Learning Through Blogging

Tyler Cowen writes,

Chess players who train with computers are much stronger for it.  They test their intuitions and receive rapid feedback as to what works, simply by running their program.  People who learn economics through the blogosphere also receive feedback, especially if they sample dialogue across a number of blogs of differing perspectives.  The feedback comes from which arguments other people found convincing.  Do the points you wanted to hold firm on, or cede, correspond to the evolution of the dialogue?  This feedback is not as accurate as Rybka but it's an ongoing test of your fluid intelligence and your ability to revise your opinion. 

Not many outsiders understand what a powerful learning mechanism the blogosphere has set in place.

Ezra Klein tweets, "The blogosphere is like a graduate seminar that never ends."

Commenters and other bloggers keep me on my toes. If I through out a quick, stupid thought, odds are that someone will tell me that I'm a moron and then explain why. This is a very good thing.

Also, I'm constantly reading other bloggers and articles in the paper looking for blog fodder. Much more than I did pre-blog. I'm writing every day, way more than I did pre-blog. I'm forcing myself to take sides on controversial issues and justifying my decisions.

It does take me away from work on longer, more polished prose. But when I carve out the time to finish my projects, I sure have a lot to say.

Comments

[jen]

Speaking of other blogs, Laura, I'd love to hear which blogs you're reading regularly these days. Not sure if people still do blogrolls, but several of my favorite bloggers have hung it up in the past year (Elizabeth at HalfChangedWorld, Phantom Scribbler, Flea) and I'm always looking for more.

[laura]

Flea is still blogging. E-mail her and ask her for her new blog address. Elizabeth is sort of back. I see Phantom Scribbler on Twitter.

I've been slowly updating my blogroll. For politics, I usually read Ezra Klein, the Atlantic Monthly people, Monkey Cage, and Yglesias. For mom stuff, Dooce and Pioneer Woman. For chick stuff, Double X and Feministe. For random, Penelope Trunk and Perez Hilton. I've been exploring various blogs that specialize in writing. If you're looking for smart, strong women bloggers, there's Jo(e). I have about 100 subscriptions in Google Reader, and usually get to them all at some time or another.

[Wendy]

This is funny because I don't regularly read any of the blogs you do! I check in with Ez, Yggie and the AM folks, but my regular politics blogs are Atrios, Digby, Susie Madrak, Balloon Juice, No More Mr. Nice Blog, Shakesville, and Washington Monthly. Parenting blogs include WSJ Juggle, Free Range Kids, and Parent Hacks. I read a bunch of media-related blogs (Mo Ryan, Sepinwall, Throwing Things) and personal finance blogs (Consumerist, Bargainist, Simple Dollar, Wise Bread). I get my gossip from Oh No You Didn't via my LJ.

Also, the best new blog on college teaching and social networking tools is ProfHacker. It's quickly become one of my favorites.

[Ragtime]

Maybe it's selection bias or my politics showing, but I have found that many of the top self-described-conservative blogs (Instapundit, the Corner, Andrew Sullivan) do not permit blog comments, while the liberal equivalents all do.

Now, maybe blogs that get (or would get) 100s of comments per topic are different from blogs that get 5-10, but I think it still might be indicative of something.

[Laura/Geekymom]

I wrote a whole dissertation about this. :)

Blogs definitely keep me sane, both reading them and writing them. I feel like I'm working my brain while reading and writing. When I was at home for a while when Geeky Boy was born, blogs did not yet exist really. So I hung out on forums and in chat rooms. I have always need intellectual stimulation and am ever so glad it's now at my fingertips. Yes, there's always books, but they're not immediate or interactive. You need both.

[Amy P]

I expect that Instapundit probably describes himself as a libertarian, rather than a conservative. I haven't read Andrew Sullivan in years, but although he would describe himself as a conservative, few conservatives consider him one. Interestingly, at the very beginning of NRO back in the 90s(when there was practically nothing else on the site) they used to have a very active public forum which they discontinued. I'm not quite as familiar with the Michelle Malkin empire, but Hot Air has comments. I had a quick look just now, and the Rush Limbaugh/NFL thread there has 790 comments, and the Limbaugh/NFL thread on BigHollywood.Breitbart.com has over 300 comments. Pajamasmedia.com has threads on their main page running to hundreds of comments. (I'm not totally sure that all of the sites that I mentioned are blogs.) If I were going to generalize, I'd say not that big right-leaning blogs don't have comments, but that many major right-leaning old-timers don't have comments, while the mid-size and newer blogs almost always do.