I never really thought about doing a blog.
I mean, what do I have so say that's so interesting or important that other people will want to read it? But I decided to do it anyway, and here's the (over)explanation of why.
A few years back, I took a Western Civilization (or it could have been World Religions) class at the local community college. The instructor (Raj Ayyar) wisely chose not to make it about names and dates but about ideas. One of those ideas was the different forms of immortality. One form in particular struck me - so long as people remember you, you are still alive.
A vivid illustration of this may be found in the movie Blade Runner. The climax of the movie involves Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Deckard (Harrison Ford) trying to kill each other. In the end, Deckard falls off a building but Batty saves him just before dying. Why did Batty do this? The voice-over in the original version offers a lame explanation but the best explanation I've seen was on the web site cracked.com (of all places). By saving Deckard, Batty is saving Deckard's memory of him, thus prolonging his own life.
As I get older, I think about my own legacy and, quite frankly, I'm not well positioned for immortality.
I have no children, have achieved nothing of lasting value. When I die, it will be as if I never existed. So perhaps by publishing a blog, even if it's read by no one, some evidence of my existence will be preserved on some server, somewhere, and I will have achieved my little slice of immortality.
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