This past few months, I was hired to write four factual articles. In this experienced I noted two key qualities:
Quality 1. Writing about facts requires effort in checking, re-checking, and re-checking the checking to make sure the facts are up-to-date and cited. Writing about opinions and various perspectives, with use of metaphors and stories requires much less effort. Mind you my cognitive efforts are largely practices in divergent, intuitive, critical thinking for a creative process. Those trained in linear or algorithmic forms of thinking may find fact based writing to require less effort.
Quality 2. Writing about facts involves presenting useful material exempt from personal persuasion tactics. Writing without personal persuasion tactics requires several points of view to be considered while retaining the author’s original voice. The result offers the reader autonomy to decide the best course of future choices for themselves and does not attempt to point or spin the person in a direction the author desires. Such attempts are considered bias and are mentally limiting the reader in the exclusion of information, facts, or perspectives.
In considering these two noticeable qualities, I began to see the contemporary state of media and news as having defended the means to make Quality 1. underfunded or unfunded, and devoid of freedom such as in Quality 2. as media writing attempts to sway people one way the other on a prosed problem or issue.
This style of writing based on persuasion reminded me further of sales-pitch writing from my days as a copywriter. Language can be a powerful tool for convincing people how to think and behave, but language can also be a tool for powerful critical thinking.
For this exercise, I will convey a non-thinking exercise as a proposed routine for you, reader, to do your own thinking and not be swayed by misinformation or persuasion, as a means to weigh reality based on information consistent over time.
Stop.
Look.
Ask.
Think.
Come back and do the process until all the nonsense falls off the page, and see how much reality matches what is written or not.
Consider how much value you would experience in your life had you been offered quality information, and consider paying for services, content, and other ways people rely upon to earn a living.
Consider the cost of excitement, there are great riches in the realms of boredom, great chasms of interest, life, and love.
Please add your proposed steps in the routine, experiences, and results to the comments, or not of course. As one time things used to go without saying, now the internet has given the steam lever to say everything.
