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Because half-a-dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of
by jxramos 9y ago
Because half-a-dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field; that of course they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little shrivelled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome insects of the hour.
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grasshoppers#Quotes https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grasshoppers#Quotes
- stryk 9y agowhat?
- codeisawesome 9y agoThe few “squeaky wheels” making the most noise - determining the very face and presentation of a context (in this case a field full of cattle, in GP’s case a handful of advertisers on radio) - is an old idea that even has prose to describe it.
- stryk 9y agoSo, comparatively, a few bad screaming apples spoil the whole bunch? (should clarify, I'm not disagreeing, just trying to relate)
- codeisawesome 9y agoIn the negative case, yes. In the positive case, a few well behaved individuals viewed in isolation could cause a misunderstanding of the wider population (“ideal minority effect”).
- dredmorbius 9y agoIt's more that the apparent signal, whatever it is, is not the whole of reality. And often gives quite the mis-placed view of same. And if the name Edmund Burke means nothing to you, you've a whole universe of enlightenment to attend to.
- stryk 9y agoAh ha, Ok, so the ones who are most vocal and/or visible are, more often than not, not accurately representative of the <subject> as a whole. I think the Olde-English-y sound of the original quote threw me for a loop. In any case, I agree - that makes total sense.
- dredmorbius 9y agoQuite often not. Attention is the ultimately rivalrous commodity, and it's very easily consumed. Where true significance is carried by what's hidden or indirect, this can be especially pernicious.