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Are You Part of the Silent Majority?
I don’t like to gossip but…
I admit it. Every time someone begins a sentence with “I don’t like to gossip but…” my ears prick up. What people think of as gossip can vary from necessary information to unwarranted character assassination. That’s why I take what people say with a pinch of salt — particularly on social media.
As Oscar Wilde observed, give a man a mask and he’ll show you his true face. The state of public discourse is determined not by what the majority think but by what the most vocal repeat again and again on platforms designed to highlight the most provocative. Some revel in causing anonymous havoc whereas others will say anything to get eyeballs on their persona. Neither is likely expressing their real opinion.
I’ve found this mirrors real life. The most confident or strident get the most attention regardless of whether they have any idea what they’re talking about. Look at architecture. Even though the public overwhelmingly hate modernist buildings, as is confirmed in survey after survey, architects insist on imposing them on us whether you’re in London or Los Angeles. That’s despite the architects like Norman Foster personally favouring working in Victorian buildings.
If impressing a weird intellectual cabal takes precedence over the needs of people hell is likely to break loose. When people only look for information that confirms their pre-existing views, that’s called confirmation bias not growth. In the case of architecture, creating dysfunctional public spaces leads to worse health outcomes and more crime. If you’re willing to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears, what else are you blind to?
This may be why, like architects, journalists can also seem detached from the needs of real people. Those not socialising with or sucking up to celebrities may not be considered worth their time. I’ll always remember a journalist sneering at Gen Z for their lack of ambition for considering themselves successful if they had a 2-bedroom flat, a pet and enough friends for a pasta and board game night.
Like the members of GenZ surveyed, I too would consider that successful. Nevertheless, the aspiration to live a flash lifestyle where everyone can see your cars, clothes and cash is considered more normal than wanting a life…
