The Soundbyte Syndrome™ and You

[Adios]

Thanks to Nets rant in OKM this is on my mind. Since whatever pops into my mind usually falls out of my mouth you get this thread.

What is it about soundbytes that appeal to us and how can we overcome them? We have all fallen for them at one time or another.

[Cramulus]

soundbites have a certain kind of power because they are a really dense unit of information. This makes them memorable and easily transmittable. Much like a headline or a factoid, a soundbite can be used to grab attention or to support a narrative. A soundbite can be repurposed by divorcing it from its context.

I see them as tools, like a meme bomb.

what is it that we need to overcome?

[Adios]

soundbites have a certain kind of power because they are a really dense unit of information. This makes them memorable and easily transmittable. Much like a headline or a factoid, a soundbite can be used to grab attention or to support a narrative. A soundbite can be repurposed by divorcing it from its context.

I see them as tools, like a meme bomb.

what is it that we need to overcome?

It seems like so many times soundbytes are merely accepted because they are catchy. We need to overcome simply accepting them without thought. Also they are great tools. We just need to be sure the wrench isn't turning us instead of the other way around.

[Elder Iptuous]

perhaps they get past our critical faculties because, in an argument, we expect some givens to be laid out, then some inferences to be made from those givens, and then a conclusion to be presented.
so we don't get critical until the inferences are drawn, but in the soundbyte, the whole enchilada slides in as a given....
mebbee?

also, alliteration/rhyme/rhythm is very convincing for some reason... mebbee we have some acceptance of a statement as an irrational, but valid truth if it is poetically acceptable...

[Adios]

perhaps they get past our critical faculties because, in an argument, we expect some givens to be laid out, then some inferences to be made from those givens, and then a conclusion to be presented.
so we don't get critical until the inferences are drawn, but in the soundbyte, the whole enchilada slides in as a given....
mebbee?

also, alliteration/rhyme/rhythm is very convincing for some reason... mebbee we have some acceptance of a statement as an irrational, but valid truth if it is poetically acceptable...

poetically acceptable.....

Good point.

[Cain]

soundbites have a certain kind of power because they are a really dense unit of information.

I disagree.  They are usually devoid of information, slogan-like and allow the listenter to interpret it in the most favourable light possible.

How do you overcome it?  Don't rely on news stations and newspapers who read like those writers Orwell criticized in Politics and the English Language.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Twist them, bend them, break them, fuck them.

If you're not part of the solution, you're not part of the solution.