NAME DROPPING (also called name checking or brand-name dropping) is the practice of casually inserting the names of important people or institutions into a conversation in order to seem more important to the listener. Name dropping is typically considered to be a negative — even offensive — quality. When used in argument it can be an example of the appeal to authority fallacy. Soft drink companies do it. Sneaker companies do it. And, increasingly, people are doing it. I find that there are persons that feel that if they are to be a KEY player in the world @ large, NAME DROPPING can be a means to their success. In the WHO’S WHO world of today, it does NOT pay to get by on the name that was given @ birth, but by the names of others. It is rather SAD that people are NOT what they seem and pretend to have heirs simply by letting it be known that they are CONNECTED to someone that he is highly recognized. I wonder what is in a name and how does my saying that I know the Prime Minister personally make me a better person? NAME DROPPING makes me feel bad for persons that go this route because it shows that they do NOT have any self esteem and they are NOT anyone special until they say they know someone that is INFAMOUS or PROMINENT. Hence, if one is labeled a NAME-DROPPER, he OR she may as well wear a tag that says: HELLO, MY NAME IS INSECURE ASSHOLE & I DO THIS BECAUSE I AM NOT HAPPY WITH WHO I AM. It does NOT take a rocket scientist to figure out that NAME DROPPING does NOT make one important OR worldly. However, it does show that WE live in a culture that is so fixated on being somebody that they loose themselves in the process. MOREOVER, BEING A NAME DROPPER IS RIGHT UP THERE WITH ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT DRAG THIS WORLD DOWN. I AM AWARE THAT THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF PERSONS THAT DOES THIS JUST TO LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THEY ARE PROUD OF THE ASSOCIATION & THEY SIMPLY WANT OTHERS TO KNOW. HOWEVER THAT GROUP OF PERSONS IS VERY FEW & THE VAST MAJOR OF NAME DROPPERS JUST SEEKS ADORATION RATHER THAN JUST TRYING TO BE REAL. THE CRAZY THING HERE IS THAT I GET THEM TRYING TO MAKE THEMSELVES FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEMSELVES; I JUST WONDER IF THEY REALIZE HOW SAD THAT IS BECAUSE IF THAT’S IT TAKES…THEY WILL BE NAME DROPPING FOR A LONG TIME.
I find it amazing how people do this and think that you are suppose to be all fascinated when they do. Its funny how when the intially drop the name and you pay no attention, the subtly drop it again, just to make sure you got the point. I think it is so pathetic, because if I am comforable with who I am and I know where I am going, droping someones name is not a necessity for me. I prefer to get around in my life on my own merit that the association I keep. Sad to say that with most of the name droppers, the association that they attest to is rarely as the make it seems, and may even just be down to a single encounter. So you hit it good here Mr. Gaytekeeper. Come on people lets be the names that are dropped and not the name droppers!
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