LCD talking and thinking

[coberst]

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.

[NEOWatcher]

I claim that almost all verbal exchanges on TV are LCD talk. Advertisers, political aficionados, and ideologues all use LCD talk.
Um, yep... ever since they called it a boob tube.


We have lost our sense of direction because we have allowed LCD talk to be successful.
Thus, we have boards like this. :)

Many people say..."well, just turn it off". Unfortunately, all that does is lower the average of the viewing audience, therefore the LCD gets lowered even more.

I say, tune into the good stuff, write letters where you can (both good and bad), and educate your neighbor. Otherwise, it's not worth the higher blood pressure.

[Larry Jacks]

One of the key responsibilities of any communicator is to consider the audience. For selling products, be they cars or politicians, you have to reach the widest possible audience to be successful. So, if you want to call that LCD talk, that's fine but in reality it is essential. If you come across as condescending or arrogant, you can kiss your audience goodbye. IIRC, there has been some rather heated discussion on the American political landscape in the past week on this matter. In this case, the political candidate said things that were probably perfectly appropriate to his audience on Billionaires' Row. He just didn't count on his words being recorded and played to a much wider audience. Whether or not that will have any long term repercussions remains to be seen.

If your audience is more narrowly focused then you can and should tailor your communication to that audience for maximum effectiveness. For example, if you're presenting to a group that all have PhDs in a subject, you can speak at a much higher level than if you're talking to middle school students.

[Fazor]

Aside from sports, there's only a few things I enjoy watching. One is Two and a Half Men. Yes, you could easily argue that this is "LCD" programming...but Charlie is one of my fav actors, and the writers have the same sense of humor as I do. I also love Big Bang Theory, though I kinda think that's like watching a sit-com version of BAUT.

And I very much love cooking shows...even the "Americas Next Top Chef" type stuff (because I love to see the different techniques and foods). Anything that can allow me to learn how to cook better food is my friend.

It's hit-or-miss as far as being a topic I'm interested in, but I have "NOVA" set to record. The last one I watched was about decyphering Mayan glyphs, and I loved it. I believe the next one is a documentary following a group of "average people" who spend a year training to run the Boston Marathon. I'll probably delete it.

[Swift]

Coberst, dawg, where have you been hiding?

When I first saw "LCD talking and thinking", I was thinking, "wow, a talking Liquid Crystal Display".

Yep, 90% of the stuff on TV is garbage. Most political sound bites are meaningless. That's why I watch little of it and pay it little attention. What of it?

[Fazor]

When I first saw "LCD talking and thinking", I was thinking, "wow, a talking Liquid Crystal Display".


Heh, yeah, I kinda roamed off-topic on my reply. Anyway that's the same thing I thought. Either that, or a discussion on LCD set-ups.

Anyway, it's not just TV. It's all media. I almost think print is worse. You just gotta take what you see/hear/read for what it's worth.

[coberst]

Coberst, dawg, where have you been hiding?

When I first saw "LCD talking and thinking", I was thinking, "wow, a talking Liquid Crystal Display".

Yep, 90% of the stuff on TV is garbage. Most political sound bites are meaningless. That's why I watch little of it and pay it little attention. What of it?

Hi Swift.


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