Well, I have to admit, speech is not my thing. Ever since I was a child, I have preferred reading books over watching movies. Text is so much more efficient to process. I could spend 15 minutes reading an article and get going with my day than reserve 1.5 hours to watch a documentary that says the same thing, just more slowly and more dramatically. I've got places to be and things to do goddamn it!
Listening to live impromptu speech is even more frustrating. In the context of an argument, most people repeat the same thing a billion times, say 'ummm' a trillion times, and 'like' a bazillion times. I don't blame them of course, speaking is hard for me too. I just replace the 'umms' and the 'likes' with silence, which makes people think I'm a slow speaker. Although I like to think that the things I say have high information density, listening to myself speak frustrates me to the core. I just can't stand the fact that I have spend so much time to get such little information. On the other hand, if the amount of information in speech is too much, it's very easy for me to lose track. I just don't think my brain is made to process vocal information properly, and I think this holds true for a majority of the population.
Textual communication makes arguments more concrete. It's very easy to overlook a statement someone made 10 minutes ago, but a flaw in an essay is apparent. You can re-read something you did not understand. You can lookup information you did not know about. And the most important reason of them all, you spend more time making your argument and thinking through your points. This makes reading about a certain viewpoint a much more pleasant experience.
There's also the fact that I'm not good at emoting while speaking. I'm always fascinated by how excited and passionate some people get while speaking. That raw passion makes whatever they are saying more entertaining and interesting. When I talk about a topic I care about, I probably sound bored; I'm sure people would rather just be doing something else.
The point of this blog is to put whatever I would have liked to have said or shared in a written format, in hopes that people will read it and gain some knowledge or change their opinion. Also, a bit of self-expression does not hurt, as I think most people don't know much about me or the opinions I hold.