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"Click" has a whole new meaning
Nov. 26th, 2017 08:11 pmWay back in the 70s, we feminists used to use the word "click" to denote an "Aha!" moment of realization about the sexist world we lived (and perhaps still live) in. Last week in their weekly "Global Voices" column, Craig and Marc Kielburger warned us to think before we click - as in clicking on cutesy or otherwise attention-grabbing images and then forwarding them to a few hundred of our closest friends via social media. Their sage advice to readers? "Memes can be entertaining, insightful ... or toxic."
YESSSS!! was my reaction. And more importantly, how refreshing to hear this from people of their generation, who were practically born with a cyber-spoon implanted in their tastebuds. Or something. (Aside: Is it just a coincidence that we talk about subscribing to "feeds"?) They go on to quote Ottawa-based media consultant Mark Blevis, who says, "Memes replace thoughtful conversation and prevent us from finding common ground between different opinions." And back to the Kielburgers:
"Things that make us laugh can distract from donning our critical-thinking hats. We hit Like and share content without considering the potential harm we're helping to spread."
Now, back to my generational theme. On the same page of the paper as "Global Voices", I read Wanda Morris' weekly column, Grey Matters. Wanda Morris is the VP of Advocacy for CARP, a high-profile Canadian seniors' group of which I am a member. Some people associate elders with wisdom and in fairness, I should say that I generally enjoy reading her column and frequently agree with her. But I think she really missed the boat on this one, dealing with food labelling.
She argues that since so many Canadians are overweight or obese, we need warning symbols on the front of any package containing food high in sugar, salt or saturated fat, an approach favoured by Health Canada. Food industry players, on the other hand, favoured more public education coupled with more detailed nutritional information. Ms. Morris sums it up with the sentence "Rather than simple and expedient packaging changes, industry lobbyists called for a level of nutritional literacy that, based on the current state of our waistlines, is clearly beyond many of us."
Wow. Let's not bother about being intelligent consumers - let's rely on alarmist images (sort of like the aforementioned memes, wouldn't you say?) instead! Clearly she figures we oldsters are all in our dotage and can't possibly be expected to listen to our bodies and make up our own minds and make smart choices.
In my book, there's a big difference between "simple" and simplistic packaging. A food that's (for example) high in sugar might be something that's only used in small quantities at a time. Another product might contain absolutely no sugar (and hence have no warning label) and yet be loaded with carcinogenic or otherwise health-injurious artificial sweetener. And let's not forget that even the so-called experts have changed their views over the years about what nutrients we need in our diets and in what proportion. Should we focus on complex carbohydrates? Omega-3 fatty acids? Proteins? Lots and lots of fruits and vegetables? Or does it depend on the individual and the age and stage of life, the health concerns, allergies and so forth?
Regardless of what generation we belong to, I'd like to think we haven't lost the ability to look before we leap, and think before we click.
YESSSS!! was my reaction. And more importantly, how refreshing to hear this from people of their generation, who were practically born with a cyber-spoon implanted in their tastebuds. Or something. (Aside: Is it just a coincidence that we talk about subscribing to "feeds"?) They go on to quote Ottawa-based media consultant Mark Blevis, who says, "Memes replace thoughtful conversation and prevent us from finding common ground between different opinions." And back to the Kielburgers:
"Things that make us laugh can distract from donning our critical-thinking hats. We hit Like and share content without considering the potential harm we're helping to spread."
Now, back to my generational theme. On the same page of the paper as "Global Voices", I read Wanda Morris' weekly column, Grey Matters. Wanda Morris is the VP of Advocacy for CARP, a high-profile Canadian seniors' group of which I am a member. Some people associate elders with wisdom and in fairness, I should say that I generally enjoy reading her column and frequently agree with her. But I think she really missed the boat on this one, dealing with food labelling.
She argues that since so many Canadians are overweight or obese, we need warning symbols on the front of any package containing food high in sugar, salt or saturated fat, an approach favoured by Health Canada. Food industry players, on the other hand, favoured more public education coupled with more detailed nutritional information. Ms. Morris sums it up with the sentence "Rather than simple and expedient packaging changes, industry lobbyists called for a level of nutritional literacy that, based on the current state of our waistlines, is clearly beyond many of us."
Wow. Let's not bother about being intelligent consumers - let's rely on alarmist images (sort of like the aforementioned memes, wouldn't you say?) instead! Clearly she figures we oldsters are all in our dotage and can't possibly be expected to listen to our bodies and make up our own minds and make smart choices.
In my book, there's a big difference between "simple" and simplistic packaging. A food that's (for example) high in sugar might be something that's only used in small quantities at a time. Another product might contain absolutely no sugar (and hence have no warning label) and yet be loaded with carcinogenic or otherwise health-injurious artificial sweetener. And let's not forget that even the so-called experts have changed their views over the years about what nutrients we need in our diets and in what proportion. Should we focus on complex carbohydrates? Omega-3 fatty acids? Proteins? Lots and lots of fruits and vegetables? Or does it depend on the individual and the age and stage of life, the health concerns, allergies and so forth?
Regardless of what generation we belong to, I'd like to think we haven't lost the ability to look before we leap, and think before we click.
