Oh, Philosopher, Where Art Thou?

Where to begin.

I have not been able to explain, even to myself, why I have not been posting since September -- until . . . this morning, when I had an epiphany.

I all goes back to Kindergarten, when we learn about the difference between warm fuzzies and cold pricklies. Like most people, I subconsciously gravitate toward people, places and activities that give me warm fuzzies and I avoid those same things that give me cold pricklies. It wasn't until early this morning in the half dawn hours of awakening from slumber that I realized I have been avoiding my blog because it has been giving me cold pricklies instead of warm fuzzies.

While I am not nearly as technically savvy as the George Nemeth's of the world when it comes to fancy smanchy blogging -- I do understand, conceptually, that blogging will, if it hasn't already, radically change our world and its paradigms of information control and dissemination. At the risk of engaging in hyperbole; the Blog is the Gutenberg printing press of our time.

I began blogging to contribute to the community dialogue, to create community, to participate in and, to the extent I am able, to facilitate the exchange in the marketplace of ideas. I also wanted to get people thinking about things they may not otherwise think about. I also wanted to raise the level of debate and discourse in our community. Hence the ridiculousness of the name of this blog -- a blogger who thinks about things with equanimity.

I believe that one of the fundamental aspects of a blog necessary to accomplish the above goals is to be open to comments with no restrictions or editing. This gives a blog credibility. I also believe that one of the fundamental, if not THE fundamental, aspects of enlightened public discourse is that participants stand by their views, comments, thoughts and ideas with their name. This gives credibility to their participation in the discourse.

Unfortunately, these competing principles have created, for me, a conundrum -- accepting unresricted comments to be a credible blog permits anonymous posters with little or no credibility to hijack and crash the level of public discourse I hope to attain and maintain.

And that conundrum is a giant cold prickly that made me subconsciously avoid my blog since September. Until this morning.

I know there are many of you out there who are thinking right now -- Whoa, this guy is certifiable. Who cares, just post, you are WAY overthinking this. Well, part of me feels that way too. However, because I put my name on my blog and my posts, because I genuinely care about community, and because I sincerely want my blog to be a positive contributer in this new paradigm of communication; I'd rather err on the side of overthinking these matters than do otherwise. If nothing else, you now know that I take these matters very seriously. Hopefully, that will add to my credibility. If you just think I'm nuts, well that's fine too, as there is probably a grain of truth to that statement for all of us, even you.

If you look at the most recent posts prior to my hiatus, I spent a great deal of time sparring with Anonymous posters about issues that, as far as I am concerned, are in the gutter of public discourse and community dialogue. I made no bones about the fact that I think anonymous posting and anonymous blogs are an act of cowardice and are antithetical to enlightened community dialogue. After all, community and anonymity are practical antonyms. They cannot co-exist. You simply cannot have a community of anonymous people.

Therefore, beginning today, Cleveland Equanimous Philosopher has adopted a new commenting and posting policy.

Cleveland Equanimnous Philosopher will no longer accept unsigned, anonymous comments or posts. If you have factual information regarding a post or comment on my blog that contradicts or enhances the dialougue, but need to remain anonymous for extraordinary reasons, you may feel free to contact me directly to discuss your factual information and I will incorporate it into subsequent posts and/or comments and I will protect your identity. If you don't trust me, then you shouldn't be reading my blog anyway because you already believe I have no credibility. Opinion and commentary will not be entertained from anonymous sources under any circumstances.

The conundrum being, temporarily at least, resolved, Philosopher doth return.

CEP