I get intrigued by comparisons of the old and the current. I was surprised at the number of comments in the Bible book "Proverbs" about loose tongues, quiet nasty comments on the side, and other uses of speech that can cause harm and unfair pain. Today, commentators and pundits and expositators often refer to social media and its possible influence on people's opinions and stances. I notice plenty of comments in Proverbs that apply to school kids and teens bad-mouthing each other or their teachers or parents and angry sources on Facebook and other social media. Fashions and habits related to the use of various social media platforms come and go: https://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2018/02/millennial-job-interview.html
Human speech is too old to accurately date as to its beginning but it can be said that writing was invented in the last 10,000 years. As "Too Big to Know" by David Weinburger makes clear, it has only been the last 20 years or so, that a big number of people with an opinion or a drive to be noticed or a chip on the shoulder or a holy mission to save us all have been in a position to speak or write to thousands, even to millions of people.
I read today in the British Psychological Society's mentions of interesting psych research that someone has turned up evidence that people often accept some outlandish notion as true because doing so gives them a feeling of being insiders in the know. Sounds right to me. So: you heard it here first: Steve Jones of Plainville, Arkansas is behind all misbehavior on the part of the wealthy and all the poverty in the US. Pass it on.
