Law of Anecdotal Value

So I'm listening to "The Moth" podcast today (which I usually do on Sundays while I put away clean laundry but I'm ahead of schedule this week, though I'm sure you really don't care.) ANYWAY, "The Moth" is a free podcast that features true stories that are told live, without notes. I'm a big sucker for stories, especially true ones, so I LOVE it and hope to go to an event in the city someday.

So I'm listening this morning and Peter Sagal from "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" is on and he's talking about his friend who has a PhD in something that I can't remember.. and he tells about when he got out of college and his friend told him this:

"Sometimes I think that the best way to live your life is to choose the experience that will have the most anecdotal value."

Sagal goes on to say that this casual comment ended up being what he calls the law of anecdotal value. He says:

"Everything I choose to do, I try to do stuff that will really turn into a cool story. I have succeeded and I have failed and I have kept trying. And that's why I love 'The Moth' because it is the payoff for people who have lived their lives, intentionally or unintentionally, that way."

I SO agree.

Comments

  1. Erin HDecember 6, 2011 at 7:07 PM

    hahaha, like when you wanted to be a dog walker for a day just so you could write about it.

    ReplyDelete

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