I hate WeChat's Friend Circle flooded with 'chicken soup'

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I like WeChat's Friend Circle, a place where people can share photos and a few words with their friends, but recently it's been flooded with "chicken soup" articles.

I hate chicken soup! And I for sure will blacklist anybody who shares chicken soup on a daily basis!

The stories have titles like these: "Old monk's wisdom," "The rich man and the poor man," "30 pieces of life advice," "Please cherish this kind of woman if you meet her," "Girl, if you meet a good guy like this, marry him," "Rich people aren't necessarily happy," "Prayers are answered," and so on.

These stories are meant to heal souls and bring "positive energy," which is all that people are talking about these days.

This social phenomenon dates back to about 20 years ago when the publication of Chicken Soup for the Soul in the US launched a wildly popular series of books. It's become a bestselling genre of literature here in China as well. Our local "writers" rack their brains to come up with witty stories and "wisdom" about life, love, fortune and attitude.

They seem very inspirational and heartwarming, but I think they violate the basic rules of logic.

Let's take a simple example. A young man complains to a wise man about his life: "I have just graduated from college. I am renting a shabby apartment because I cannot afford to buy one. When friends invite me to dinner, I am too embarrassed to say that I cannot afford it." The wise man answered, "Well, you have a job and a place to live while others struggle to find one. You have friends who like to share time with you. You have so many things. Why would you say you have nothing? " The young man was very enlightened and thanked the wise man.

Well, the core of the young man's problem is that he is poor, so a genuinely satisfying answer would give him advice on how to plan his career path or start a promising business. But the so-called wise man just gave a sly argument that sidestepped the real problem. He made the young man feel good about himself by pointing out his immaterial wealth. If you don't really think about it, you might be deceived just like the young man was.

But after "drinking" the soup and being comforted, you still need to move on with your life and face your real problems. When confronted with reality, these wise men, mentors, teachers, monks and rich people are only telling us to change our attitude or the perspective from which we see our problems. I don't think the chicken soup authors are smarter than any of us, because they can't think clearly enough to compose a convincing story.

I admit that in this stressful modern world, chicken soup literature caters to the needs of vulnerable people who need sunshine, positive energy and guidance. And then, because people like to educate others, when they read something they approve of, they forward the story so that other people will read it and follow the implied moral standards.

But chicken soup stories give their readers nothing except a way to annoy their friends. If you have the time to read, I would suggest that you choose jokes, poems, novels, job market guidance or grandma's recipes - anything except chicken soup.

The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times nor People's Daily Online

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