A little time off at the end of the year, some moments for looking back and forward, and all manner of thoughts will creep into my head. Inquisitive tendrils poke up and about, searching for sunlight and sustenance. They can be helpful, facilitating movement and growth. They can also corrode, pulling down structures.
One of those lines of inquiry has been about the the point, the purpose, the reason to blog. Recent conversations about AI fed the worry. It seems that establishing clarity and direction would be a worthwhile challenge for the end of 2025. I’ve been doing this sort of thing for a while. Why not step back and take a look?
First and foremost, this and its sister blog are not about fame, fortune and likes. Not that it’s news, of course. They are worthwhile goals, readily admitted, but long ago I realized that higher education offers little that would bring those about. Accordingly, when I started blogging it was a conversation among friends. Writing, after all, is a form of communication.
I’ve come to realize, though, that while writing may be in search of an audience, much of my writing is inherently to myself. Solipsistic, isn’t it? I apologize, dear reader, for while you are always in my mind, I often write to work things out.
Colleges have writing across the curriculum programs, writing in the discipline, writing for this and writing for that. Writing is how we assess critical thinking. And what I came to understand in graduate school, without writing I could read, read and read some more – and not really comprehend much at all.
It was a painful realization.
I started summarizing what I read, crafting synopses (had look up the plural), and reflecting on what I thought things meant. Originally I only did it for primary sources. Then secondary sources got the treatment, to be followed by reading fiction and literature. It might be considered journaling, I suppose, with hyperlinks and editing and at least a soupcon of rigor.
With changing jobs and the challenges in finding folks to talk with regularly, it has become increasingly important for me to imagine conversations about what I am reading, what I was thinking about, and wondering what others might think.
I have to emphasize, there are no complaints about my administrative positions. It is meaningful work and I am extremely grateful for the jobs I’ve head. That said, don’t lend themselves to intellectual curiosity and play. No one wants their provost or president bothering them with questions about books or alternative readings. Those of us in the roles have the larger offices and outsize influence. In sum, we’re already annoying enough without adding to it.
Hence, this blog was born. And then, as I find focusing solely on higher education to be quite constraining, the more expansive hypnagogic.com was established. I’ve plugged away ever since.
That’s the genesis. But why keep at it? Especially in the age of AI, when a “helpful” summary pops up on the screen all the time, with or without an invitation.
The book summaries are not meant to be comprehensive. There are an infinite number of ways to get information about a book in easily digestible bites. I avoid them. And if I had wanted a summary, I wouldn’t have bothered to read the damn book.
If I’m writing about something, it’s because I’ve read it and I think that it has content worthy of examination and exploration. The book, in sum, interests me. That, in essence, is the aim – to examine, explore and think through a work. I offer my thoughts – developed through writing – to you, dear reader.
That strikes me as a good reason to keep going, so I will.
We’re awash in innumerable ideas, arguments and information. A little bit of curiosity and it’s pretty much impossible to not be overwhelmed, particularly if one has energy and a comfortable place to read. Why not find a friend, a colleague, a fellow reader and see what they’re up to? I’m most interested.
Have a brilliant 2026.
David Potash