Normally when i pass by a "ask amy" or "ask the expert" love column or advice column I usually turn the page. But since this is an assignment, I have actually been looking at these usually annoying articles to compare them to the usual advice I get on life, love and the pursuit of happiness from my friends and perhaps Wikipedia. There are many radio shows that also offer the help of an expert to (usually): pregnant teenage mothers, men who have sex "issues" and the ever-weepy jilted lover. Although these may be helpful to calm down people who seem to be suffering from a mix of stage fright, heartbreak and verbal diarrhea, they don't really seem to be logical to most of the public.
Most of the time these people are not "experts" but rather are just "someone to talk to". This seems logical, but in the way that calling in a third party to a junior high spat may seem logical when one is 12 years old. In matters non-medical, and non-life threatening, most people usually utilize their "call a friend" instinct. Although asking an anonymous source in a newspaper may never be answered by Dr. Phil, or Ophrah's fitness guru...your questions can be answered and polled, turned over and specialized by just asking friends or parents. Since these are the people that know you, they probably know what it is that is happening in a situation better than some random receiver. All in all I would trust the crowd more in this case, and especially since reading this book, after all the "experts" are usually just normal people just trying to sell a radio minute or block of space in a magazine.
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1 comment:
I agree with you about trusting the group more than trusting the "experts." I like your example of the Ask Amy column and the fact that she really isn't an expert, but rather just someone to talk to, who will listen, not judge you, and give advice in return.
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