Thanks so much for your very generous review. After being absent from this site for many months, reading your review was a great homecoming.
Non-fiction / How Soundbytes Cannibalize the Big Picture (Analysis)
After reading the book, “Sleeping with Extraterrestials,” it occurred to me that very few people these days would be able to comprehend, let alone read, the author’s brilliant analysis of our purposely dumbed-down culture. A culture in which bubbleheads like Paris Hilton are reportedly paid a million dollars to “lecture” at esteemed universities like Harvard.
Dumb and getting dumber seems to be a badge of honor these days. Ask me, it’s why Bush got elected: everyone knows what a good ole boy he is, how he talks like the average guy down the street. So what if he can’t think his way out of a paper bag. At least I can take heart in the fact that even stupid people can become president of the most powerful nation on earth. That’s equality in the soundbyte land of the free.
It’s not simply a matter of language or word choice: ideas that are complicated or profound are viewed with suspicion by the average person. It’s as if we are losing the ability to think in shades of gray. Multi-link theories, an interdisciplinary approach, is deemed boring, or incomprehensible, because most people’s attention span is extremely short. Apparently, it’s a sin in some people’s eyes to want a serious discourse, to challenge our ideas and beliefs. Big questions and concerns go unanswered. Meanwhile, the masses are amusing themselves to death.
Profundity, like long sentences and words with three or more syllables, has fallen out fashion in these info-fat days: If you can’t express your idea in ten words or less, it must not be important or true, many people will say. When I ask some stranger what they think about climate change, many of them tell me that the concept is simply too “intellectual,” meaning, I suppose, that you have to actually stretch your brain.
So, why does soundbyte writing bother me so much? Why does it matter if people only want to read mind candy? What harm can it do?
I firmly believe that very few fascinating ideas can be expressed in ten words or less, using two syllable words. I believe that keeping and expanding the richness of the English language is paramount to the healthy functioning of democracy. George Orwell’s 1984 “newspeak” is a prime examble of what happens when you dumb down language: people lose the ability to think. If you remove the word “revolution” from public consciousness, you’ve gone a long way towards preventing the masses from rising up. Without the concept of revolution, there can be no action.
In my view, soundbytes cannibalize the complexity of our experience, eroding the big picture, robbing our brains of the ability to think in shades of gray. But then, the way things are going, it won’t be long before we abandon language altogether, revert to signing, grunting or drawing pictures in the sand.
You need to log in to urbis or create an urbis account to review this writing.
Reviews
Sort Reviews by Newest | Oldest | Highest Quality | Lowest Quality | Newest Comments |
AstridM reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
This piece doesn’t sound like a rant, and I’m glad for that. It appears that you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this topic and have conveyed your thoughts in a manner that doesn’t sound condescending.
The only sentence that sounded awkward to me was the one that began with, “I firmly believe…”
“prime examble” – example
And I completely agree. It seems that a lot of people just fill their minds with fluff.
- add/view comments (1)
initial_v reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
This 157 word review has not been unlocked.
derekosborne reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
With me you are preaching to the choir. That said, the writng was clear and concise, the level of diction compatable with the message. I cannot criticize the prose. As a blog it is almost ideal, specifically because it looks at a complex subject in fairly simple terms and within the attention span of your average blog reader, precisely the issue you are attempting to address. I pity all three presidential candidates for having to deal with this dynamic.
MisterP reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
This 125 word review has not been unlocked.
RobinRenee reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
I think it would be very difficult to critique a person such as yourself, especially when it comes to your skill in the mechanics of grammar. It’s also very obvious that you are highly intelligent and verbally articulate, so I’ll just say that I could not agree more.
I was blown away, at not only your talent as writer, but your ability to bring out a political point in a very humoruos way, not to mention throwing Paris, in your beginning introduction.
I would enjoy reading more of your “Rants”...
mymommaatelettuce reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
I totally agree with your opinion. Our society has slowly begun to degenerate and unfortuantly language is always first to go. Ask the regular Joe on the street and ask him the latest book that he’s read and I’m sure the response would be ” Green eggs and Ham ”. There’s very little in our society to promote free thought, enterprise, and above all an appreciation for the beauty of language. Unfortunately the ” Soundbyte Masses ” find the richness of the English language outdated.
Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Review item
Add to favesCreator
Relevant Links
Item Stats
GENERAL
6 Reviews 3 Comments
Version 1
Latest Activity: 2 months ago
REVIEW QUEUE
Appeared in Queue: 0 Times
Skipped: 6 Times
Ratings & Rankings
