The Five Most Endangered Words on the Internet

Yes. This is the other half of my previous post. This is what got me today.

Let me think about that? No no. There’s no time for that. Comments must be made or the moment is lost!

But that’s not what I want to do, or how I want to operate. There are enough comments being made in the moment; I’d like to have a more considered position. Perhaps I just don’t think and write fast enough to whip out quality work that captures all the nuances of something like the war logs story. That’s possible. But I think the reality is that when turnaround time compresses, there’s pressure to throw out the first thing that comes to mind. Sometimes that’s valuable, and sometimes it means that something that should or could matter is chewed up and spit out without any real digestion (yes, that’s a faulty metaphor; let’s move on).

And again, I’m still just laying the ground terms for myself on how I intend to write in this blog. I’m keeping the focus on quality thought rather than instant gratification, no matter how much I might want to share my spare change.

I’m overwhelmed by the number of Firefox tabs I have open right now. Most are about the Wikileaks release, but there’s also a set of articles on the intelligence community, Restrepo, the potential for Kyrgyzstan to become a democracy, and what looks to be a fascinating piece about thinking in straight lines. As I try to read, absorb, and process the flow of text, though, I’m struck by how difficult it is even to keep up with current events, much less understand the issues on a deeper, more nuanced level. The shouting down the wire on Twitter is staggering, and I am compelled to click every. single. link. in case I miss something crucial.

Partly, of course, this is because I’m trying to learn everything all at once. I feel like I’m catching up on several years worth of conversations and debates on an incredibly broad set of topics, and it’s to be expected that it’s slow going. Fundraising taught me how to talk to people, how to build relationships and teams, and how to sell Brookings and its research, but it didn’t require me to analyze arguments or probe our scholars’ work for authority and legitimacy. In fact, it was probably better not to.

So. I’m blogging as a way to force myself to organize my thoughts and put them into words, and to analyze the national security narratives I’m so fascinated by. I know blogging is supposed to be a conversation, that I’m supposed to be writing for an audience and that only by adding value to my readers’ lives will we all be happy and blah blah blah… whatever. That’s not the point here. Of course I welcome your comments. I want to learn, and right now all I seem to have are questions.