After watching all of the health care coverage on television of late, and after having watched television news shows for decades, I am trying to figure out when the age of 'Punditry' arrived.
I seem to recall watching television news when I was a child, and reporters would do their jobs... they would report. I don't recall too much punditry at that time, except for the occasional 'expert' or 'analyst' when a huge event was unfolding, like the murders at the 1972 Winter Olympics, or the Iran Hostage Crisis. Now all that you see on television news shows are analysts and pundits telling you what to think. It's not just limited to television, of course. Daytime radio is filled with political pundits regurgitating the week's events with their own added spin, as well.
What bothers me most about this, is that people are surrendering their ability to think for themselves, to the talking heads. Why would anyone do that? I appreciate the fact that I was taught to think for myself, and value my right to free speech. I enjoy expressing myself while debating with others, and have no interest in doing anything other than forming my own opinions based on the facts at hand. If I'm out of my league, then I default to my guru of choice, but only after finding ones who are what my friend David would call Expert Practitioners.
But perhaps people are not actually surrendering their ability to think for themselves. It seems as though people are no longer being taught decision-making, and critical thinking skills, so their only choice is to let other people do their thinking for them. This is a frightening concept, because if people can no longer think clearly, for themselves, what hope for Democracy is there?
The following is one of my favorite quotations on this topic. I think it perfectly expresses what I am feeling right now:
I seem to recall watching television news when I was a child, and reporters would do their jobs... they would report. I don't recall too much punditry at that time, except for the occasional 'expert' or 'analyst' when a huge event was unfolding, like the murders at the 1972 Winter Olympics, or the Iran Hostage Crisis. Now all that you see on television news shows are analysts and pundits telling you what to think. It's not just limited to television, of course. Daytime radio is filled with political pundits regurgitating the week's events with their own added spin, as well.
What bothers me most about this, is that people are surrendering their ability to think for themselves, to the talking heads. Why would anyone do that? I appreciate the fact that I was taught to think for myself, and value my right to free speech. I enjoy expressing myself while debating with others, and have no interest in doing anything other than forming my own opinions based on the facts at hand. If I'm out of my league, then I default to my guru of choice, but only after finding ones who are what my friend David would call Expert Practitioners.
But perhaps people are not actually surrendering their ability to think for themselves. It seems as though people are no longer being taught decision-making, and critical thinking skills, so their only choice is to let other people do their thinking for them. This is a frightening concept, because if people can no longer think clearly, for themselves, what hope for Democracy is there?
The following is one of my favorite quotations on this topic. I think it perfectly expresses what I am feeling right now:
"For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the system of 'brainwashing under freedom' to which we are subjected and which all too often we serve as willing or unwitting instruments."
--Noam Chomsky
Leave a comment