Joseph Harris’s concept of “forwarding” is an ever-present force in the blogosphere. Upon reading the assigned blog prompt and going in search of examples on Andrew Sullivan’s blog, I immediately came upon the perfect example of Harris’s description—and it took no real searching, as the first post at the top of the page was so filled with forwarding, it’s almost absurd.
Sullivan forwards a response made by a reader of The Daily Dish onto the front page of The Daily Dish, a response which was constructed in reaction to an article Sullivan previously forwarded from a person named Rob Dreher. In the post currently on the front page of The Daily Dish, the responder forwards Abraham Lincoln from the time of his debates with Stephen Douglas.
If this isn’t a prime example of what forwarding is, then I’m not sure what forwarding is. But I’m pretty sure I know what forwarding is, and in case I’m not, I will share my impression of the term.
Forwarding is the act of taking information from an infinitely-stretching conversation and adding to the conversation in a way that both provides your own personal thoughts on the conversation as well as incorporates information previously contributed to the discussion. It is how any major subject that requires understanding progresses along the path of knowledge-gaining, and without it, people would get nowhere in the path of knowledge. We would constantly be starting over if we were without what previous generations and even our peers have added to the conversation.
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As far as I can tell, I think you've got a pretty good grasp on the concept of forwarding. I think your last paragraph sums it up nicely. I especially like the point you make about how we'd be perpeutally starting over - our thoughts, ideas, explanations of things, everything - if it weren't for forwarding. I hadn't thought of it like this, but it's so true. Good point.
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