“Advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truths.”
(Edgar A. Shoaff)

One of the most surprising effects of the Internet has been the radical shift from an information age to an advertising age. Think about how many tech giants gain almost all of their revenue from gluing us to the ads on their site. Twitter and Instagram, for instance, can lose billions of dollars each year but still stay in business because all the eyeballs they own will eventually attract enough advertisers to make them profitable someday.

Take a moment to reflect on how many ads you’ve seen this week. You probably couldn’t count that high.

Take a moment to reflect on how much Amazon knows about you, based on your searches and prior purchases.

Take a moment to reflect on how many messages you’ll receive today, telling you over and over again how incomplete your life is, how much more you need to own to feel better, and how you don’t really know what’s best for you.

Now go have a talk with your kids about all of this, helping to prepare them against the onslaught.

Peace begins with pause,