Ok, so a couple of things before I start this blog…
1. While I am a fan of Scott Adams in general, this is not a paid endorsement or anything like that. (I wish…my level of notoriety has not reached that level just yet)
2. I don’t care one iota about your political affiliations, slants, or ideologies. And I am NOT going to share mine in this blog either. All I ask is that you have an open mind for just a few moments.
3. I wrote this blog because I see this as a SERIOUS problem in our country, and it is getting worse by the day. Our collective inability to think for ourselves is growing by the day. This book is not the answer to all that ails us, but it is a damn good start in reversing the trend.
Ok, now that we got that out of the way, let’s get this rolling. I need you to do BOTH OF US a favor, for three minutes and twenty seven seconds, and listen carefully, unbiased and objectively. Below is the link to a portion of the press briefing by President Trump regarding possible treatment options for COVID19.
I don’t want to say any more than that for now, so please just take a deep breath, clear your mind, and click on the link below…
Now that you have watched this, (don’t cheat and think you know already…watch it!) please allow me to share my thoughts and interpretation on what happened in this video. President Trump is standing at the podium, and he is asking questions of someone seated to his right. He does not make a single, definitive statement about any of the options of light or ultraviolet light therapy, injecting disinfectant, etc. being viable treatments, but rather is ASKING QUESTIONS and saying that these things are in need of testing and/or are being explored. The person President Trump is asking these questions of is Dr. Deborah Birx, who is not only the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the Trump Administration, but is “an American physician and diplomat who specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine research, and global health ” according to her Wikipedia page. I, personally, do not hear him make a statement or even suggest/imply/hint to anyone that they should try any of the things that he said are being explored in this press briefing. He even makes the statement “I am not a Doctor, so I don’t know…”
Getting real facts these days is becoming increasingly difficult. Their are only a few media outlets in the world that control most of what we are spoon fed through the TV and other outlets. These media companies support candidates and political parties of their own choosing, and the “coverage” they provide is their interpretation of an event filtered through their own lens of bias. Now more than ever, we have to learn to filter everything we see, look to alternate coverage of the same event, and distill things from several sources into the closest version of the truth possible. Loserthink, according to Adams includes things like reading headlines only and forming an opinion, not giving something a few days to get fleshed out better and have more details come to light before making a decision, etc.
By now many of us are aware of the “fallout’ from this press conference. According to the mainstream media, there was “a flood of calls” to local Poison Control hotlines regarding questions about people asking about injecting disinfectant and other medically terrible decisions. First of all, I am not really sure how many calls add up to “a flood”. Secondly, if when you clicked on that YouTube video link, the title of the video was already biased in its wording, reading “President Trump claims injecting people with disinfectant could treat coronavirus”. Third, how many of the following sources have an unbiased position, political affiliation, etc. when their headlines read like this:
So this begs the question…IS IT ME? Am I the one interpreting what I saw in the above video clip incorrectly? I never rule this out as a possibility. As Loserthink would teach you, there is a huge problem with not thinking for ourselves, asking the right questions, and being neutral about a topic until you learn more and can coherently form thoughts and opinions about that topic. I am a work in progress like everyone else, but after in reading Scott Adams latest book, I have gotten a little better about reading between the lines with some things, asking more questions, and taking a little bit of time to evaluate whatever it is I am considering. I try to refrain from knee-jerk responses and formation of opinions. I try to give anyone a chance to share information that may be relevant and coherent, even if most of the things they have previously said proved to be just the opposite.
Scott Adams covers several main topics in the book, and each is very relevant in today’s world. We are inundated with so much information all the time that is is difficult to parse out the real details and form our own opinion. It is easy to fall prey to the clickbait headlines and tweeted opinions presented as facts about anything and everything that happens. It is becoming a lost art to think for yourself, and Adams’ contention is that we need to step back and relearn how to think properly so we can move forward in the world. A massive reset may not be necessary for most, just wedging a little time and space in between observing, thinking, and forming an opinion should suffice.
Do yourself a favor, read this book. It is long overdue for many of us, and like I said it is not a cure-all but it may help some of us course-correct. If enough people can do that, then we have a shot at getting some civil discourse and deeper thought back into our daily lives.
I wish you luck in your “recovery”.
by Darrin Schenck
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by Darrin Schenck
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