Why do television ads use males acting stupidly to sell products? Why do so many people drink Bud Lite? Or worse yet, lite beers with lime flavoring? Is advertising making us dumber, not to mention unhealthy, obese, attention deficit disordered, and prone to recreational shopping? And how can I possibly connect these stray thoughts to arms control?

My favorite invention of the modern age, besides the computer and the internet, is the television mute button. Twenty years ago, Bruce Springsteen wrote the lyric “57 Channels (and Nothing On)”. My satellite TV now provides 570 channels, almost all of which clarify my divorce from popular culture. Thankfully, there are still a few channels and programs that spark my imagination and interest, make me happier, and maybe even wiser.

Selectivity is a natural consequence of sensory overload: when there is more to take in, there is necessarily more to tune out. We naturally develop filtering habits and skills. The two aren’t exactly the same, since habits can make us more narrow and tribal, while skills can help us to become more open to growth and adaptation.

Jeffrey reminded me of a meeting, years ago in Geneva, when I asked him why he was diverting his considerable talent with blog posts. I was a dinosaur at the time. Now I have tip-toed into the modern era, having adapted to blogging weekly for my mental health and hopefully to spark synapses out there in the ether. The thought occurred to me much later than it did to Jeffrey that his creation would become a far more important vehicle for learning and adaptation than the books, journals and newspapers I grew up with.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the most influential writing on the Bomb originated in academia. Lately, academic treatises on nuclear issues tilt toward theory and have far less influence on public policy. Op-eds, journal articles, and newspaper editorials mattered greatly in public debates on arms control in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Now, most op-eds, web-based musings and “should-based” articles also seem to have less influence. Maybe the profusion of opinion has something to do with growing public disinterest. Then again, meaningful op-eds are extremely rare because familiar names rarely take unfamiliar positions.

Most opinion pieces serve the essential functions of mobilizing supporters and countering opponents. They provide talking points to the committed. (I presume that social networks are also tribal, but I wouldn’t have a clue.) Op-eds are measurable inputs with immeasurable effects. They affirm why we care and what we believe. We can’t do without them, even though we seem to be addressing a shrinking audience.

Are we wiser as a result of this inundation of opinion and tribal behavior? I have my doubts. This doesn’t stop me from writing opinion pieces – including this one. But my sense is that sensory overload, the abundance of shoulds and numbingly repetitive arguments, pro and con, has diminishing returns. The impact of opinion-laden sites like ForeignPolicy.com is already fading, along with the editorials and op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. The proliferation of opinion pieces, like the consumption of lite beer, tends to be less filling. We mostly advertise to our market share.

If the “op-ed agenda” (to borrow a phrase from a funder) matters less and less, but can’t be abandoned, where else can we find value? As in television viewing and web surfing, adaptation and learning require improved hunting, muting and filtering skills. Who is worth reading or hearing? Who is stating the obvious or repeating the familiar? Inquiring minds who dislike advertising and canned products will figure this out, while using the mute button and the delete key to filter out noise.

It helps to have places to visit on growth journeys. In our business, depth matters more than breadth or repetition. Jeffrey’s posts offer ACW readers a keen eye for the crucial detail. With so much topsoil depletion and overgrazing by so many media outlets, he had the foresight to create fertile ground where hunters and filterers can gather.