Our awareness of the residual impact of mass media has grown tremendously over the past 30 years. Media literacy experts have thoroughly documented that the prolonged exposure to mass media over time disintegrates our critical intelligence. The process is, in part, the effect of the overstimulation we already mentioned. Yet, beyond the fact that we are immersed in too much TV and other media, it is the style in which these media, particularly advertising, present themselves that actually affects our sense of ourselves as storytellers. If I can get more attention for the kind of shoes I wear or the style of my hair at one-tenth the conscious effort of explaining what the heck is wrong or right about my life in a way that moves you, why bother being a storyteller? Status and recognition, in our consumer culture, is an off-the-rack item.