Blogs should have been introduced to mankind at least 2500 years before today. Think about it. The New Testament could have gathered thousands of followers in the Greek diaspora during the Hellenistic period. Plato could have written his famous dialogues in a blog read by the entire Academy. He could have included a dialogue-creator widget, too, with which his students from the Athenian aristocracy could have recreated the memorable conversations with Socrates. Oh, and think about what magic a cool chat room could have done in those early days to help spread the seeds of scientific methodology in the disputes of the apologists.
For the Hungarian Anonymous, a blog would have offered a far better tool than scratching on animal’s skins (aka parchment). Descartes would have been the man to write some infamous mottos for the About me sections: blogeo, ergo sum. Casanova could have been the first to add the 18+ tag to his 6-volume-long memoirs (or, in some countries, such as the Pope-governed Italy of the 18th century, the 21+ tag…)
The posthumous celebrity of 20th century Hungarian emigrant literature, Sándor Márai, would have also preferred a blog. In fact, he would have been the most avid blogger of all times. Check the thick volumes of his diary from 1940 to 1989 and you will know what I am talking about.
All in all, blogging could have served as a buzzing forum in every century of humankind’s history. Today it is one of the most widespread and popular means of communication and news broadcasting. Most importantly, blogs are free. Amateur blogs are written by single authors and the comment boxes are nearly always open to the public.
Afterthought (War & Peace vs. Brenda’s Wedding Blog)
When I was 14, I used to read War and Peace. I am ashamed to admit that I actually loved it. [Insert “poignant confession” tag here.] I actually loved the stuff that happened on most of its pages (1600 out of the ca. 2100). I even liked the 60 pages-long epilogue of Leo’s vague discourse on the principles of history at the end of the book.
Today I only read blogs. And seriously, I do not feel that there is a devolution here. It is obvious that you cannot actually compare Tolstoy’s work to a wedding-blog, but hey, who said people are interested in anything but themselves. They are not. The huge cyber-catalogue of blogs on the web today is the ultimate place to browse for the content you are interested in. And currently, what satisfies my immediate needs is to read the personal tales of people all around the world; especially the ones in which they explain how they prepare for their weddings.
*Btw, the title refers to the famous latin phrase of Tacitus, a Roman historian. It is taken from his book, Annales (= “yearbook”, Roman [military] history year by year, as seen by the man himself). “Sine ira et studio” translates as “without anger and fondness,” that is, objectively. It is also mostly quoted by historians as their quasi-motto in seeking objectivity while doing their research.
