Fiction and reality

Another [article from the Economist] 1 talking about how TV influence real life. In the show “24”, the hero —Jack Bauer— tortures terrorists to extract information. Most people watching the show believe that torture is a efficient way of getting information. If it works for Jack Bauer, it must work in real life, right?

The medias affect our view of the world events as well as every day life. Romantic movies, series, and books make us expect to have a very agitated sentimental life, when in fact, our sentimental life is mostly boring. Kurt Vonnegut explained that beautifully in [his talks] 2:

“[...] Because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! So people pretend there is drama where there is none.”

People want life to be like TV, and books. Fortunately real life is boring and predictable.

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If my writing sparked any ideas, questions, or insights, I would love to hear from you. Email me at henry@precheur.org I read and respond to each email, and I’m looking forward to our conversation.