We humans love watching shows. I suppose, we love stories. I'm sure when people lived in tents or in deserts, they shared their stories and adventures with each other. And of course, I'm sure they all loved to add salt and spices to their stories to make them more exciting.
So maybe in the desert, someone encountered a bandit and somehow managed to escape, but when rebelling the story, they say he says he escaped from 10 bandits and managed to kill 2 during his escape... And I suppose, it was fun entertainment at that time.
I mean if we think about the really olden days, people didn't have internet to share stuff, and people lived far from each other in villages. So when people meet, they share what's been happening in their lives cos there's nothing really exciting going on on a daily basis...
Fast forward to today and we have studs like Hollywood and Bollywood and K/J dramas, etc.
And all this media, really shapes what we think and what we deem as normal.
So for example, we always know the main character cannot die right. So when he jumps off a helicopter, like in the final scene in "Salt" starring Angelina Jolie, and lands in water, there's going to be no chance that the main character dies.
And you may think this is funny, but I actually hear of people who really think that landing in water is absolutely fine. So some people are surprised that someone could die whilst paragliding in Thailand and somehow accidentally fall into the water. They would go... "But it's just water..."
Just to get the record straight, due to surface tension of water, and physics and blah blah blah... Yes, you can die or get seriously hurt if you fall into water from a height.
Or the main character gets shot. Oh come on it's only one bullet... Not so easy to die one. They can still run around and even fight back and take out 20 enemies at the same time... I mean seriously... There are people who think a single gunshot wound is nothing. I've heard comments before regarding this as well.
And it's amazing how warped people's realities have become due to shows which they watch regularly.
We watch shows that the good guys always win.
But in reality, the rich and powerful always win.
The world is corrupt. More corrupt than many people realize.
Every once in a while, an underdog manages to become successful, like Mark Zuckerberg. But yet statistically, you probably aren't going to be the next Facebook.
People would like to believe that just hard work and grit and dedication would get them to success, and yet, how much of luck, right time right place is also involved.
Cos everyone loves to buy a dream. And if the story doesn't sound nice, people aren't going to buy it. So no one is going to say, "Man! I was lucky the hard work is just a small part of it."
People will say, "work hard and you can do it too!"
Cos it makes them sound better and gives you hope and also makes it seem like they managed to succeed all on their own... And you could do it too!
And we look at shows... How many characters in shows are like the average human?
Most characters don't struggle paying bills. Most of them don't even have bills. They usually don't work. Look at the show "Friends" the only person I usually see working is Phoebe. Cos she plays her guitar and sings.
If we think about it, the average person only ends work around 6-7pm. Leaving them only around 3 hours of free time a day, from which, we need to eat, bathe, travel home. So there's really not as much spare time as what most shows would like you to believe.
TV also shows how easy money can be made. In the stock market, in the casino, easy progression through a career, etc.
And yet, as we think about it, the stock market is volatile. Most funds lose money after fees, those who can beat the market are extremely few, which is why many people are turning towards tracker funds.
Ina casino, the house has the house edge. So in the long run, the house always wins. (Unless you're Donald Trump). There's only a few games which you can make a fortune if you're extremely lucky. Usually the jackpot types of games, but the odds are severely against the player.
The only game where the player can have an edge is in blackjack. Using standard play, (it's a set of rules when playing BJ), the player can reduce the house advantage to 1+%. If the player knows how to count cards, the player can get a 1+% advantage over the house. So in the long run, the player CAN make a constant return. It's slow and volatile. But over a large number of games, counting cards can give a positive return. It's not illegal, but the casino can ban the player from playing.
Note. Counting cards is not that easy and prone to human error which would wipe out the advantage the player has if done incorrectly.
Or in a career, so many people hope to progress and climb up the corporate ladder, and yet statistically, organizations have less people at the top and more people at the bottom. So there's a high chance the average people will not progress to a managerial position.
Then there are shows that show how easy it is for someone to die. Like in HK dramas, a fall down the stairs is usually lethal. Ok falling down the stairs is dangerous, but I think in HK dramas, the stairs are more dangerous than a gun.
Seems like it's easier to die from falling down stairs as compared against being shot.
Or knocking someone unconscious. In shows, people get knocked unconscious so easily by a tap on the head. In reality, unconsciousness is pretty serious. You need considerable force to knock someone unconscious and there's a high chance of bleeding and head injury, concussion and complications. But somehow... In shows, unconsciousness is pretty part of the job in any action film. The good guys or bad guys can easily recover from unconsciousness without much side effects.
Seriously... Head injuries are very dangerous. If you fall and hit your head, the doctor will ask first, if there was any loss of consciousness. Cos it indicates a potentially more serious injury.
And another very important point... As seen in shows...
True or false...
When drowning, a person will wave his arms in the air and shout for help?
WRONG
When drowning, a person will keep his hands underwater and paddle, trying to keep himself afloat, also, he will not have the breath to shout for help cos at the times when he is above water, he would be gasping for air.
An indication of drowning is when you see someone struggling in the water. Besides that, there's very little indication of someone drowning.
Anyway, just FYI. I thought it was an important point for readers to know...
I could go on for very long...
Like the media would like you think that intercepting a missile was easy? Considering the issues with NK currently. Not so true. Intercepting missiles is not easy.
Or the probability of being found if you're lost at sea. That's the reason why MH370 can't be found. The sea is very very vast. Much more than most people realize. 100km on land vs 100km in the sea is a big difference. For for the search team, survivors are usually just a speck in a vast ocean, not to mention that water movements make visual search challenging as well due to the reflections of light.
So the point of today's post is very simply, the media has a very significant effect on our reality, and also determines what we think is "normal". Some of the stories are real, some are inspired by real events, but many are exaggerated. The probability of such events occurring are very low, but yet, cos it is a show, and many people have watched it, people over estimate the probability. And think that all the same good things could happen to them.
Cos... I'm sure you all agree. We are our own main character in our own lives.
So we believe that good things can only happen to us and we will survive bad events. Cos we're always the good guys in our own life story.
But statistics and probability and reality does not discriminate, the numbers aren't better for us just cos we are the main character. The numbers are the same for everyone. So I think it's important to remain grounded and realistic, a show is just a show for entertainment. Cos as much as we want good things to happen to us, we also need to be prepared for the bad things.
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