LCD, talking, thinking, and Emerson

[coberst]

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LCD talking and thinking

I think that almost all political talk is LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) talk. LCD talk is aimed at manipulating the maximum number of people as possible to agree with the talker.

I claim that almost all verbal exchanges on TV are LCD talk. Advertisers, political aficionados, and ideologues all use LCD talk.

LCD talk is so prevalent on TV because it produces sales. It produces sales because our schools and colleges have taught us only what to think rather than how to think. We have never been taught to be Critical Thinkers and thus the great mass of us are easily manipulated by talk that appeals to base instinctive emotions rather than to good judgment.

Success is more important than truth. Moving people to buy my commodity is more valuable than is the expression of truth. Selling is more important than truth. We have lost our sense of direction because we have allowed LCD talk to be successful.

 

[KillerDiller]

It produces sales because our schools and colleges have taught us only what to think rather than how to think. We have never been taught to be Critical Thinkers and thus the great mass of us are easily manipulated by talk that appeals to base instinctive emotions rather than to good judgment.

I disagree. I think any decent liberal arts education will push the critical thinking agenda. Mine certainly did. As to whether people decide to internalize those assignments well, you can't MAKE someone get it. What's that old saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

*MOD NOTE: I'd ask that if you are going to talk about a topic, that you should include an article, posit some question/hypothesis, and/or otherwise bring something to the table....and not just state your beliefs, as SDN isn't a soap box for random opinions. Also, the topic needs to be appropriate to Psychology, so I'd suggest re-shaping the topic to include the role of psychology, etc. -t*

 

[coberst]

One reader suggested that I had misstated the problem. The problem is that our LCD is too low. In other words, we must, as a group, increase our level of intellectual sophistication. We have the brain power but lack something that Emerson has written about, Self-Reliance. I suspect that we might gain some understanding of our situation if we were to read Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance".

We are creatures of our culture. We not only create our culture but we are also slaves of our culture. It takes a great effort of courage and confidence to drag the self out of the quick-sand which is our culture.


http://www.transcendentalists.com/self_reliance_analysis.htm

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Okay...I can work with Emerson's "Self-Reliance", it's been about a decade since I've read it, but I remember the gist of it. It is amazing how well it has held up both in content and application in today's world.

The thing that stands out for me is the role of conformity and independence, and how each generation needs to evaluate where they stand. A person's role in the world is often a central theme in therapy, and is something that we all need to look at.

I'd be curious to hear what people think about some of the ideas Emerson brings up, particularly how they relate to our world in psychology....whether it is in therapy, how we go about our careers, etc.