In a World of Noise, Don’t Let the Clueless Hold the Megaphone

Alright, LinkedIn friends, it’s time to pull on our collective "big boy" swim trunks and wade headfirst into the deep end of the metaphorical pool of cynicism. You know the one—it’s filled with the murky waters of “he can’t even run his own life, I’ll be damned if he’ll run mine” rationales. But don’t worry, I’ve got the life preservers ready for those who need them—or water wings, if that’s more your style. Because navigating these currents of skepticism isn’t for the faint-hearted, but together, we’ll make sure no one sinks under the weight of unchecked information.

Jonathan Edwards' refrain, "He can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine," hits like a philosophical hammer—because let’s be real, how often do we hand over the reins of our thoughts to those who can’t keep their own mental wagons on the road? In a world where “trust” is the currency we exchange for every byte of data we consume, it’s worth asking: Just how sound is the foundation of that trust?

We live in an era of unparalleled connectivity and unparalleled chaos. Information isn’t just power; it’s a supernova blasting across the digital cosmos, and we're all trying to catch a piece of it before it vaporizes into the ether. But here’s the thing—much like Edwards’ protest against being manhandled by inept authorities, we need to protest against the lazy acceptance of information without scrutiny. "Trust but verify," as the old proverb goes—except nowadays, maybe it should be “Trust cautiously and verify obsessively.”

See, marketing, much like gravity, has its own immutable laws. Ignore them, and your campaign is as doomed as Icarus with a jetpack. Al Ries and Jack Trout laid down 22 of these laws, suggesting that brands must adhere to the unyielding principles of marketing physics to avoid plummeting into the abyss of irrelevance. Their work is like the Marketing Bible’s Book of Proverbs—except these proverbs come with PowerPoint decks and ROI stats.

But here’s where your cheap inflatable water wings begin to leak air: even with all the laws and proverbs and meticulously manicured strategies, if you don’t do the hard work of verifying the source of your information, you’re building your brand on quicksand. The “easy” answer, the “juiced” algorithm, the influencer with a megawatt smile and zero credentials—these are the sirens luring your ship onto the rocks. Yes, that's a Homer reference but for my friends in Texas, "All Hat, not cattle". It’s the intellectual equivalent of sending a text to your ex at 2 AM—seems like a good idea in the moment, but deep down, you know you’re going to regret it.

Edwards’ song was born out of the tumultuous times of the Vietnam War and Nixon-era distrust—a time when the government’s mishandling of, well, everything, was as common as spam emails in your inbox. The government, much like today’s cavalcade of questionable information sources, couldn’t even manage its own affairs, let alone dictate yours. And yet, how often do we allow the digital equivalent of that bumbling bureaucracy to shape our understanding of the world?

So here’s the call to action, dear LinkedIn connections: don’t just accept the sunshine that’s beamed into your feed. Question it. Challenge it. Make sure that what you’re letting into your life—whether it’s news, marketing strategies, or the latest trending hashtag—isn't just running wild without accountability. Because at the end of the day, if they can’t run their own life, why the hell should they be running yours?

And maybe, just maybe, we’ll all find a way to get a little more focused, a little less distracted, and a lot more discerning about where we get our information—and who we trust to guide us through the digital wilderness. After all, time is all we’ve lost, and it's about damn time we tried to get some of it back. ??