The Math of Angry Noise

This was originally posted on my other blog on 2/22/09 after reading a particularly fine piece by Marc Ambinder...

Gotta love the post by Marc Ambinder on "The Outrage Industrial Complex." Yes, outrage is being overextended and likely headed for an eventual meltdown. But the best part of Marc's post had to do with the mathematics of how we decide, as a society, what things are important.

As a geek, I love mathematics. And here is what Marc postulates - that Pi = (Ci + O)*L. In lay language:

what we THINK is important (Pi - perceived importance)

equals...

ACTUAL importance (Ci - cosmic importance)
plus
expressed Outrage (O)
times
Loudness (L)

So solving for Pi (perceived importance), if you want to make something seem VERY important, express as much Outrage as you can, as Loudly as you can. If its actual importance (Ci) is small, you just have to put more Outrage into the formula and amp up the volume.

Brilliant!

Interestingly, the only 'fixed' or 'unchanging' value in the equation is the actual importance (Ci). We can't make something more important than it actually is. But in keeping the Loudness and Outrage variables low, the Perceived importance is also small. So sometimes, a thing that is actually really important will not be given the attention it deserves because there is not enough Outrage or Loudness attached to it.

A lesson for those of us who want to increase the media profile of a thing... take a lesson from Limbaugh - say it loud and with as much righteous indignation as possible. It doesn't matter if you make sense - sense is not part of the equation - just make an angry noise.

Read Marc's post here:
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/02/_a_washington-based_journalist_and.php