#377

I still pray with Meg before bed and sometimes we chat a bit. Last night she asked, "Are you on Facebook?" I said yes. She said, "Mom's on Facebook too and I don't like it when she puts anything about me on Facebook." Oh. So maybe Dad shouldn't write about you on a blog for 15 years?

Meg just had a birthday. She's 12. People say teenage daughters are one of life's tests. I have a year to brace myself.

I'm a little worried. Her words were unmistakable: I don't like it when (Mom) puts anything about me on Facebook. And my words, tens of thousands now, are here and seemingly dismissive of this sentiment. But it's okay. I just forgot to mention: none of this is true. It's exaggeration. It's fiction. It's about as unbiased and trustworthy and prescient as modern 'news' (look no further than their presidential election coverage and prediction). Very little about the real Megan is shared. Or over-shared. Definitely not under-shared! Anyway, Megan isn't a ratings-getter. And this is happy; happy is boring; how can it be relevant and worthy if it doesn't inflame and divide?

I apologize. That was cynical. I like it when bright, productive people suggest that cynicism is lazy, unimaginative, too easy. It's definitely low-hanging fruit.

"We learned long ago in this business that dumber and more alarmist always beats complex and nuanced. Big headlines, cartoonish morality, scary criminals at home and foreign menaces abroad, they all sell. We decimated attention spans, rewarded hot-takers over thinkers, and created in audiences powerful addictions to conflict, vitriol, fear, self-righteousness, and race and gender resentment."
     — Matt Taibbi, writer and journalist for Rolling Stone

"War is a monstrous failure of imagination."
     — Franz Kafka

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
     — Einstein