WHY SPECULATE?

A talk by Michael Crichton, International Leadership Forum, La Jolla, 26 April 2002

There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can. – Mark Twain

Jon Chase photo/Harvard News Office - Harvard Gazette, CC BY 3.0, Link

My topic for today is the prevalence of speculation in media. What does it mean? Why has it become so ubiquitous? Should we do something about it? If so, what? And why? Should we care at all? Isn't speculation valuable? Isn't it natural? And so on.

I will join this speculative trend and speculate about why there is so much speculation. In keeping with the trend, I will try to express my views without any factual support, simply providing you with a series of bald assertions.

This is not my natural style, and it's going to be a challenge for me, but I will do my best. Some of you may see that I have written out my talk, which is already a contradiction of principle. To keep within the spirit of our time, it should really be off the top of my head.

newspapers vs what matters to most people

It's like there are two worlds: the one covered by the Times and Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, with front pages replete with stories about gridlock in Washington and infighting in the White House, and style sections that cover boring and repetitive fashion and gossip about dull people, and the one that I find unceasingly arresting, where people with lives and passions who actually know something and do stuff that can make the world a better place hang out. 

The first one, increasingly out-of-touch with what matters, is Landliner Nation.

The second, where the action is and where people are spending more and more time and money, well, I'm not sure what to call it.

via bookofjoe.com

Hear here.