YEARS ago, I swore never to again waste time watching anything broadly related to politics, proceedings of any kind, hearings, or speeches by politicians. Not only does this personal block apply to television (which we haven’t turned on in years anyway), but also via the LED screens of our tablets or cell phones.
However, even as I’ve avoided directly listening to these, once in a while, I hear about the goings-on either through many conversations with friends or during dinner chats with my partner.
If it were about an official whom I assume does their job well, then I have no problem, but if it involves what I perceive as politicking, character assassination, and the like, then that’s precisely why I draw the line in the first place.
In a related matter, I have yet to hear a present-day politician who’s eloquent enough to have me lend an ear anyway. Relatedly, it seems to me many public officials still cling to the belief that if they talk and argue so much on the floor, or hatch scoops and exposes meant hugging the limelight, especially when covered by the media, the exposure and mileage from these would positively translate into votes when elections come.
This distorted perception of popularity devoid of content is just so unbelievably dumbfounding; it’s short of calling any electorate ignorant and easily fooled. (or are we?)
Anyway, this is the reason why, and I guess it’s only prevalent in this country, there’s almost a press conference going on every week.
This brings to mind a literature I came across many months ago. It even takes me back to remembering some classmates of mine in college. To cite… “The more you talk in a meeting, the more likely you are to be chosen as the leader of the team.
We award the people who dominate the conversation even though they are not actually better at leadership. And most often they’re worse, because they fail to include and learn from the voices around them. More importantly, we are consistently mistaking their confidence for competence.”
So there. There’s actually a study on this phenomenon, and it’s called the babble hypothesis. Research in organizational psychology points out that quantity of speech often wins over (sic) quality. In other words, people who most often dominate conversations appear as capable leaders. To add… “regardless of their actual expertise, intelligence, or personality traits”.
During one Philo session in college long ago, one particular classmate raised a hand confidently and talked nonsense about a theory for more than a minute.
Our patient instructor listened poker-faced and quietly but firmly declared, “SIT DOWN!” How I wish they would say that to these leaders talking over their heads (and doubtful intelligence).
