'The Sky is Falling'- Another Reading of Chicken Little
Economists are about as useful as astrologers in predicting the future- and, like astrologers, they never let failure on one occasion diminish certitude on the next.
Stories told orally have a way of morphing. Try it sometime. Whisper a short story into the ear of the first of ten 8-year-olds. Each child will innocently add, subtract, reimagine, or forget things with every retelling. The last child will likely have heard a story substantially different than the first child. I think this game is called ‘Telephone.’
Before paper and ink, ancient fables were passed along from ear to ear. With the printing press, our favorite fables were allowed to flourish. If you could read, you could enjoy a good fable. Such is the origin of one of our most beloved fables, Chicken Little.
In case you forgot, Chicken Little is a story about an opinionated ‘know-it-all’ chicken who claims the sky is falling when hit on the head by something. Looking around for what had hit her and finding nothing, she looked up and imagined that it must have been a piece of the sky. Alarmed, she convinces another chicken, a duck, and a goose to travel with her to warn the king. If the sky is falling, he must know.
Of course, there is a moral or two within the fable of Chicken Little.
Most of us know a Chicken Little. We might call them ‘alarmists.’ They take situations and imagine the worst. Yet, in their tendency towards the dark, they appear to gain energy and certainty from being the bearer of their bad tidings- they might even enjoy it. Convinced of their own good intentions, they seek others to join them in their fear. In that regard, they might also be seen as ‘opportunists.’
Believing she was hit on the head by a piece of sky, Chicken Little lacked the curiosity to consider a broad spectrum of other possibilities, including an acorn falling from a tree or a leaf falling from a rose bush (depending on the version). That is not unusual for those who believe they know everything and have perhaps a fatalistic tendency.
With a newfound sense of purpose, Chicken Little went around convincing others that the sky was falling. The others, being friends, kindly obliged without asking for her evidence. But each follower had a sliver of doubt when they looked up into the sky and saw nothing missing. In fact, they commented on what a beautiful day it is. But off they go to warn the king with little to lose and an adventure to gain.
Chicken Little’s come in all shapes and sizes. Occasionally, a religious leader will divine a special day when the sky will fall. Not content with keeping that in their heart of hearts, they go in search of ‘followers.’ In the 1980s, NASA engineer Edgar C. Whisenant believed he was hit on the head with a great revelation and gave the world 88 reasons Christ would return in 1988. So convinced, he declared, “Only if the Bible is in error am I wrong.” He went on TV in search of followers and wrote a book. 4.5 million copies were sold. When 1988 slipped by without the sky falling, he recalibrated like any good engineer and claimed it would be in 1989. Oops. Recalculate. 1993 and then 1994, each with a new book.
Scroll the headlines today on your phone or pad, and you’re bombarded with headlines that suggest the end is near. Most are just looking for clicks, but some are dead serious.
Today, with our eyes buried deep in our devices, it appears we have a diminished ability to appreciate the wisdom found in old fables. The headlines, social media posts, and screeching politicians compete for our attention. Many use ‘the sky is falling’ as bait. Like a chicken coop swept up by a rumor that a fox is about to slither in, anxious chickens cackle and scamper aimlessly in their warning to others.
Now that more can be said about how the world conducted itself during the pandemic, we have a better picture of our own culpability. Pandemic Chicken Littles and their followers kept a finger on social media looking for any pulse that might jump-start their fear or boredom. Being fed the official pandemic narrative, they were told that we were all equally in danger, even our children. They collectively melted social media, demanding that the government shut down the schools. Followers are not always so innocent.
In some respects, it is easy to understand and empathize with Chicken Little. Who among us hasn’t jumped to a premature conclusion and chosen to think the worst, sometimes with embarrassing results? But we attempt to learn from those experiences and vow to be more circumspect next time.
More recently, but with just as much vigor, some economists have become Chicken Little’s. They claim our entire financial system is about to be undone. “Recession!” they growl like a bear every year for years. They droll out their supporting data more convinced this year than last year. “This is the year,” they say, because the dreaded ‘tariff’ has been unleashed- as if for the first time. Short memories are to blame, as few of these Chicken Littles remember a prior administration slapping a 100% tariff on Chinese-made automobiles via an executive order. Now you know why nary a Chinese car is seen on American roads. Like those predicting the second coming with great certainty, these economists will eventually be right if they live long enough.
I might suggest that those who claim the end is near because of global warming read another fable. The story is that of a shepherd boy who cried ‘wolf’ over and over until the villagers no longer believed him. When real danger entered his flock, the villagers went back to sleep. The moral of the story suggests that we humans have limits to having our fears messed with. The ‘cry’ lost its credibility.
That is perhaps why we have reached a state of ‘climate warming’ fatigue. And why not? In the last 20 to 30 years, we have been buried by tens of thousands of headlines carefully constructed to extract the most fear. "Just click and become a follower and join the adventure. The algorithm now knows who you are and will fill your inbox with more. Is it any wonder why we have a mental health crisis in this country?
I once entered into an email exchange with someone scolding me for not being all in on climate warming. As evidence, he sent me a list of prominent scientists who claim a coming apocalypse. I then sent him a list of equally credentialed scientists who said, “Hold on…we don’t know enough to make such dire predictions.” I finished by asking him how the weather was where he was. He said the snow had melted and he was enjoying a beautiful day on his deck. Did he, too, have a sliver of doubt?
This morning, I woke to a beautiful day. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, the mountains were snow-covered, and the river was full. With coffee warming my hands and reigniting my synapses, I scanned the headlines to find that the sky is still falling. Once again, I resolved to pay them no attention.
Have a great weekend.
From Matthew 24
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Hello Ron, your story today was refreshing, entertaining, and included motivation to be prepared
Thank you
Ron S
Knocked it out of the park!
Great read.