Hal - Deliberately Basic

We all see them, posing as absolute truth, replete with absolute bullshit, passed around the net like condoms in a whorehouse. Like spam, someone is out there creating lies, and spreading their agenda to thousands of people. And that is just the politicians. I almost never have to run a check on these anymore to know that a message is an urban legend.

They run the gamut, warnings about everything from apples to zebras, all manner of foods, politics, and the military. Celebrities are often picked as the author of many of these “God’s honest truth” missives, obviously intended to make it more believable. If Red Skelton said it, it must be true.

I am not suggesting that anyone do this, but I have been curious for years to see what would happen if I wrote an audacious lie, and sent it to everyone I know. What would happen?  How many would mindlessly forward it to everyone they know? How long would it take to appear in my own inbox from one of these friends? Interesting stuff to ponder. Here is a starter site to do just that. If you do this you are on your own. I’m merely pointing out how easy it is to do. How to create an urban legend.

Most people would like to think they are above being fooled by an urban legend, or myth. On the contrary, it is easy to accept something as truth if it comes from what we deem to be a reliable source. Consider, even the best, most well-intentioned publications are capable of error.  A good example of this is, how much water should you drink everyday? Here is one answer to that question, and I have seen similar opinions in other health articles that concur with this position. Where then is the truth? The bottom line is where is always is, at the bottom. You must decide.

While having another look at the urban legend phenomena, I came across this site. Five Creepiest Urban Legends
Don’t look if you are afraid of the Boogyman.

Some people, and I think this is primarily a man thing, are so competitive they stay the course even when it makes no sense to do so. Some men  get the blues over something as ridicules as a sporting event, when their team loses. It is never about “how you play the game” or losing with dignity. It is always about winning.

Of course winning is essential to success in the major endeavors we encounter in life. As I have said so many times before, it is all a matter of balance and priority. A platitude worth remembering is, pick your battles.  In the words of Dale Carnegie:
“Any fool can criticize, complain, condemn – and most fools do. Picking your battles is impressive and fighting them fairly is essential.”
Fight for your life, fight for what you know to be right, not a football game or bravado to prove you have the biggest dick.

We equate winners with never giving up. How often I have seen men hell-bent of finishing something, wasting a part of their life finishing what they started, when in reality it will do nothing to enhance their life, or the lives of others. You do not have to finish a book, a movie, or yes guys, even a competition if you don’t enjoy it. You don’t have to finish your term on a board, a committee, or similar obligations unless it is the right thing to do. There is a major difference between quitting a thing after careful thought and inspection, or quitting without consideration or simply because you find it hard to do.

In his 1977 bestseller, “Looking Out For # 1” Robert Ringer says in regards to winning,
“Winning merely for the sake of winning elevates it to an end in itself and thereby relegates the main objective – happiness – to a position of lesser importance.”
Under the assumption that we all want to be happy, that becomes the goal of life. It follows that even if you are willing to put forth all the time and effort possible, you are not going to win at everything anyway. Your team will sometimes lose.

Consider the man who plays golf to relax and have fun. See him red-faced angry, hurling his clubs down the fairway, cursing the God who made him, because he is having a bad golf day. He not only ruins the day for himself, there is a good chance he will have a problem finding someone to play with for another outing. This is the world of little men, who in fact know nothing but winning or losing.

One of my favorite authors, Robertson Davies, like many writers, was a voracious reader. He devoured books like a hungry man at a Baptist church supper. His reading was slow and deliberate, savoring every word. He never skimmed a book, but then he never read online, and did not use a computer.

Those of us who read online, particularly BLOGs, do not read, we skim. Studies indicate the average online reader spends mere seconds on an entire page, then moves on. If he sees something of interest, he may actually stay and read it. But even then he will read very fast, a slower form of skimming.

I deliberately separate book reading from online reading .  I read a lot of books, but never online - in fact I try to read every day. If you are not a lover of books you may not understand that. If you are, no further explanation is necessary.

Online, skimming is without a doubt, a necessity. There is too much material out there to waste time reading until we are sure its worth the effort. The same can be said for printed magazines, newspapers, or other periodicals. It is more efficient to skim articles to see if they are worth your time to actually read.

Problems may occur if you allow skimming to roll over into reading books printed on paper. If all you do is skim through a book, the book is not worth reading, and you should move on to one that is.

To sum it up:
Skim online articles, and printed material to see if they deliver what you need. This may apply to technical books in certain cases.

Read books for the pure pleasure of reading. Like a job, if its worth doing, its worth doing well. Read about 100 pages, and if you don’t make friends with the book, drop it and move on.

A classic book about reading is “How to Read a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler. This is not light reading, and written for serious book readers. A very good overview of the book can be seen in this article.