I recently posted a link to a podcast by Sam Harris that caught my attention -- "Can We Pull Back from the Brink". Though he reaches some conclusions I don't agree with, I am a committed fan of his basic stance that the best tools for improving our world better revolve around rational, fact-based discourse. It is well worth the time to listen to him. He has his detractors of all political stripes -- but he also appeals to calmer rational voice across the spectrum. That alone counts for a lot in my reckoning.
A few days after I first listened to the blog I went back to get a link and found a presumably well-meaning listener, apparently sympathetic to the same ideals, had posted a meme -- one of the more compelling quotes alongside a photo of Sam Harris staring directly at the reader.
Now, I get that we all want to sell our points of view. But I think that in this case the medium truly is the message. We know that people respond to eyes and faces in a way that bypasses our type 2 thinking processes. So to use to these kinds of marketing tactics to sell the idea that people should use skepticism and reason to avoid being manipulated...well, it rubs me the wrong way, even when it's promoting a point of view I agree with.
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