List 'em down
It's all about lists. The best way to catch a reader's attention nowadays is to list it down and present it as the ultimate guide. Then the reader will get hooked, follow the link, quickly browse through the items on the list, and in all probability, feel satisfied that he now knows something about the topic (an expert, even).
Seven tips about money for married couples? Check. Top ten stocks to invest in? Got them! (Never mind that the article never really talks about the quality of the stock or the reasons for picking them - at the very end of the article full of where the Philippine economy is and the prospects of the stock market, the brokerage firm's stock picks are then listed down in quick succession. Why? We don't know. But the top ten choices are there, as promised in the headline.)
Top ten friendliest cities. Top ten least friendly cities. An earth wanderer doesn't even have to go to Paris to experience the Parisians' unwillingness to deal with non-French speaking tourists asking for directions to the nearest McDonalds. He doesn't have to go to Vancouver to feel the genuine engagement of baristas or wait staff. It's all been conveniently laid out for him by someone else.
Should I check out the 22 things I no longer see in Manila? I'm sure it will be a nostalgic trip. Healthiest food I should have on my breakfast table? Too cancer causing food? Five fastest ways to lose my fat and get some abs? All there on the web.
Top artists in the world, Asia, the Philippines I should know about? I'm sure it's been written, all I have to do is search for it. (Am guilty of this as well, having authored a piece on five Bacolod visual artists under 40 to invest in now).
Even the online versions of reputable news sources like Time magazine have their own versions of these definitive lists. All in the name of getting people to notice and increasing online traffic.
It worries me, this proliferation of lists. While the compilations may be convenient and informative, it does seem to cater to people's laziness and/or short attention spans.
Yes, it's such a hassle to research the best vacation spots and the best books to read. But if everyone is going to the same travel destinations and reading the same novels, and they all agree it's the best, how does that enrich and improve our culture?
It might mean we all have the same frame of reference, much as growing up, we all watched the same Japanese cartoons, cheesy noontime shows, and matinee idol movie stars. We might as well read the same authors and agree that these visual artists are the cutest. Then communicating and explaining ourselves might be easier.
Is that necessarily good, though? That someone else is making our choices for us? What happens to independent thought? Or critical thought, for that matter? What happens to being unique and having diverse experiences?
What happens to those left out from the list? Pushed to obscurity, unless someone else creates a list like "Top ten you never heard about and should." Which would be a bolt of lightning fame to the listed, unless the list was "Top five deceased geniuses" or something like that, in which case that would be sad and ironic.
We might be in danger, because of our laziness and attention deficits, of becoming unthinking lemmings. The lure of the easy read is there, fueled by clever editors thinking of snazzy headlines designed to hook us. I am sure there are other risks to this cultural phenomenon of list making.
I should make a list.
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