Our Love Of Lists Makes the New York Times

Just the Grocery List (Photo credit: Krissy.Venosdale)

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:

1. 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.)
2. We have short attention spans.
3. We are competative — even in our list making. (Whose bucket list is cooler, who has read the most books?)
4. Lists tell stories about your life (What’s in your Netflix cue? It says something about you!)
5. 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.
6. The Roget’s Thesaurus was created by compulsive list maker Peter Roget — from just a little list of words.