The Age Of “Tell me what I want to hear”

I have spent the week explaining to my patients why they still need to floss. The conclusion of a small study reported in Forbes magazine, was that there is no proof flossing helps reduce gum disease or decay. The point of the study if looked at from a scientific point of view, was that it was a small study and there are too many variables that cannot be controlled for to make it valid. The story was, however,picked up everywhere and could even be found on the news blurbs at the gas pump. Why? Because it is what people want to hear. Most people do not floss, and are only too happy to hear that they no longer have to.

This is indeed the information age. We are barraged with information from every direction. It is mostly free and available and we are often too busy to question. It is imperative that we do question the source of such information. What does the person giving you the information have to gain? More veiwers or your vote? Or is the provider trying to get you to buy something out of fear. Most of the distillations of the flossing study said mouthwash was just as effective as flossing which is patently false. Many mouthwashes have alcohol which is proven to cause oral cancer. Floss only causes good breath and increased oral health. Yes, mine are flossed regularly, can’t you tell?

Did you think I wasn’t going to tie it to my book? No such luck. Giacomo Casanova was the king of “tell them what they want to hear,” and it lifted skirts all over 18th-century Europe. In CONJURING CASANOVA, Casanova spends a good deal of time telling modern Lizzy, what she wants to hear. Guess what happens.