by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers1 commentstags: Blogging, Components of Human Nature, Fictional Letter, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
This is an open letter in response to Chris Bateman; it is written in a format to cultivate an open discussion, so please do not hesitate to get involved! Dear Chris, It has taken me some time to write this response to you about facts and knowledge. It is an involved topic that has had me rewrite this letter multiple (40 and counting) times since to write something about knowing means you need to have a conviction you know something! Let me start off with a relatively famous and grammatically twisted quote about what it is to know: [quote]… because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know. – Donald Rumsfeld[/quote] This quote captured my imagination. It identifies three different kinds of knowing from known knowns to unknown unknowns. Taking those three, I added a fourth to extrapolate a scale that combines the two redundant values: Known Knowns – these are “facts” that we believe to be true. […]
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
Dear Chris, Thank you so much for your blog-letter, ‘The Merit of Letters‘. I do not intend on getting the last word on this discussion, but do hope that by continuing to demonstrate and practice the Blog-Letter, it will continue to attract interest (which it appears to have). I want to touch on your point: ‘Yet at the same time, the practice of virtuous discourse is informed by its values, so perhaps you could turn those into principles if it were strictly necessary. Those values include, but cannot be restricted to, politeness, insightfulness, fellowship, eloquence, and wit.‘ This is interesting. I agree that Values are something different from Principles. Perhaps they are the unspoken or less organized aspect of Principles? Values can be passed on to us by family, society, or invented by our own volition. To value something is both a goal and an action, while Principles tend to be an explicit statement and thus less dynamic. If I may be so bold, I am going to also suggest the additional Values of Openness and Transparency. The former being your stated intention to welcome all, regardless of status or standing, the latter being the practice of writing these letters […]
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
Dear Chris Bateman, I am writing in response to your blog post “Prolegomena to Any Future Manifesto“. What you write resonates with me as I used to be actively involved in electoral politics and had my hand in the formation of a provincial political party. Your post captures the human tension found in all modern organized entities, regardless of sector, human intention is captured in the trio of Principles, Policy, and Practice. I know this trio through my professional line of work in health care where I help families navigate through a complicated, limited system while trying to address an ever-increasing need. My colleagues and I struggle with the interpretation of Policy, how it is resolved through our Practice, and all under the public scrutiny of the Principles set out by our political and executive masters. A manifesto’s nature is to set out Principles, which become a movement’s rallying point. Principles, like an artist’s broad paint strokes on a canvas, can capture high-level notions of democracy, free markets, and public healthcare. Meanwhile the Policy level becomes the “devil is in details” that is meant to inform us how to live, essentially being the laws of the land. These laws are […]
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Introduction, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
Dear Chris Bateman, I am replying further to your reply, The Virtue of Discourse: A Clarification Thank you for informing me that the Republic of Bloggers is not a concept that you personally founded. While I do not intend to embarrass you with an undeserved title, I do believe that any good idea needs its champions and it appears I projected this onto you. Not only do good ideas need champions, they also need a good story. Perhaps this is what is missing from the Republic of Bloggers? While the Republic itself may be a valuable concept, it is only made meaningful when it becomes something we can relate to, which is best done through the form of a story. Given your extensive experience in game design, narrative, and authorship, I think that you are uniquely qualified to help author the story of the Republic of Bloggers. Yet, this does not need to be a restrictive, one-way narrative. Perhaps some of us could engage in a roleplaying game that recreates the virtual founding and beginnings of the Republic. Not only would this serve to create a imaginary and fictional history for the Republic, I anticipate it would be a source […]
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Introduction, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
Dear Chris Bateman, I am reaching out to you about your post “A Republic of Bloggers“, which I found to be a refreshing take on a medium that has become far too associated with content marketing and search engine optimization. I am putting forward my intention to join you in your venture. What I found so appealing in your concept is the invitation to engage in a exchange of ideas, thoughts, and perspectives in a format that requires a greater effort and thus the possibility of greater reward. To exchange letters via our blogs is to engage in a practice that is becoming less and less attractive in a time where people prefer to be entertained by the latest tweet or feed. But we do not need to be popular to be meaningful, and perhaps it shall become the mantle for the Republic to do that which need not be popular. It only takes two to have a conversation, so perhaps with enough examples from a few of us, we can gather others to our Republic to expand our company. So I would like to engage with you to discuss some parameters for such an experiment. You mention that the […]
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Introduction, Personal Resolve
So I have been very remiss to update my Doc Surge blog for the past year mostly because of Twitter. I have been engaging in discussions and the odd argument with others. I have found this both invigorating and discouraging. There is some really excellent people to follow and interact with, but there is also lots of anti-social behavior that is very off-putting. It has all been very distracting and while I will continue to use Twitter to be exposed to new ideas, I am going to go back to blogging and working on my websites and games. Twitter and other social media realms (they all have their own distinct culture) can be a wonderful method to connect with others. I also believe that it can used to help promote your business interests. But the fact is that it creates the illusion of working. You can social network but you still need to work on your own stuff. Which is why I am going to shift back to blogging on my various sites and start revving up for a soft launch of Promaginy’s latest offering – Heropath.
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Self Analysis
Technology can be a wonderful thing. The ready availability and ease of setting up one’s own website is very easy because of services like WiredTree.com and blogging platforms like WordPress. But ease of publishing on the net is a gilded dream. It looks good but is insubstantial. You still need to do the hard work of coming up with good content which requires substantial perspiration and inspiration. And the only way to find inspiration is to know thyself enough to know what interests you and triggers a response. Otherwise, you are just rehashing what others are saying which is simply boring and lazy. Developing an online presence has never been easier, but this ease of entry into the market means that portraying a unique message is even more important. And this can only be done by developing enough self-insight to know what things trigger in you an emotional and intellectual response so you have material to work with. Its what separates the leaders from the followers. It is hard work because it requires so much self-analysis and self-editing. Thankfully, just like any skill set, it becomes easier with practice and repetition.
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers2 commentstags: Introduction
Welcome to The Journals of Doc Surge, created by Chris Billows. For those of you who have caught my original Blog, BilLOGs.net, this new DocSurge.com is replacing it. Why? Because the original site was having some WordPress issues, I was not inspired with maintaining it, and I found a new theme to base a new blog on. So who is Doc Surge? He is a fictional character that will act as a caricature for myself and the adventures I have. He is inspired by Doc Brass from the Planetary Comic series who in turn was inspired by the 1930s pulp hero Doc Savage. Calling this character Doc is a direct mimicking of this archetype superhero (who was one of the originals) and the second name comes from a cooler sounding synonym that works my last name Billows. Doc Surge will be a personal journal of my business, political, philosophical musings. It will feature things that I am involved with and things that I find really cool. I hope to keep you interested, but if not, oh well, there will be something in the magical World of Web that will.
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 comments
Well, its the end of BilLOGs as a going concern exactly 5 years since I started the blog. I had a persistent problem with the WordPress blog that kept recurring where my posts could not be found. Its strange because I use WordPress on most of my other sites and have not had this problem. So I have taken this as a signal to move the site, preserve the posts, and start up a new blog. You can check out the BilLOGs Archives. Check it out at DocSurge.com
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 comments
2011 was by far the most stressful year that I had with so many things changing, and even though nothing bad happened, the changes that took place tested my patience and self-concepts. 2011 for me was about feeling out of control and that whatever choices I made created even more lack of control. This was challenging for me because I typically feel a sense of control in my life, that things were going according to a set-out plan. That all changed in 2011. I broke a mold I had grown comfortable with by making choices and taking chances. The irony is even though nothing terrible happened I found myself resenting the choices because they came with experiencing a poignant lack of control. This was all on top of a very busy and stressful year at work. It has been a humbling year. My posting on BilLOGs went down as I got enthralled with everything (There were 19 posts in 2011; 25 posts in 2010; 54 posts in 2009; 81 in 2008). I don’t think the frequency of blogging will change in 2012. My company Promaginy expanded its income stream by intensely investing into online website properties. I will be posting […]
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