After restraining myself for over a year, I can't resist: time for another mini-rant about the exposure some broadcasts give to articulate, shallow know-it-alls. Yes, on the radio this morning ... yes, the same quick-fix, but with a witty new turn of phrase (wish I had thought to say that!) ... yes, s/he knew less about the subject than I happen to ... and yes, this evening I've completely forgotten the name of the commentator and the topic. So when s/he is featured again in a month, I'll again be annoyed.

But why fret? There's no real harm done; nobody of any sense pays attention to this sort of airtime filler. It would take longer to rebut than it's worth thinking about. The only lessons to learn are perhaps to avoid that station, perhaps to avoid that program, perhaps to avoid taking that pundit seriously — and most importantly, for sure to avoid getting riled by ephemera. (That last bit sounds like something Marcus Aurelius told himself to do, eh?!)

(see OnHubris (27 Dec 1999), BigNames (13 Jun 2000), UsualSuspects (15 Oct 2000) for earlier ^z gripes about pseudo-expertise and the media)

TopicSociety - TopicThinking - 2002-02-20

(correlates: AuthoritarianButtons, WornOff, IllusionOfControl, ...)