The 3 Core Values of The Philosocom Blog
- Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein
- Mar 13, 2022
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 9
Introduction
It should be taken into account that one does not simply open a philosophy blog for no reason. Writers who do not have a core philosophy behind their decision to write, might struggle greatly and unnecessarily to write good content and make others want to read it. A core reason to write philosophy specifically is to inspect and try solve problems from a logical perspective.
The need for a reason becomes more urgent when it comes to this specific niche of philosophy, and it's not only because there's a lot of competition from "rival" blogs. It's also because philosophizing is done under a premise, under a reason, under logic. It isn't just idle chatter as it may stereotypically be presented by those who disapprove of it. No. It's all carefully planned in order to make sense. And to make competent philosophy articles, one must plan them in accordance to get the desired result.
In this case, success is when your understanding or presentation of the truth has been demonstrated through your content.
A work of philosophy done out of boredom and nothing else is a work that, in theory, could be easily disregarded by both the reader and the author. But to write competent philosophy content, be it articles or books, one must be serious about what they're doing, and make sure they plan their produced material in the most logical and bias-disposed way possible.
Therefore, a motive needs to be put in place and remembered as far as the mind can do so. After all, philosophy is best produced when done seriously and meticulously. And for seriousness to be implemented and preserved, one or more purposes are needed. Otherwise, the quality would either degrade with time, or be subpar already.
Call it a work philosophy or a "philosophy of a philosophy", regarding this niche. You may also call it meta-philosophy. In this article, I will attempt to present the three core values that underlie the reasoning behind my writing and, directly, the existence of this very site.
Realization
In Hebrew, the main aim of a content-based site is called "Erech Mussaf" (ערך מוסף), or "additional value" in English. Specifically in content it's called value-driven content.
"Value-driven content for marketing is content that is created with the intention of providing tangible value to the audience. This could be in the form of helpful advice, useful resources, or entertaining stories. It should be designed to engage and educate the audience, not just to promote a product or service."
In philosophy, it's the most important core of all, particularly of a philosophy blog. People do not usually write philosophy to promote a product as most (if not all) advertising is to be biased in order to drive you to buy. And that goes against this niche as you are expected to aim for objectivity as a philosopher. In the end, my aim as a writer is to give you something of additional value, and one that I am to achieve myself: A greater realization of the truth.
And this value, logically, needs to keep you wanting to read, in order for Philosocom to succeed. That's despite the general competition of both other blogs and other sources of stimulation that consume your time. Upon further introspection there's quite a lot.
If a philosophy blog fail to provide you, personally, an "Erech Mussaf", then that blog does not worth your time. According to Author Luisa Zhou:
77. 80% of blogs will likely fail within 18 months
There are over 600 million blogs online
If you have not learned anything new, or were not given at least something to think about and to consider, then that blog you're reading is at a disadvantage, compared to rivalling blogs. Given that philosophy is all about value and not promotion of product, value deserves to be the "king" in philosophical content above all other "earthly" niches.
The process of philosophizing is all about doing something for the sake of an "immaterial product", instead. Be it a solution, a new idea, a vision and so on. Karl Marx for instance sold because his product was immaterial: A societal utopia. You don't buy ideas like you buy an item at the store.
One does not seek philosophy for the sake of erasing boredom, entertainment, or any such "regular" value whose functionality can be served by ice creams and popsicles. You, I and the rest of us, are all seekers of realization, by choosing to seek and contribute this niche.
That's the unique trait in philosophy that doesn't necessarily exist in other niches, such as niches related to entertainment, for example. When one seeks entertainment, like when watching a movie or playing a video game, these activities are merely done to rest and to relax oneself from the daily activities of life -- work, school and other duties.
That, you see, is not the case in philosophy. The entire purpose of philosophy is to get something that is additional to itself, and that is realization. To realize a deeper truth one must take active cognitive effort to see it through that they understood what they read or what they're writing about.
To philosophize publicly, and be successful at it, is to gather people around you and prove to them that they have a good enough reason not to do anything else with their free time.
You could just as easily give up on seeking philosophers or trying to philosophize yourself. Not only this field doesn't have a clear end; There are many other alternatives out there to fill your time that do not require nearly as much energy or dedication as philosophy demands.
Thus, reading philosophy comes with the realization that the other alternatives out there. While reading philosophy isn't necessarily as fun as playing a game or having intercourse, at the very least you're doing something useful with your time: Enhance your understanding of the world around you from a logical perspective. Science only covers up part of it.
This is why I myself philosophize: Because the solutions out there, all the pleasures of modern-day technologies, are not enough for me to make me smile, to make me desire this existence. No. The best thing I can do for me to stay sane in this seemingly-absurd world is to try my best to make sense of it, and you're free to read my and others' findings on my journey, to create the best philosophy blog I can.
The "earthly" pursuits of life may fail filling in our need for meaning. That's where I and my article empire come in.
2. Relevancy
Allow me to tell you a little secret. My books did not achieve as much success as this site. The reasoning behind it is that books are less read than posts you can find on the internet: The internetization of content, as I call it. If people do not see a good enough reason to read a book, then one must compromise for the more desirable channels of content distribution.
Books are not bad by default; They're less desirable when you have so much accessible data on your smartphone, to freely read. Because of that, I've decided to put my content in the form of a blog. Blogs are more likely to be consumed by the world than books, and I have my own statistics to prove it:
In 2017, 77% of internet users read blogs (Social Media Today).
There is a general decline of American book readership from 2002 to 2021 (Gallup).
Before 2020, 30% of the book market share is consumed by Americans (World Population Review).
Every 0.5 seconds, a new blog post is published (UK Web Host Review)
On the contrary, "based upon a total annual number of 4 million books published each year, it can be estimated that almost 11,000 books are published daily". (Wordsrated)
I might've managed to sell dozens of copies, at least in physical form. However, I can have "tinier" bits of similar content, then people are likelier to read it in the hundreds, if not thousands accessible far more, and easier to produce and also edit whenever I'd like to improve their quality.
Why would I focus on books, then, when blog articles are easier to write, spread and renovate?
Philosophy is already something that is lagging. The better-quality blogs out there, the better service they can make for this niche. It should not be the sole pursuit of highly educated academics; Anyone with an internet connection should consume philosophical content as much as they would like. It should be in the possession of anyone across the world, with the only required payment being to your internet provider or to your local internet café.
The masses deserve to be educated without resorting to crippling student debt!
With the power of worthy blogs, I am confident that, eventually, philosophy in this day and age will be more desired, and available just like any other topic. What I'm giving you should not be denied; it is a largely a free service that you're getting from me.
You can learn philosophy from bloggers for free, than risking heavy debt by learning them from academic professors. That is the relevancy of Philosocom being an ever-expanding, ever-improving blog, and not a university that sells you knowledge at the price of academic courses. Additionally, philosophy degrees do not hold much practical value beyond the knowledge itself, and their direct job options.
3. Finally, Revenge
Have you ever found a philosophy blog that is driven by the quest for vengeance? Whether you did or didn't, this is the one. I'm a specific person, whom some of you may already know, as the third core motivator for this blog. And I'm using her specifically because I found revenge can be carried out altruistically.
I did many good things for her: I made her a waltz on the piano I used to have; I gave her a copy of my first published book; and in the end, all I eventually received was the simple sentence:
"You are not relevant enough."
To this day, I'm not sure why she treated me so badly over the years, despite my pure goodwill. Regardless, the past cannot be changed. She could've at least said "thank you", but no.
I am most likely not to see or hear from her again. However, she represents, in my mind, not only herself, but other people as well, towards whom I also had good will. People who didn't care, for my good will. So, Philosocom is a way for me to find people who would want to be contributed from my hard work. I've no desire to please the ungrateful anymore.
If they think I am not worthy enough in their eyes, then I will dedicate the rest of my life to making you, at least, to consider that they might be wrong. I will prove my worth more and more. And my success, my revenge, will be carried out with relentless work, one article at a time!
I'm not looking for love, nor for an apology. I'm looking be of worth beyond where I was deemed disposable. As any honest altruist would!
With this philosophy blog as my representative, I shall at least try to make the ungrateful, irrelevant themselves, through what I have to offer to those willing enough to be thankful.
And since I don't want to die at all, as devaluing my own life is immoral despite the struggle, the alternative is to improve, to write, and to share.
And I'll do so until my reasoning for my existence will be justified enough to be deemed worthy as to many people as I can! It's the only way Philosocom can be recognized -- for its head's hard work towards the benefit of the public.
You will pay, Chen! I will never allow myself to be this egotistical as you were to me!
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