David McElroy

An alien landed near me over the weekend. He came out of his flying saucer and had a friendly conversation with me. Since the Weekly World News isn’t printed anymore, I’ll share this momentous news with you on social media.

See the picture? That’s proof enough for anyone — especially if you want to believe.

Unless you’re a very naive small child or have some serious brain damage, you know that I’m not telling the truth. You know it’s a joke or an April Fool’s gag. Or maybe it’s satire. You know that because you apply critical thinking skills. You ask yourself whether it’s more likely this is true or not.

But even though almost everyone would know this claim isn’t true, it’s also true that many people — maybe most people — uncritically accept equally bogus claims on social media.

It happens every single day. And if the idiotic social media post is making a point that supports whatever you already believe, many people — maybe even you — will eagerly share that nonsensical post.

Even if you have the best of intentions, sharing such nonsense — without reasonable and rational evidence — makes you part of someone else’s monumental lie. And the lies are getting bigger and bigger, to the point that scanning a social media feed is now a bit like reading the headlines on the covers of the dumbest old supermarket tabloids.

Are you doing that?

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There was nothing particularly wrong with the place.

The lights were bright. The music consisted of old hits from the time when Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were president. The decor was brightly colored plastic. There were people everywhere, including a table of teen girls making TikTok videos.

There was nothing offensive about any of it, but it was bland and boring and distracting. You could have been anywhere in the country. I tried to write. I tried to read.

And yet, after a while, I felt a quiet urge to leave.

I stepped outside into the warm evening breeze and stood still. As the door slowly closed behind me, the drop in noise was almost physical. The air felt different. The world slowed down just enough for me to notice it again.

And in that moment, I realized — once again — something I’ve observed more and more over the last decade or so. There’s nothing wrong with most of what our culture produces. Not really.

It’s not evil. It’s not low-quality. In many cases, it’s the opposite. It’s engaging and creative and well-made. It’s designed by people who know exactly how to capture your attention and hold it.

That’s not the problem. The problem is that there’s too much of it.

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It was 6:30 a.m. when I stepped outside after being awake all night.

I had been writing — moving from one idea to another — creating bits and pieces of things that mostly aren’t ready to be published. Some of it had been for a book. Some had been for YouTube videos. Some had been for film projects. And part of it was for a ridiculous parody ad that I’ll use as a minor piece of a video.

Most of what I create isn’t great. Some of it is mediocre. Some of it never sees the light of day. But every now and then, something clicks and I’m able to make something really good. And when that happens, I know it.

As I stepped onto my front steps, the light breeze and gentle warmth outside were perfect. I looked above me to a beautiful moon peeking through partly cloudy skies.

Everything felt right. I was exhausted after working all night. But I felt alive.

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