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.
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”.
LCD is part of the education for the general public. It is a legitamete argument that massive LCD talk is indeed a pollution to the intelligence of the masses.
