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Sunday, February 13, 2005

Mister Answer Man:  Special Koufax Finals Edition!

Dear Mister Answer Man:  I noted with interest your recent discussion of blog consciousness, in which you point out that blogs feel pain, have a sense of futurity, can recognize themselves in mirrors, and (in some cases) are capable of complex emotional states.  I have done some work in this area myself, most notably in my 1974 essay, “What is it Like to Be a Blog?”– which, I should add, predates your first blog entry by eleven years.  But I believe you are skirting the issue.  The question is not whether blogs have the kind of consciousness we associate with bare sentience.  The question is whether blogs have, for want of a better word, a ‘moral’ sense.  What do you think? – T. Nagel

Mister Answer Man replies:  Well, T., it sorta kinda depends on what blogs you’re talking about.  Some blogs have a highly developed moral sense and express it with a great deal of what the Greeks called θυμος; others seem to have no moral sense whatsoever, or perhaps a primitive form of outrage influenced by what the Greeks called μεθαμφεταμινε.

Personally, however, I’m more interested in whether other blogs have a sense of self-promotion.  ‘Cause this one certainly does!  Looking over the Koufax Finals, I find that this once-humble but now Koufax-obsessed blog is a contender in no less than three different categories!  I can hardly believe it, but . . . but . . . well, I can hardly believe it.  I’m not in danger of winning any one of ‘em, unlike Amanda over at Mouse Words, who’s simply running away with “Best New Blog” (how dramatically is she running away?  James Wolcott is a distant second with just over half as many votes), but still, I’m putting up a pretty decent showing, and as a result, I now know that blogs can feel “elation.”

As of 5 pm Eastern, here’s how things stand in the voting (my count is unofficial, of course):

In Best Writing: Digby starting to pull away from Meteor Blades, 80-72; then it’s Wolcott 53, Josh Marshall 45, me 43.  Cool.

In Best New Blog: Mouse Words 45, Wolcott 25, AmericaBlog 14, Bradblog 13, me 10.  Still a lot of time left on the clock, though, for those of you interested in the race for third.

In Most Humorous Post: woo hoo, my late-night Schwarzenegger riff from the second day of the RNC, capped off by the Bréton-and-Bataille meet Beavis-and-Butthead take on Jenna and not-Jenna, actually stands a chance here!  But the competition is very tough: Rude Pundit’s “What Kerry Should Say” 17, The Poor Man’s “Poker with Dick Cheney” 14 (these two are amazing posts), I’m Just Sayin’‘s “This or That” 13, me 10.  Too early to tell, but still, at the moment, I apparently have 2004’s fourth most humorous post among left-pitching bloggers, and you know, that makes even watching the damn Republican National Convention worthwhile.  Thanks to everyone who voted for me and for those of you thinking of voting sometime soon!  You too, Mr. Nagel!

Posted by Michael on 02/13 at 05:10 PM
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