates.

If I ever get comments, I know what to expect. There is nothing chaotic about it when I present the patterns as shown above. Sure, I won’t know exactly what crazy shit someone can think of, but at least I know that crazy shit will be thrown at me.

"We communally laugh at your misery because
otherwise we would have to admit we hate each other."

Microcosm of ideas

Inevitably, every idea gains its supporters, its rejecters, and its idiots. Opinions of those ideas fluctuate between who is screaming the loudest... I mean, who has the most money... I mean, who is the most popular for whatever reason society deems it.

Do I win a prize if I say it?

I can take any topic and the discussion surrounding it will invariably fall into a pattern. In Chaos Theory this can be either stable (opinion settles down to one side or the other) or dynamic (opinion fluctuates).

The outcome is dependent on the type of forum.

In a closed forum, like a fan page, there will be stability. The population is full of like-minded people who all say they love the thing they’re a fan of. Occasionally there will be trolls, but that’s as unavoidable as death and taxes.

In an open forum, like a blog, the range of opinions is dynamic. You will always see a flow between “I like it” and “I hate it”, regardless of why or how much. You can’t exactly predict where you will end up, but you are sure that it’ll be fluctuating between the two central points.

Sometimes it's between two previously shown body parts.

You are essentially witnessing a bubble of opinions based solely around an idea, or a series of ideas. Everything boils down to a Yes or No from the public. People who spam can be ignored because they do not serve any purpose except to annoy everyone and take up space.

Information must flow

Extremists have the easiest time at being heard. People lean toward things that evoke gut reactions. Who cares about moderation anyway? People want to hear things they either agree or disagree with. They want to hear about the religious sexual relationship I have with food and how it affects the gossip surrounding my political agenda. They want the big picture to be simple, straightforward and concise.

Still too subtle.

The popular culture surrounding information is based on extremes, and I don’t agree with that.

I continue writing because I hope one day my ideas will spiral into one big giant movement where we see beyond our own bias. One day there will be whole forums dedicated to proving or disproving my definition of Grey.

I am nobody, and this blog is a cycle of nothing. That fact may never change, but I’ll keep writing and I’ll keep crossing my fingers. One day this will all mean something.