Feedback

When you blog for as long as I have, it is natural that you would get a variety of feedback. I have. There is, of course, the obligatory, "You're an idiot, a bigot, and a religious fool." When one takes a biblical view of the world, one must not expect everyone to be delighted. And, to be fair, the number of these kinds of responses have been relatively few. The larger majority are actually positive. And that's heartwarming.

There is one type of comment I've had in person and in email that has been by far the most dominant. It comes from family and friends, folk who are mostly believers and in agreement with my faith and even mostly in agreement with most of what I write. Not antagonists. Not antagonistic. The single most bit of feedback I get from a variety of people is, "You write well ... but I'm afraid I don't often understand what you're saying."

Now, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. It would appear that the problem is not my writing. I write well, they tell me. And given the number of highly educated people that have told me this, it also isn't a matter of intelligence. I'm no super scholar (no actual scholar at all), and many of these people have more education than I do. So it's not that I'm a poor writer or that I'm just too smart for them. It's something else.

I work with computers a lot. It seems to come natural to me. It seems to be an aptitude. Many of the people I work with, however, don't seem to be able to grasp basics. Not that they're not smart enough. They're very bright, well-educated people with brilliant scientific minds. They're biologists and PhDs and the like. But I've had people with doctorates ask me, "How do I turn off my computer?" Really? So I've decided that it's not at all a matter of intelligence. It's a matter of aptitude. Some people are ... wired a certain way and others are not. Some are wired to be good at sports and others are not. Some are wired to be mathematically inclined and others are not. Driving seems to be a joy to some people and a curse to others. It's not intelligence; it's wiring.

I tell you all of that because I suspect it's the same sort of thing with my writing. I suspect that there are a group of people out there -- apparently a select few -- who are wired to get it, to understand. They're "tuned in" to what I'm saying. They don't see good writing as much as they simply grasp what's coming from my mind to my fingers to your screen. They're not smarter or less intelligent. They're not better readers or as dumb as I am. It's wiring. They're just ... tuned in.

Still, it makes me wonder at the end of the day. I have been doing this for more than 6 years. I average perhaps 600 hits a week on my blog. I have an entire 25 people that are classified as following my blog. These are not big numbers. I'm not some raving success in the blogosphere. Given that the largest perspective seems to be "I don't get it", I have to wonder if I ought to continue. Is there value in broadcasting my thoughts on this subject or that just because I can? Or perhaps I should try to change, to figure out how to make myself better understood. (I have to admit I can't imagine how to do that. I thought I was pretty simple as it was.) I'm not getting paid to do this and I'm pretty sure that no one's day will be ruined if it stopped. And those minority folk who are quite sure I'm an idiot for thinking the Bible is reliable and I can understand much of what it says would be delighted to see me stop. Hey, it might just make their day!

Anyway, I don't know. Just thinking out loud, so to speak. Should I stay or should I go? Don't know right now. I'm just wondering. You tell me.