Cut to the Goddamn'd Chase!
15 September 2021Most prefaces, forewords, introductions, and introductory paragraphs are largely or entirely superfluous; most introductory sentences are wastes of time.[1] In the last few years, my annoyance about entropic rhetoric in general and about blathering preambles in particular has become outrage.
The internal state of affairs in the West is more terrible now than ever previously in my lifetime. A great many people believe themselves to have important insights to convey about this state of affairs, and want our time. Our time is scarce, but many of them want to present essays in the form of audio recordings, which deliver words far more slowly than most of us can read. Worse, almost every one of those who offer these recordings prologues for some minutes, usually about the importance of what they will have to say but almost always without the prologues' saying anything important.
I believe that some of these people indeed have important things to say; but, in each case, he or she behaves as if unable to recognize what is important. In each individual case, the probability is especially low that a person not getting to the point will get to an important point. I almost always abandon attention before the prologue ends, possibly well before it ends.
[1] I acknowledge exceptions. I like to believe that I am responsible for some of them; but, had I always the luxury of being my own editor, some of my work would get more rapidily to its point.
Tags: everyday frustrations, everyday stupidity, forewords, introductions, preambles, prefaces, prolegomena, prologues
I find similar, on many Eew-Tube channels to which I listen. I now first scan the comments on each such video; typically a good Samaritan posts a time stamp for the video in which the author gets to the point. This has saved many hours.
Yes. And some people, in linking to videos, with either similarly tell the audience where the content-of-interest lies, or avail themselves of
t, the start-time CGI variable.But inter-logues within videos or within audio content complicate or defeat these efforts.
Recently, I encountered a video in which the presenter first delivered the material of interest fairly efficiently, and then blathered uselessly about its importance. That behavior was quite tolerable despite the silliness.