Friends, Family....others.
We are gathered today because I want to sound an alarm. I have discovered the single most destructive force the world has ever seen. I see many a person winning a court case using this defense.
Yes, I speak of the epidemic levels of inspirational quotes in our lives.
Think about it.
Before 2007, how many inspirational quotes did you read? Maybe 3 a year? Once a year, by accident in some clever cartoon in the paper ( nobody reads the paper now, that should lead to a reduction in inspiration.) Once a year, when your kid needs something to dig through a test or trying to win a contest? and once a year, at some tragic event.
Other than those reasons, you would have had to drive down to a book store and buy a book, or maybe go to a library and copy it down. That never happened.
In the olden days, only the rich and smart could read or even afford a book. Now, all information is practically free.
The only guys that read inspirational quotes before 2007 were named Knievel. They broke every bone in their bodies by believing they could, even though they researched every stunt they were trying to do.
It made a great show, though.
Suddenly, social media and blogs have them everywhere. I myself am a victim.
The average computer user is bombarded by what must be thousands of quotes from famous successful people and it is changing the world for the worse.
Self confidence must be at an all time high. You can accomplish this, climb that rubber tree plant, smile through all adversity...
There is inherently tragic flaw built in this system.
When Edison gave his speeches, it was probably to a much smaller, well vetted group of employees that were expert in their field. These are experts needing a little more motivation to get the next invention finished by deadline. It is not the same as Edison telling little Bobby that he can eat a live snake, with coke and pop rocks ,then jump a car moving 40 mph at him from a standing broad jump -without a scratch- then turn it into a media empire.
Do not underestimate the power of these quotes.
People rarely know what a good or bad situation is , until it is too late. If you deny this simple truth I will point out a reality. We have a SELF HELP INDUSTRY. We pay someone else to motivate us to do things that will save or enhance the quality of our lives....but we turn loose INSPIRATION all willy nilly.
Pretty soon there will be class action suits and warning labels on the quotes. Maybe even a government test to prove you can understand that the brilliant person being quoted would probably not have said this 'go get em' speech to someone that wouldn't be able to accomplish it anyway. It was no different than the crap speak from a boss at a business meeting. The people he was speaking to were probably trying to keep their eyes open through the boredom, cause they already planned on succeeding to keep their jobs.
It started with those damned legacy memoirs making their bids for spots in history.
Most of those quotes mean " learn everything you can about what you want to do, work tirelessly to become tops in your field, and you may just succeed". Just jumping off the cliff rarely works out well for the beginning cliff diver. There are always need to know details to help with success.
I am just a guy that started typing.
Thank you for your time
Mark Burkenbine
We are gathered today because I want to sound an alarm. I have discovered the single most destructive force the world has ever seen. I see many a person winning a court case using this defense.
Yes, I speak of the epidemic levels of inspirational quotes in our lives.
Think about it.
Before 2007, how many inspirational quotes did you read? Maybe 3 a year? Once a year, by accident in some clever cartoon in the paper ( nobody reads the paper now, that should lead to a reduction in inspiration.) Once a year, when your kid needs something to dig through a test or trying to win a contest? and once a year, at some tragic event.
Other than those reasons, you would have had to drive down to a book store and buy a book, or maybe go to a library and copy it down. That never happened.
In the olden days, only the rich and smart could read or even afford a book. Now, all information is practically free.
The only guys that read inspirational quotes before 2007 were named Knievel. They broke every bone in their bodies by believing they could, even though they researched every stunt they were trying to do.
It made a great show, though.
Suddenly, social media and blogs have them everywhere. I myself am a victim.
The average computer user is bombarded by what must be thousands of quotes from famous successful people and it is changing the world for the worse.
Self confidence must be at an all time high. You can accomplish this, climb that rubber tree plant, smile through all adversity...
There is inherently tragic flaw built in this system.
When Edison gave his speeches, it was probably to a much smaller, well vetted group of employees that were expert in their field. These are experts needing a little more motivation to get the next invention finished by deadline. It is not the same as Edison telling little Bobby that he can eat a live snake, with coke and pop rocks ,then jump a car moving 40 mph at him from a standing broad jump -without a scratch- then turn it into a media empire.
Do not underestimate the power of these quotes.
People rarely know what a good or bad situation is , until it is too late. If you deny this simple truth I will point out a reality. We have a SELF HELP INDUSTRY. We pay someone else to motivate us to do things that will save or enhance the quality of our lives....but we turn loose INSPIRATION all willy nilly.
Pretty soon there will be class action suits and warning labels on the quotes. Maybe even a government test to prove you can understand that the brilliant person being quoted would probably not have said this 'go get em' speech to someone that wouldn't be able to accomplish it anyway. It was no different than the crap speak from a boss at a business meeting. The people he was speaking to were probably trying to keep their eyes open through the boredom, cause they already planned on succeeding to keep their jobs.
It started with those damned legacy memoirs making their bids for spots in history.
Most of those quotes mean " learn everything you can about what you want to do, work tirelessly to become tops in your field, and you may just succeed". Just jumping off the cliff rarely works out well for the beginning cliff diver. There are always need to know details to help with success.
I am just a guy that started typing.
Thank you for your time
Mark Burkenbine
