Thoughtful Fluff

Tiger Woods is unfaithful. That’s detestable. He should pick one woman and stand by his choice. But honestly, people, why am I hearing about it everywhere I turn? The United States is fighting a war. Tiger Woods’ bedroom offenses are not the most important news stories circulating. Can anyone imagine his drama making it into a textbook, even in the “culture” recap of our decade? No.
Sad thing is: our society would rather hear about Tiger’s lust than about things that matter—probably because it is more carefree and frivolous. Listening to it requires no understanding, is not thought-provoking, and does not inspire fear or even deeply-felt concern (unless it causes you to despair about the state of society). The only response it may draw out is condemnation, an emotion that is so intimately connected to human nature that it’s always at the ready anyway.
Edward de Bono, a man I do not recall ever having heard of, once said, “Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned.” I agree with him. Instead, we are filling our minds with trivial gossip that will not have a lasting effect on our society or ourselves. Inundated with fluff, we never give ourselves the opportunity to think, or to deepen.
Thinking is a skill. Develop it.