The passion I have externalized the most my whole has been technology. However the one passion I have, which pre-dates technology is writing. My earliest memory was in the 3rd grade telling my teacher about an idea I had where students from different classes at my elementary school could create a small newspaper for parents telling them what we were doing at the school. At that time I wrote up a few samples and gave them to her. I don’t know if that idea ever came to fruition because not long after I was pulled from public school to be home schooled, but I digress. I have also seen many of the writing samples my mom has kept going all the way back to kindergarten. Needless to say, it has interested me for a long time.

Part of my passion for technology came because I learned I was able to communicate with other people across the internet in written form. You see I, as I was reminded in a small disagreement with a friend yesterday, don’t communicate well verbally. It’s always been an issue for me to be able to complete a whole thought verbally without pausing half way through. I remember at a young age, probably 5, my dad yelling at me to, “think about what I’m saying before I open my mouth.” I don’t know why I just can’t, even to this day. When writing I have the ability to not only craft what I want to say in a coherent way, but I can make it more eloquent than if I were speaking verbally.

While writing has helped me communicate it’s not the whole picture, nor does it explain the passion. A large portion of it is egotistical. I actually think that some of the things I have to say are not only worth being said, but they are worth taking the time to write down and I think others will want to take the time to read them. Writing is a craft that takes guts. I don’t just internalize my ideas or share them with a small group of friends, I am actively putting them out to the world to be judged, criticized and determined if they are off any worth. The fact that I keep doing it is an ego trip.

However, writing also fills a deep philosophical role for me too. I have a deep belief that the only way for the world to become a better place is to exchange ideas and understanding, and writing is a tangible way to transfer ideas from one mind to another. If we all can understand what makes us human, and find the attributes we all share, we can make this world a better place. In fact I think it is the only way to make the world a better place. As soon as we think a group of people are less than human, and we marginalize them, that is when ugly things happen in this world.

I will admit though, the written word has also been used to change the world in evil ways. One of the most infamous books is Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler. Just like good ideas can be transfered by the written word, so can the bad. However, it’s a battle of wits, and just because a tool can be used for evil doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be used for good. I think to hacking tools. Black hat hackers use many of the same tools white hat hackers use, only one has malicious intent, while the other is using those tools to stop that malicious intent.

Today we can look back at history and see that people have lived and died and whole nations have risen and fallen on the written word. Writing is a powerful tool of communication, which requires a strong will, but to those who wield it well, they can change the world. I want to be one of those who wields the power of the written word and uses it for good.

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