From THE VN/VO:
I won't blame you if you don't do a double-take at the following statistic. Like a woman who chases men she just knows are completely bad for her, Americans have fallen in love with statistics, but for all the wrong reasons. And thus, when a solid, meaningful statistic is reported, the public tends not to be that interested. You know, the "nice guy finishing last" and all. I suppose we like our statistics dangerous, rough at the edges.
Concluding their study in March 2005, the Centers for Disease Control reported that life expectancy in America had increased, yet again, to a record high of 77.6 years. In fact, every race, gender and age group rose at approximately the same rate. Every one of them!
Now, I understand that CDC statistics aren't as sexy and exciting as statistics you may get on the other side of the tracks- the local news, political activist groups, and the like. The CDC doesn't generally go into detail on shark attacks amongst rich, white college kids on spring break. The CDC doesn't generally flavor its data with partisan jibes like including statistics on aborted fetuses. (I checked, the age group breakdown does start at zero-to-one, not before that.)
If you haven't done your double-take, go ahead and do a fake one now while I repeat it: life expectancy rose. In fact, I'll tell you a little secret about these things- life expectancy always rises.
The report was sprinkled along a few news wires, and even hit the CNN front page for a bit. It was then that I did my own double-take. Not because I was surprised at the statistics- we all kind of know that life expectancy rises, don't we? Rather, I now saw in real-time why such things aren't reported very heavily- it makes most of the other stories logically invalid!
It just looks bad when a headline to the effect of "Life Expectancy Up Once Again" is sitting right next to stories about dangerous chemicals, gang violence, and pregnant teenagers. It's just difficult to push opinion pieces about America slipping into an orgy of immorality, dangerously blissful ignorance, and self-inflicted disease when you also have to go on about the treacherously boring fact that we're all living longer anyway.
I'm no Pollyanna, you see. Even though the sheer majority of people will not, for example, encounter a serial killer- I understand that it's still a relevant story when such a thing occurs. Tragic- though statistically abnormal- events are interesting to most everyone, and do help explain the sociological complexities of our modern culture. As well, reporting on the dangers of behavior we all partake in to some extent- such as eating junk, smoking and drinking too much- do indirectly help in eventually making us healthier, and thusly effecting things like life expectancy.
However, the media generally takes a very different angle. It has to. The American people have a fetish with downward trends. Every problem or issue is, by default, multiplied over time to the negative.
If a household product is found to have somewhat harmful chemicals in it, the media and its viewers automatically assume that the presence of such chemicals in our lives is increasing, and our cumulative health decreasing. It may or may not be true, but we still assume. When moralists push an agenda, the thought is always that if, indeed, what they're railing against is truly "wrong," then we can assume there is a corollary decrease in the quality or "correctness" (for lack of a better term) of life in America. Without even saying it, nearly every news item or political agenda pushes the same general finality: things are getting worse.
When one looks, one-by-one, through the headlines of any newspaper or news website- or listens, one-by-one, to the issues in any political speech- one would have to assume, without knowing otherwise, that our modern life moves more often to the negative than the positive. Even our heroes- persons we look at in a positive light- are heroes because they overcame or brought focus to negative situations which presumably still affect a great number of people.
Most of what one hears in the news or hears in political diatribes is, most likely, true. Sure, people lie or misrepresent facts every now and then- and we catch most of them. The problem is not in any one particular story, nor in one particular set of bastardized statistics. The problem is in overall focus.
There is a theory that applies to debate on Internet discussions groups called "Godwin's Law." In so many words, it states that the instant that Nazis or Hitler are brought up in an argument, the argument effectively ceases and the person who mentioned the Nazis automatically loses the argument. I like to use life expectancy as a sort-of reverse Godwin's Law: the logic behind most every argument which suggests that conditions or qualities of life are moving negatively is effectively nullified (at least in a global sense) when one realizes that life expectancy continues to grow.
Again, it is important to realize the distinction here. There are, indeed, factual negative consequences in many issues we discuss, report on, and debate. There are, indeed, issues which cause our overall physical, mental, and even moral "health" to decrease. Of course, there are also (most likely outweighing) converse positive effects through other issues. Without playing "my stats against your stats," lets just say that in the whole of culture, the positives have- and always will- prevail over the negatives.
This is not to say that the media, and those who establish the ensuing discussions on issues, are necessarily responsible for ensuring that all points reference their overarching global implications. They're not. At the same time, however, when looking at the sheer majority of discussions presented through mass channels, true end-result, global implications are certainly lacking.
Our culture has eliminated any forum for discussion on the overall direction of all combined issues and problems. Those who participate in- or are otherwise swayed by- dialogue and reporting on issues thusly are left to assume that the specific issues that have been edited together to form the whole, do actually correspond with the whole end result of all issues.
Life expectancy statistics are the diametric contradiction to how American culture filters and views issues dealing with life in general. But, they're hard to argue against.
Certainly part of this has to do with our fascination on the negative- only when negative consequences to our actions and the products we produce are brought to light can we make things better and safer for all of culture.
However, that's not how we look at it. We fetishize negativity. We seek out- and, when we can't find it, assume- downward trends. We buy products solely on the negative aspects of other products. We often elect our officials solely on the negative aspects of other candidates. It's an almost poetic contradiction Americans are living in more and more- life keeps getting better as we focus increasingly on how life is getting worse.
In the end, though, this is a dangerous cultural mindset. Progress moves slower when its based in negativity. The relevancy of issues is decreased when they're primarily presented as a downward trend. And for those intelligent enough to look deeper into the overall effects of issues- stuff you can find, for instance, in simple life expectancy statistics- it becomes obvious how much of our time and energy is wasted on concerns that actually don't matter.
View story at THE VN/VO:
The Life Expectancy Endgame
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