volume as veracity

With the presidential election of 2016 in the middle range of the rearview mirror, I guess it's as good a time as any to consider the encroachments of volume-is-veracity. Not that even Donald Trump could lay claim to creating the paradigm, but it does seem to be part of today's warp and woof: The louder it is, the more it must be true.

Given the repeatedly-proved ludicrousness of the proposition, you might think that this would be or might be a quieter and more judicious time. But it hasn't come to pass and news shows have ever-increasing numbers of talking heads, many talking at cross-current to the person currently speaking ...

But I am out of step.

I once took one of my sons to see a Red Sox game. It was a birthday present. The bus took us 90 miles, deposited us outside the stadium and we found our seats which were made of hard-wood slats and didn't have enough knee-room for someone as tall as I. It was a night game and the field was beautiful. But when the game got going, sitting on the uncomfortable seats was not an option. Everyone seemed incapable of watching the game from a seated (and pricey) resting place. There was no "watching" the game -- there was just the option to stand and have beer dribbled on you while someone who was likewise standing made his was back to his seat. Standing was louder, somehow, than cheering from a seated position. The volume and group-ness took over for any enjoyment of the game.

Oh well, I knew from the get-go that I wasn't a fan of crowds. And my son had a good time. And the bus ride home could be enjoyed while seated and in relative silence.