George Orwell was correct in 1946 when he wrote the following: "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
I would add this insight: "If you don't know what you're doing, ask for help."
The problem is: the vast majority of people don't know that they don't know what they're doing.
Let me give you a sadly typical example. I came across a video of an articulate woman who makes the case against federal regulation of land in the state of Oregon. She claims to be a lawyer. I have no reason to believe that she is not a lawyer. She is articulate, as a competent lawyer should be.
But when it comes to basic technology, she doesn't know what she's doing. Furthermore, even more important, she has no clue as to the extent to which she doesn't know what she's doing.
Why is it that people on our side, who ought to know what they are doing, don't know what they're doing?
ROTTEN SOUND
First, watch her video. It has a lot of good content. It has a story that ought to get out. It has been reasonably successful in getting the message out, since the video has about a quarter of a million hits. That is a lot of hits.
As you watch it, pay attention to the terrible sound of this video. Listen to the background noise.
As with virtually any video today, even when taken with a cell phone, if the camera is on a tripod, the video is going to be clear. We are the beneficiaries of a tremendous technological revolution over the last 10 years.
For $5, this woman could have produced a video with a professional sounding audio. But she didn't know anything about this. She didn't know that she didn't know, so she did not ask some teenage kid for assistance.
Let me show you the difference. You can now buy external lapel microphones for as little as $5, plus postage and handling. Amazon sells these.
Watch this video to see comparisons between a $60 shotgun microphone, a built-in microphone in a $650 DSLR camera, a built-in microphone in a smart phone, and a $1 microphone (which he does not name) to pin on your lapel. I have not found a lapel mic for under $5. You will hear how amazingly good the lapel microphone is when compared to the built-in microphones of the two different cameras.
The lapel mic sounds fine. I also recommend any of these $25 microphones: the Audio Technica ATR3350, the Nady LM-14/U, or even a Radio Shack. They all dramatically improve the sound over any built-in microphone.
The shotgun mic sounds pretty good, but that is because it is indoors and is on the man's desk. Outdoors, the $5 mic would have won the contest: no wind noise.
UNPROFESSIONAL LOOKING SETTING
Lawyers are supposed to be experts in rhetoric -- the art of persuasion. So, let's consider this with respect to the lawyer's video.
She stands outside, and we are given no reason why she is standing outside.
She is a lawyer. Presumably, she has an office. In that office are law books. Now, admittedly, law books these days are mostly for show. They are for advertising. They are to persuade clients that the lawyer is on top of things. In fact, all the lawyer really needs is a laptop computer. The important material is online. But, a good lawyer is wise to present a good front, and a couple of bookshelves full of old law books provide a good front.
What if she had sat in her office chair, with the camera on her desk, lens at eye level?
What if she had used an inexpensive lighting system?
What if the viewer could see two shelves of law books behind her? Would this have been more persuasive? Vastly!
Combine this background with a $5 lapel mic, and she probably would have had 500,000 hits. In any case, far more people would have been willing to listen all the way to the end of the presentation if she had taken these simple steps.
IGNORANCE HAS A HIGH PRICE
The problem is, people don't know that they don't know. They think they know, but they don't know. They get outside of their own limited area of expertise, and they are flying blind.
When you are arguing for an unpopular position, you had better ask for assistance. You don't have to be the best. You just have to be better than the person who doesn't know what he's doing. There are so many people online today who don't know what they're doing, that it really doesn't take much effort to be able to look a lot better than all of them.
Ask. Even if you think you know, ask. Do a web search. Do a YouTube search. It takes so little to improve a mediocre video to the status of pretty good. Pretty good is good enough. Mediocre is inexcusable.
The establishment does not do mediocre.
For examples of videos done the right way, search for Youtube and "Mises Institute." Or go here.
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