Our Love Of Lists Makes the New York Times
Lists have officially made it! Did you see the opinion piece in this Sundays New York Times? (such a New Yorker thing to say btw.) It’s basically all about why we all love lists so much. Two friends and my mother-in-law sent me the article.
Here’s some of the highlights from the New York Times piece:
- The web makes lists the easiest way to consume information. (If you’ve ever read an article with a headline like “9 Ways to Make Someone Fall in Love With You” you know what I mean.)
- We have short attention spans.
- We are competative — even in our list making. (Whose bucket list is cooler, who has read the most books?)
- Lists tell stories about your life (What’s in your Netflix cue? It says something about you!)
- Atul Gawande is the man when it comes to checklists. These are very sophisticated list making techniques that surgeons, pilots and construction workers use daily.
- The Roget’s Thesaurus was created by compulsive list maker Peter Roget — from just a little list of words.