Undervaluing our own thoughts and experiences is only part of the problem. We also need to talk to somebody who is interested in them.

Many people today have become so accustomed to regarding what they see on TV or read in newspapers as “the big time” that they are dismissive of evidence they didn’t hear on the news, or of public affairs topics that are not fully media-certified Name Brand Issues.

Compared to the purportedly “larger” world presented by the media, some people wonder how ordinary people could possibly come up with anything that the proverbial "they" don’t already know.