No, "Act now!" is screamed from advertisements, especially from stores trying desperately to sell 3 times as much during this holiday season as they sold last year.
When I get told to "Act now!", I don't fool around. I act immediately. I have gotten so many injunctions, commands, demands, offers and orders to ACT NOW that I am exhausted. I cannot act at all for a while. Please wait until my glycogen reserves replenish and my muscles stop aching. I need to relax my blood vessels, gain some body warmth, consume some calories and take a nap. Call me later with the next thrilling offer at unbelieveable prices that will only be in effect for the short time I have in which I must ACT NOW!
Schools from kindergarten to graduate school are often admonished to teach critical thinking. The basis of critical thinking is doubt. One needs to ponder. And for goodness sake, think twice. Since there is a lot of baloney in the world, maybe an extra amount in the USA, it makes sense to try and prepare students to ask about the evidence behind assertions. The old parental approach "Because I said so and I am the parent!" asks for recognition of authority and power. You know the bit: "As long as you eat in our kitchen, you will abide by our rules!"
A while back, we saw science occasionally turn on itself, change its mind, reverse an opinion. But as the business and manufacturing worlds picked up more players, it became clearer that competitors would tend to find ways to copy or surpass products very quickly. So, innovation and change became more and more typical as efforts surged to hold on to commercial leads and rankings. Maybe I am urged to Act Now! because by tomorrow, it will be clear that the hot deal of today is already obsolete. Tomorrow, I may find that the model selling today at a low, low price is out of date, is being unloaded in an attempt to get at least some money out of that inventory.
I am beginning to suspect that if I Act Now!, I will regret doing so soon after. I think when I recover my energy, I will make a concentrated effort to act later, and only then if I still find an action that seems worthwhile.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
