Writing makes you smarter, Reading makes you a better writer

From Infinite Thinking Machine:

Writing (not simply copying and pasting information with a web browser and word processor) is inherently a CREATIVE act. That process therefore has inherent, creative and ideological value...The more we blog, the more we reflect, the more we think and write about learning and our practices as professional educators, the smarter we're all going to get! Dr. Stephen Krashen, Emeritus Professor at the University of Southern California, confirms this conclusion is supported by educational research!

And, from that research itself:

Although writing does not help us develop writing style [Krashen contends READING develops writing style], writing has other virtues. As Smith (1988) has pointed out, we write for at least two reasons. First, and most obvious, we write to communicate with others. But perhaps more important, we write for ourselves, to clarify and stimulate our thinking. Most of our writing, even if we are published authors, is for ourselves.
As Elbow (1973) has noted, it is difficult to hold more than one thought in mind at a time. When we write our ideas down, the vague and abstract become clear and concrete. When thoughts are on paper, we can see the relationships among them, and can come up with better thoughts. Writing, in other words, can make you smarter.

As the ITM points out, this might be the best reason for everyone and anyone to blog. I know it's what convinced me to start. Admittedly, I do more than my share of cutting and pasting (c.f. above), but I like to think there's enough intelligent processing and commentary being added that I end up formulating more sophisticated responses than otherwise. My tiny corner of the "participation culture."

But of course, that and other buzzwords conveniently forgets those people uninterested in reflection or participation. Which is understandable: Inasmuch as they don't participate, they aren't part of any dialogue on participation. What do we do about them?

In all likelihood, nothing. If it were up to me, schools nationwide would inculcate in their students principles of free thought and conversation. But barring that, those who are without the loop will continue to just sit there while we go off and live our bizarre digital lives, making amazing and beautiful things like pictures of kittens with amusing captions, or bitter ironic commentary.