The online "print" media loves to flood us with numbered "how-to-tell-if" articles.
Are we really that stupid/lazy/unthinking that we need other people writing articles directing us to the 6 signs that we may feel something?
The numbered headlines are everywhere. Maybe it's the 5 signs that your man may be a psychopath, or the 10 daily things you are doing that may prematurely kill you, or the 4 signs that your best friend is stealing your favorite anti-anxiety medication, or the 7 signs that someone you love is a pathological liar.
I wonder if we could come up with 8 sure-fire ways to put an end to people writing and printing this crap?
In its place, I would love a fresh emphasis on encouraging people to think for themselves.
How about really discussing what it really means when people are mentally ill and organically prone to lying, for instance.
I know we could use a comeback of simple self-reflection.
Yes, I say "comeback" because I remember when there was time for that; a time when people had the normal task, the daily assignment because they were alive, of thinking things over for themselves.
Not everyone participated, of course, yet the times did not discourage meaningful reflection on life and soul.
My personal experience with the media has demanded my offering numbers of tips on all subjects, either for a television appearance or a radio call-in show.
I am delighted to be asked and love the chance to make a useful impact on people's lives, yet I still initially balk at the need to offer numbered tips.
Here's why. I long for the opportunity to invite listeners and readers to think, and to think more and more deeply, on their own.
This is what I want to contribute in my media spots!
Another person's 6 signs-of-anything is either pure opinion or the easy, average way to see your writing published.
Sadly, we are a society where people hop onto other people's opinions as if they, themselves, are not in charge of having their own thoughts and figuring out what life is about for themselves.
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