Death of Coherence
Just now as I strained to concentrate on an online news article about the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe, I was struck by the distractions surrounding, embedded, and frequently popping up smack-dab in front of the text. Hard to concentrate on a passage of prose while a monkey dances on your head.
--This is the SUV you’ve been waiting to test drive--
Trying to absorb a well-developed story from the internet is like trying to dash across an eight-lane freeway without getting hit by a speeding sixteen wheeler. What’s going on?
--Do Reverse mortgages really work? –
That’s what I’d like to know. If I click on a local news app, I know what to expect. Ads border the article and sometimes insinuate themselves into the text, often a half dozen of those hectoring adverts bounce and shudder across your screen. Look at this shit now! Now! Look at it! Frequently, videos you click on require viewing 30-second advertisements before the requested material you want to see and hear is provided. No free lunch, you know. Tough luck. This is the way we make money. The longer your eyes linger on this annoying screen, the better it is for our bottom line. Stay there, chump, watch and listen to this while we queue up your requested content, which may or may not run no longer than the commercial you must endure.
--America,our gut doctor says throw out this vegetable immediately—
Eat this, Sucker! And now try this! Why did we just watch a 30-second spot from IBM so we could enjoy a video, just a minute long, showing a dog run an obedience course? We know the drill: nothing is free. If we want information, we must shut up and hang there while the man pitches a product. Just sit there and take it like a martyr for the free enterprise system. This is the way the system works. Don’t whine about reality. What? You’ve never been to a timeshare pitch? Take it or leave it! On second thought, take it but don’t leave it.
--Mystery of Oak Island finally solved—
Who knew? Popups block the screen demanding that we invoke this or that. And along the way as we try to read to the end of an article, a blaring audio message insinuates itself right into our heads. Hopeless. Vile. Shameless. All sorts of commercial pursuits demand attention, and, by God, we will heed their call or else!
--25 movies released on Netflix this month—
Really? Not only that, but other headlines wheedle themselves right in the stream of the story we attempt to follow. In the midst of the story we read about bobcats in urban areas, three bulleted headlines interrupt—an earthquake in Peru, a rediscovered fish thought extinct 80 years ago, and an outbreak of measles in Vancouver, Washington. To make matters worse, almost every day a story we want to read is blocked by a pay-to-continue-reading barrier—a pay wall. What do you want, something for nothing? Or, worse, one is not allowed to read anything at all unless the reader switches to another site altogether.
-15 Epic Life Hacks that will make you happy--
Holy cow! What’s that about the medium is the message? The message is: never be bored. Look at this. Look at this. No, look at this-and-this-and-this-and-this-and-this. Ever try to drive the speed limit with a tarp draped over the windshield?
--Pay 0 interest for 18 months with this credit card—
Gimme that card right now! Lots of distractions. Derailment. Chaos. Don’t slouch on the couch. How can you when a television commercial flips through 75 screen shots in twelve seconds. Take that. And that. Many television ads present hundreds of images per minute, the screen flashing from one image to another, sometimes so quickly one’s head spins. One could have a seizure (and some people do) trying to keep up with what streaks and flashes on the screen. This is done, obviously, to capture one’s attention and keep one bedazzled. Slack jawed and in a semi-trance, we duped shmoos absorb the commercial pitches like sponges left in a clogged, dirty sink.
--Ranking the best, and worst—airlines in America--
Got to see that! Even our print media fall victim to distracting clutter. When the newspapers arrive each morning, we have to shake out all the fall-away ads and uncover the slipcover commercials that drape each section. In order to get to the news, one must first pull away and discard the trash. The point of a hardcopy newspaper is not the news, you know. The point is ad money. Sell. Sell. Sell. Donate. Donate. Donate.
--How to save 20% on your mortgage payments--
In all cases, whether on a screen or in hard copy, the thesis is often lost. All the visual and auditory stimulus makes it impossible to focus. “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” That line from Yeats applies perfectly to our helter-skelter age of information.
--If you owe the IRS, we save you big bucks--
More, we must have noticed that many of the pictures associated with a story (say, Google News, for instance) do not have much to do with the news article itself. For instance, a picture of a sandy beach beside a news article about priests accused of sexual improprieties. What? A Brexit piece alongside of a picture of Westminster Abbey, the article itself making no mention of the World Heritage Site. Or how about a young woman wearing a tight sweater beside a story about the decline in attendance at Major League baseball games? No rational connections necessary, Bud. But, dang, that woman sure is a distraction.
--Three genius ways to get controls of your finances--
Of course, most of the commercial intermissions come from shameless greed. According to some media watchdogs, we may be subjected to as many as 5000 ads each day as we view screens, read newspapers, drive by billboards, listen to the radio, and make our way in the world.
--Blunder #10: Mismanaging Retirement Accounts--
An assault on senses. You’ve seen the clickbait nonsense: “If you can answer these ten questions, you have the IQ of a genius.” “You can be a millionaire without ever leaving your home.” Many online sites get paid every time you click on this crap. How about the old list ruse? “These are the top five restaurants in Idaho.” Well, now, I just may go to Idaho sometime, so, what the hell, let me see that list.
--The real reason your dog follows you everywhere—
Like unwanted noise, information systems deliver clamor and unapologetic pleading for your money, your attention, and your personal data. Could we escape a few weeks each year to simply unplug, to get away from all hectoring advertisements, to carry no smart phone, to read no newspaper or magazine, to remain uncorrupted by the commercial world? Imagine that.
Just imagine.