Thursday, March 24, 2016

Imitation; is it really the most sincere form of flattery?

I get my best writing ideas in the morning, even though I'm a night-owl.  Something happens in my brain after sleep.  Maybe it is an ignorance of my body pains which return in the morning and gradually increase as the day goes on.  It gets very distracting by noon.  But early on, I have a fresh mind.

Lately, I've heard some podcasters/radio shows on Spreaker/iHeartRadio sharing my ideas as their own as I have shows on those networks as well.  It's the little things, here and there, such as hearing, "Don't believe anything I say; look it up," and "If somebody wants an ass-kicking, you can come pick it up; I don't stalk so I don't offer delivery," and "why do you believe in things you can't prove?"  Those are just a few--there are many more.  I wonder if those podcasters realize they are copying me, or if they're just thinking they heard these phrases "somewhere,"  or if they did hear them somewhere else.  But the specificity of the ideas gives me doubt; I know when I hear something that's mine.

Ideally, I should be happy.  That means that my messages are resonating after doing 335 episodes averaging about 1.6 hours per, give or take.  As you may or may not be aware, I do a "big" show called "Truth on Tap," focused on truth in media, advertising, and most importantly, critical thinking, then I have a tiny show I do called "Caps on Tap," about my favorite NHL hockey team, the Washington Capitals.

Perhaps the difference in my mind is that I try to come up with more original (my) ideas or ideas from experts, while I hear some other shows just sort of reading out the news or trying to be funny, and some are hilarious.  I hear shows read a headline and then ask callers/chatroom participants asked, "What do you think about that," to the host, and off the show runs in that direction.  I killed my pride some time ago, and ego, and I don't need large listener bases or fame.  I think we all started out with a dream of going big but I found reality quickly, and while I still won't rule out the possibility of a paid, syndicated show of some type, it is no longer my goal.  My goal is to help my fellow humans wipe away the falsity of bad belies from their daily life and learn all the truths they can so we can make progress in thinking, which always precedes action, but I don't want to take the "magic" of life out so I encourage them to return to any fantasy world they like in their off time.  Disney movies.  Fiction books (I have a few out there).  Daydreaming about flying and living in a different Universe.  It's just important to me that they know the truth, and they know the critical thinking techniques that will get them as close to the truth as possible when it's time to do some rational thinking, keeping emotions to a minimum.

I guess I do find hearing my own ideas repeated by other hosts as their own (without proper accreditation) as flattering.  It's not much more to me than a measure of how far my ideas are being spread, and believed.  As a former psych. and English major with a writing concentration academically yet vocational training in computers and electronics, I've tried to round out my education.  But where I find my interest is in how the human mind works (go psych!), philosophy, critical thinking, and the pure folly of the human mind, especially when you mix logical thought with emotion and perceptual errors.  The only problem with being flattered is not having an ego to receive the prideful feelings.  I could be the most famous person in the world and literally brush it off; I suppose I'm a hermit by nature.  That's likely genetic.  I don't need other peoples' approval, though I do like to be liked.  I have a quiet mental and physical confidence that I haven't seen rivaled often; I stay cool in disasters and fear no man, and people sense that.  Even though I don't have room to feel "pride" over that, I like having that.  It feels comforting to have those qualities.  Not a lot of people can keep a cool head when a house is on fire, or after a car accident, or in the middle of a bar-room brawl.  That's when I'm at my most focused on calm, probably because I know I have to be to perform well.

So go ahead, fellow hosts, steal my ideas if you like them.  Adopt my philosophy if you like it.  It's an informational yard sale here, with everything free.  But eventually, work on being original.  Give the world something new. 

No comments:

Post a Comment