Why Conspiracy Theories DEMAND Understanding!

July 31, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. ⏳

I remember watching the news coverage, the feelings of horror, the shock among the country that such an event happened. 😱

I even remember the news wrongfully attributing the killer’s potential motive to his diagnosis of autism. ❌

It wasn’t easy for many people to comprehend. Who would want to let the feeling sink in that someone was actually capable of committing such horror on innocent lives? 😫

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕?! 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏?!”

It was around the same time this event happened that I was browsing YouTube one day and noticed a popular video trending on their home page. The video was over a half hour in length, a video I would not normally take the time to watch. 🖥️

But the title of the video caught my attention: “SANDY HOOK EXPOSED”. 😱

I clicked on it…and for the next half hour I was entranced watching the entire video! 😵

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲. 👿

I remember watching the lengthy YouTube video and being shown a bunch of chopped-up news clips. I remember the video’s sound being muted, the subtitles of the video feeding me various questions and answers 💭:

“𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒖𝒏?!” “𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔?!” “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆!” “𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!”

I remember watching a clip which showed a father whose daughter was killed in Sandy Hook seemingly go from smiling to crying in seconds. Again, the subtitles were ready to tell me what to think: “𝑨 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔!” “𝑰𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈?!” 💭

I remember another clip which showed the mother of the daughter, but she was smiling and saying words you couldn’t hear because the audio was muted. Again, the subtitles were ready to tell me what to think: “𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔?!” “𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!” 💭

I also remember the shocking realization I felt watching the video. There was this excitement, this sense of thrill within me that I was learning something the general public was not aware of. Only me and other viewers of this YouTube video were now privy to this private information! 📚

The video brought me to the conclusion it wanted me to come to: that Sandy Hook never happened, that it was a hoax. 😱

…Looking back on this memory in hindsight, I’m glad I watched the video.

⚠️ 𝐍𝐎, 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐀𝐗! ⚠️

But watching this video helped me learn a valuable lesson early on in my life about how alluring conspiracy theories can be, how attractive they are on the surface, yet how hollow the cynicism lays underneath them. 😠

Thankfully, at the time I watched this video I had enough skepticism to get additional perspectives on the video’s claims.

I quickly learned there was a TON of misinformation in the video. (For information on the video, you can refer to the Snopes article here: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sandy-hook-exposed/ )

📌 The father who went from crying to smiling? There could be any number of reasons why that happened. 𝑨 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 “𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇” 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏.

📌 That mother who was smiling in the muted video clip? If you got to hear the video clip unmuted, you’d quickly understand she was smiling because she was sharing positive memories about her daughter. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒂𝒙 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝒊𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒅.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐝 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡” 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐩. 👎

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐘?!

We can use Merriam-Webster’s definition: “A theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” 📖

We can also use Britannica’s definition: “An attempt to explain harmful or tragic events as the result of the actions of a small, powerful group.” 📖

Let’s also add in Dictionary.com’s definition: “A theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.” 📖

The reason I wanted to give you all these definitions is there’s also a conspiracy theory online that the CIA created the term “conspiracy theory” to silence people during the JFK assassination. This is False. 👎

(Source: https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/03/16/did-the-cia-invent-the-term-conspiracy-theory/ )

Even more, there’s a conspiracy theory that the source I’ve been citing above, Snopes, has a “leftist propaganda political agenda”. This is again False. 👎

(Sources: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jun/19/viral-image/no-factcheckorg-didnt-bust-snopescom/

Snopes

https://www.allsides.com/news-source/snopes )

If you’re starting to notice a pattern, the problem is that 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 can be made into a conspiracy theory. The fact I’m even discussing it right now makes me susceptible to someone accusing me of being a “shill” or a “sheep”. 🤷‍♂️

If you share contrasting information with a conspiracy theorist, they can easily dismiss it as just being part of the conspiracy. They can claim every fact-checking source I cited above as “fake news” simply because it doesn’t fit with their worldview. ❌

🤬 “𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐃! 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓!” 🤬

Let me clarify: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞! 💯

📍 I could tell you about Project SUNSHINE in 1956, where the United States Atomic Energy Commission wanted to measure the long-term effects of nuclear radiation on the body. The way they did this included collecting tissue from deceased children’s bodies without permission from grieving families.

📍 I could tell you about Prohibition in the 1920s, where the federal government pressured manufacturers to add poisonous substances to their alcohol to make it undrinkable. Unfortunately this did not stop people, and it is estimated thousands died from drinking this tainted alcohol.

📍 I could tell you about MKULTRA, a CIA-sponsored program which started in the 50s and ended in the 70s, where experiments were done on human test subjects including the use of LSD, hypnosis, and electric shocks to develop methods the government could use for future interrogations.

All of these happened! 💯

It’s not that I don’t believe conspiracies have never happened or that I believe world governments have never done anything shady before. They have! And there’s a lot of classified information we as the general public will never be aware of. 👍

Citing the incidents above, it’s very reasonable for a person to start feeling cynical towards the government or people in authority. They’re the ones we’re supposed to place our trust in, yet knowing these past wrongs makes it a lot harder to, right? 👍

The difference with my perspective is 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲. 👮

It’s important to remember when we demonize “the government” we’re also referring to thousands of people, from the postal service to the armed forces to Congress, each with their own separate positions and functions, each with their own families and set of values, each of them living their own individual lives. 👪

It’s this very problem of overgeneralizing I even have to remember myself! I’m guilty of it too! 🙋‍♂️

I’m aware I have a habit of criticizing what I often call “the media”. I need to continue to remind myself it’s not a singular entity, that it consists of thousands of news outlets and thousands of individual people with different intentions and agendas. 📰

It would be foolish of me to assume the negative actions of 1 or 2 journalists was a reflection of the entire field of journalism, right?! 😅

My point is: don’t let your obsession over a few bad apples spoil the entire bunch. Or as I always say: 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. 👶

The other day I watched the Netflix documentary “Behind the Curve” about Flat Earthers, people who believe the world is flat and that this truth is being covered up by NASA. 🚀

I think for many of my friends you’ll be quick to laugh even hearing that such a community exists. But I actually did take a valuable lesson watching the film, and I’ll tell you what…⬇️

Sure, the Flat Earther arguments lack critical thinking. Sure, it’s very easy to disprove their claims with less than five minutes of research online. Funny enough, the Flat Earthers even disprove themselves after they conduct a science experiment in the documentary! 😅

But putting all that aside, there is one valuable lesson I took away from the film: ridicule of Flat Earthers is NOT a helpful solution! 💯

In fact, telling someone they’re wrong can cause them to dig their feet deeper into their beliefs. Showing them contradictory evidence can strengthen their affinity for their beliefs. It is what’s known as the Backfire Effect. ↔️

My point is: we need to apply this same understanding with the people around us. 🌎

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬.

It’s not to say their ideas don’t lack critical thinking or that these ideas don’t cause harm to others. They do. It’s to say, as the saying goes: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” You won’t change anyone’s mind by ridiculing them. 🙌

Mick West says the same thing in his book “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”. The former co-founder of Neversoft Entertainment, Mick first became introduced to conspiracy theories when he was studying aviation weather for his pilot’s license. 👨‍✈‍

He was introduced to the Chemtrails conspiracy theory, the belief that condensation trails left by aircrafts are toxic chemicals being sprayed by the government to poison people. 😱

What initially started as a website he created to debunk the theory led him to debunking many more theories. As of today, Mick is the founder of Metabunk and has spent over 10 years debunking conspiracy theories. 😲

But there’s a difference between Mick and many others who just want to prove conspiracy theorists wrong online. 🛑

From his many interviews with current and “former” conspiracy theorists, he advocates for understanding and respectful communication. ❤️

In his book “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”, he argues we’re ALL susceptible to conspiracy theories. Like while I myself personally don’t believe in most conspiracies, even I still at times am prone to feeling cynical towards pharmaceutical companies, to give one example. 💊

𝑾𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 😨

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 😨

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 “𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑” 𝒕𝒐. 😨

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅. 😨

𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒕. 😨

The unfortunate part is just that some individuals fell deeper down the rabbit hole than most of us ever did. 🕳️

So, Mick’s personal mission with his work is not about shaming conspiracy theorists but rather on helping them climb out of the rabbit hole their cynical minds have become stuck in. 🙋‍♂‍

His biggest piece of advice: be respectful and understanding. Remember: it could’ve just as easily been you under the same circumstances. 👤

𝐎𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. ❤️

Apart from our susceptibility to conspiracy theories, we all as human beings suffer from what’s known as cognitive biases. They are patterns of thinking which psychologically distort how we view the world. 👀

Some of the most common biases include:

🧠 Negativity Bias. We’re more likely to give attention to negativity than we do to positivity.

🧠 Confirmation Bias. We’re more likely to believe information which reinforces our worldview and more easily dismiss information which goes against it.

🧠 Black-and-White (Dichotomous) Thinking. We’re more likely to see the world in polar opposite extremes. Good versus Evil. Us versus Them.

🧠 Illusory pattern perception. We’re more likely to see patterns among things which have no relation to each other. It’s why in science there’s the principle: “Correlation does not mean causation”.

But one of the biggest culprits, especially being illuminated now in our culture, is:

🧠 The Dunning-Kruger Effect. We’re more likely to overestimate our ability at something we’re actually really bad at. The unintelligent individual is more likely to overestimate his intelligence, while the intelligent individual is more likely to underestimate his intelligence.

Or as philosopher Bertrand Russell put it back in 1933 as a response to the rise of Nazi Germany: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕.”🤦‍♂‍

Again, we ALL suffer from these biases, some of us worse than others. They are not limited to conspiracy theorists, although they may be more greatly illuminated through their example. 🗣️

But the reason I’m sharing this all with you today is because during times of stress and anxiety, especially during these times of COVID-19, conspiracy theories are far more prevalent and far more likely to be embraced as truth. 👍

Conspiracy theories increased after 9/11. They increased after Sandy Hook. They increased after the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting. And they are now increasing during COVID-19. I’m sure you’ve already seen the 5G conspiracy being shared. 📡

More than ever, it’s going to be easy to fall into these cognitive traps so I want to remind us all to be extra mindful of this. 🧘‍♂‍

This is NOT a “conspiracy” problem; it’s a human problem, deeply rooted in cynicism, distrust, and paranoia. 😨

As Dale Carnegie reminds us: “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.”

🤬 “𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇, 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐃! 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏!”🤬

The questions I challenge everyone to ask themselves:

🤔 Do you possess your beliefs? Or do your beliefs possess you?

🤔 Are you able to step outside your own ideology and understand your critic’s points of view?

🤔 Are you able to steelman your opponent’s arguments and understand their position thoroughly before dismissing them completely?

In addition, I challenge you:

💪 To get sources from multiple points of view, including information that may go against your beliefs. Not all information is created equal.

💪 Stay aware of your cognitive biases and genuinely seek to understand other people’s points of view. See if you can steelman their argument.

💪 Give others who disagree with you the benefit of the doubt. Don’t automatically assume malicious intent. Perhaps you may learn something from them you didn’t know before.

This is not just a reminder for you all, but also for me! I need to hear these reminders at times too! Again, I’m not immune to a lack of self-awareness. It’s an ongoing process! 🙋‍♂️

WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER! ❤️

Below, I am providing resources which have greatly helped me develop my critical thinking skills! ⬇️

𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒

📘 “Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect” by Mick West – https://amzn.to/3hKPnNS

📙 “Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts” by Carol Tavris & Elliott Aronson – https://amzn.to/2X7QFuj

📕 “How to Think – A Survival Guide for a World at Odds” by Alan Jacobs https://amzn.to/39DdBXr

📗 “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman – https://amzn.to/30UV4lG

📙 “You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself” by David McRaney – https://amzn.to/3hLuQbV

📘 “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” by Carl Sagan – https://amzn.to/3jR8Oq8

📕 “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt – https://amzn.to/2P2Ddna

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

📼 CrashCourse Navigating Digital Information – A 10-episode series dedicated to teaching critical thinking skills for browsing the Internet. https://bit.ly/2EnmatQ

📼 CrashCourse Philosophy – A 46-episode series dedicated to teaching philosophical ideas, which in turn practices your critical thinking skills. https://bit.ly/3faLlwH

📼 CrashCourse Media Literacy – A 12-episode series dedicated to teaching the history and psychology of media. https://bit.ly/3f3YuYg

📄 A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of Psychological Research on Conspiracy Beliefs: Field Characteristics, Measurement Instruments, and Associations with Personality Traits – https://bit.ly/30WLrCR

𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎𝐒

📼 Wisecrack – What Makes REAL Science? – https://bit.ly/3hR3pxz

📼 Wisecrack – How Conspiracies Changed & The Decline of Expertise (Flat Earth, Anti-Vaxxers) – https://bit.ly/335qcl1

📼 Wisecrack – How Fake Science (Pseudoscience) Can Fool You! – https://bit.ly/330Puki

📼 Wisecrack – The Internet was a Mistake – https://bit.ly/39EfzqC

📼 SciShow – The Science of Anti-Vaccination – https://bit.ly/2X6IQ8i

📼 SciShow Psych – Why Do So Many People Believe in Conspiracy Theories? – https://bit.ly/3gmdPEM

📼 Late Night with John Oliver – Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories – https://bit.ly/3fbTjWj

BOOK REVIEW: White Fragility

June 18, 2020June 28, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

This book is being recommended like mad at the moment! 🤯

It has been #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List for 12 weeks straight and #1 on Amazon Charts for 3 weeks straight. I decided to buy a copy on Kindle and was genuinely expecting to learn something new.

First, let me share what I wholeheartedly agree with in the book.

𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭.

We’ve all had different lives, different life experiences, so everyone has the potential to teach us something. Some of us have had privileges and opportunities others have never had. Some of us have experienced forms of suffering others cannot even begin to fathom.

So is important we continue to develop our emotional intelligence so we can stay aware how our actions and ignorance can unintentionally influence and affect how we treat other people.

𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥.

We all carry unconscious prejudices and biases, even when we think we don’t. When we’re not aware of these things, we will project them out onto the world without even being consciously aware we’re doing so.

A fantastic book that discusses these concepts more in-depth using psychology experiments is “Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)” by Carol Tavris.

𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝…

This book notes from the beginning it is going to be “unapologetically rooted in identity politics”.

(In the same tradition, I should note to you I am reviewing this book as a Liberal, Hispanic, Gay Male with 3 clinically diagnosed mental disorders including Autism.)

𝘛𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

It begins with a Red Pill trope in which the author shares a growing realization she’s had about white people over the course of her career when it comes to talking about racial issues.

For every white person she’s spoken with, she’s noticed some white people get particularly defensive with her.

She wanted to understand why, and with this book she without a doubt believes she’s found the answer: 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 “𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺”.

DiAngelo presents the following arguments:

White people are defensive about being called “racist” because they cannot accept their “whiteness”, their repressed feelings of “white superiority and entitlement”.

“Racism” is not the Dictionary’s definition. In her definition, it is not limited to discriminatory acts towards people based on the color of their skin.

In her definition, racism is like a disease, ingrained and embedded in everything: our society, our cultures, our institutions, and our souls. (Look up “concept creep” to understand more about expanded word definitions)

We are all racist as the result of living under a white supremacist society. White people need to especially be taught about this because they were born into privilege. They need to realize how blind they are to their whiteness and their racism, even when they don’t think they are.

The ideals of individualism, objectivity, and MLK’s Dream to choose not seeing others based on the color of their skin but on the content of their character are the reasons people have failed to see how deep racism goes.

In the author’s defense, she justifies these broad and sweeping generalizations with little to no evidence based on her being a sociologist.

That said, I honestly sympathize with any sociologists who do their very best to remain objective and evidence-based in their observations about society.

What surprised me the most reading this book was how the author doesn’t even consider alternate possibilities about the reasoning of white people she sees as possessing “white fragility”.

Did the author even consider the possibility that some white people may have gotten angry with her not because of their “white fragility” but because they strongly disagree with the basic premise of her newly expanded definition on what it means to be “racist”?

Did the author even consider the possibility that her insistence on white people needing to accept their inherent racism and privilege, needing to accept her vast assumptions about mass groups of people based on the color of their skin, not only is hypocritical but fits the very definition of what being “racist” is (at least according to the Dictionary)?

I’m reminded of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and his obsession with seeing every problem his patients had through the lens of some unconscious sexual repression. Everything had to be seen as somehow relating to sex.

In the same way, everything in DiAngelo’s eyes has to be seen as somehow relating to “racism” and “white supremacy”.

I cannot even imagine how a woman would react today if Freud told them they had “penis envy”. Women are not aware of their penis envy, Freud would say, of their enviousness to possess a penis because it is unconscious.

What if we applied this same logic to the author’s main premise?

*𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘋𝘪𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 “𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺”. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘋𝘪𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴.*

For those already familiar with Woke Culture, I soon realized THIS is one of those books.

Being “woke” has to do with individuals who have experienced emotional feelings of awakening when it comes to social injustice. It’s these same feelings of awakening that make a person think they’re far more “woke” or self-aware than they actually are.

Compare these same spiritual feelings of realization to the conspiracy theorist who believes they’ve “taken the Red Pill” and is now aware of the corruption of the world.

𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭.

I sympathize, as these individuals are not as “conscious” as they think they are. Unfortunately, I’m afraid the same thing has happened with the author here too.

While she promotes skepticism and self-awareness in the book, as well as noting that racial issues are “complex”, at the same time she doesn’t apply these same principles to the conclusions she’s making in the book.

With this book, I am supposed to simply accept the author’s premise about white fragility. In her circular logic, any counterargument against the idea of it (especially when it’s a white person) is only more proof of a white supremacist society.

This is the same logic as me presenting contrasting evidence to a conspiracy theorist and them saying that’s just proof there’s a conspiracy. (This logical fallacy is also known as “Kafkatrapping”.)

Simply put, the book takes itself way too seriously in its absolutist claims of racial essentialism. It doesn’t critically consider the possibility that racism is not as rampant as it is made out to be (There’s strong empirical and statistical data which speaks to the contrary).

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 “𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦” 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 “𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦” 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬.

Similar to conspiracy theories, I agree with the idea of practicing skepticism. But that’s as far as I agree, especially when the “skepticism” is used to justify an absolute, nonsensical worldview.

Similar to white fragility, I agree with the idea of practicing empathy. But that’s as far as I agree, especially when the “empathy” is used to justify an absolute, nonsensical worldview.

Sigmund Freud got the idea of the unconscious correct. But his circular logic to relate everything back to sex is where his claims falter.

Robin DeAngelo got the idea of empathy correct. But her circular logic to relate everything back to racism and white supremacy is where her claims falter.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨.

But the Catch-22 in these areas of study is that any of these virtues can turn into a vice.

For the psychoanalyst, sometimes a cigar…is just a cigar. There’s not always a variable of unconscious sexual explanation.

For the critical theorist, sometimes a power structure…is just a power structure. There’s not always a variable of oppression.

Let me add: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥，𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐚 “𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠”.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

My biggest concern is how popular this book currently is on Amazon, as well as with other books focused on Antiracism.

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.

My concern is books like these are not going to be critically analyzed or questioned because of our current times, despite their many flaws and overly simplistic lens in which to see ourselves and others.

If you embrace critical theory and/or the basic premise we live in a society which is systemically and institutionally racist, this book will be right up your alley.

But if you’re looking for a book that’s intellectually honest, thoughtful in its arguments, contains nuance, and complexity, I suggest steering very clear of this one.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.

Racism is a problem I will continue to address and combat through empathy, compassion, and understanding of us as a common humanity. ❤️

If that makes me “racist”, according to DiAngelo’s definition, than apparently I am! 😝

Unfortunately this book, which as of late is being praised to the highest of heavens as some masterpiece, I predict is going to add far more to the problem than it will to the solution. 𝐀𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡.

Or maybe, that’s just my “white fragility” talking…

1 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS

How We BECOME Civil!

June 4, 2020June 4, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

🙌 IT’S TIME FOR CIVILITY! 🙌

Van Jones argued in his recent book “Beyond the Messy Truth” one of the biggest problems facing our modern politics is that political parties are no longer uniting under the ideals of Conservatism or Liberalism, to bring out the best of their parties. 👎

Instead, they are uniting under a shared hostility of being anti-The Other Party. 🤬

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt provided a similar argument in his book “The Coddling of the American Mind” in the context of college campuses. 📖

He cites instances where college students at Ivy League schools have forcibly interrupted and shouted down guest speakers they deemed “offensive”. 🤬

Once instance includes Evergreen State College, where a college professor expressed disagreement with students over their social cause.

Student protesters disrupted his class, surrounded him in a ring, screamed at him when he tried to speak, and demanded he resign from the university. 🤬

To put it simply: 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐂𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬, 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

🙌 IT’S TIME FOR CIVILITY! 🙌

And I won’t pretend I’m immune from falling into these mindsets either. I also need to remind myself not to fall into these traps A LOT! So I don’t at all blame you if you fall into them either. 😅

But the message I wish to communicate to you today is you DON’T have to see someone else as your “villain”.

There is another option! 💯

Did you know Van Jones is close friends with Newt Gingrich? They are on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Van Jones is a Progressive Democrat and Newt a Republican. 😲

Van Jones notes in his book they disagree more than they ever agree politically. But despite that, they’re very good friends! 👥

Newt once shared with him this piece of wisdom:

“𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 ‘90% 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚’ 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 ‘10% 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅’ – 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆.”

I think Jonathan Haidt was also right, in the same tradition, when he said the greatest wisdom you can find is in the minds of your “opponents”.

Your “villains”.

The people you label in your mind as “pure evil”. 👿

🙌 IT’S TIME FOR CIVILITY! 🙌

A few days ago, I listened to a Joe Rogan podcast where he interviewed Daryl Davis. 🎙️

Daryl is an African American musician who is not only known for his amazing talent on the piano but also for converting over 200 people OUT of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan. 😲

On the podcast he went in-depth about how this all happened, but the biggest detail which stuck out to me hearing his story was in how simple the solution was!

𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍, 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇.

He learned what the KKK believed about African Americans, and he (again, respectfully) challenged their ideas. He even invited many of them over to his house for dinner! 😲

They even in turn invited him to attend their Klan meetings! 😱

It wasn’t long after that one of the top Klan members Daryl had met handed his white Klan robe to him and said he was leaving.

Again, this was just 1 of over 200 Klansmen…!

🙌 IT’S TIME FOR CIVILITY! 🙌

But the solution Daryl provided is not so different from the story of Megan Phelps-Roper either!

Megan was a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, a group widely known for their extremist views towards homosexuals (“God hates f**s”) and Jews. 😔

From birth, Megan was raised in the Church as her grandfather was the founder. Because of her upbringing, she was raised to see a very limited view of the world around her.

She only knew what her family told her. She was taught that the people hating her and her family at their protests only meant they were righteous in their beliefs. 📖

It was only when she created a Twitter account to promote her Church did her worldview start to unravel.

She became exposed to other viewpoints. Anonymous people she had never met were now pointing out logical inconsistencies in her posts. One of those people in particular was a lawyer she debated and eventually became good friends with. 🤝

But the difference between him and other people who tweeted insults at her? 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍.

Eventually she started doubting what she used to believe so wholeheartedly. She went to her folks for clarity and could not get a satisfactory answer.

Eventually she left the church along with her sister, and her family shunned her, just like they did with anyone who left. ✋

Today, she now shares her personal story with others, to provide an inside (as well as humanistic) view when it comes to extremism.

Oh, and she’s also now married to her lawyer friend! 😅

🤔 WHAT DO BOTH THESE STORIES HAVE IN COMMON? 🤔

📌 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔.

📌 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕.

📌 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐.

These all may sound like common sense. But how many people do you see using this common sense on a daily basis? How about yourself?

Sounds like it may be back to basics, right?! 😅

🙌 IT’S TIME FOR CIVILITY! 🙌

To end this post I’ll leave you with wisdom from Megan Phelps-Roper herself on how we can all better communicate with others:

“📌 The first is don’t assume bad intent.

My friends on Twitter realized that even when my words were aggressive and offensive, I sincerely believed I was doing the right thing.

Assuming ill motives almost instantly cuts us off from truly understanding why someone does and believes as they do. ❌

We forget that they’re a human being with a lifetime of experience that shaped their mind, and we get stuck on that first wave of anger, and the conversation has a very hard time ever moving beyond it.

But when we assume good or neutral intent, we give our minds a much stronger framework for dialogue. 🙌

📌 The second is ask questions.

When we engage people across ideological divides, asking questions helps us map the disconnect between our differing points of view.

That’s important because we can’t present effective arguments if we don’t understand where the other side is actually coming from and because it gives them an opportunity to point out flaws in our positions. 👉

But asking questions serves another purpose; it signals to someone that they’re being heard.

When my friends on Twitter stopped accusing and started asking questions, I almost automatically mirrored them. Their questions gave me room to speak, but they also gave me permission to ask them questions and to truly hear their responses. It fundamentally changed the dynamic of our conversation. ❓

📌 The third is stay calm.

This takes practice and patience, but it’s powerful. At Westboro, I learned not to care how my manner of speaking affected others. I thought my rightness justified my rudeness — harsh tones, raised voices, insults, interruptions — but that strategy is ultimately counterproductive.

Dialing up the volume and the snark is natural in stressful situations, but it tends to bring the conversation to an unsatisfactory, explosive end. 🤬

When my husband was still just an anonymous Twitter acquaintance, our discussions frequently became hard and pointed, but we always refused to escalate. Instead, he would change the subject.

He would tell a joke or recommend a book or gently excuse himself from the conversation. We knew the discussion wasn’t over, just paused for a time to bring us back to an even keel. 🧘

People often lament that digital communication makes us less civil, but this is one advantage that online conversations have over in-person ones. We have a buffer of time and space between us and the people whose ideas we find so frustrating.

We can use that buffer. Instead of lashing out, we can pause, breathe, change the subject or walk away, and then come back to it when we’re ready.

📌 And finally…make the argument.

This might seem obvious, but one side effect of having strong beliefs is that we sometimes assume that the value of our position is or should be obvious and self-evident, that we shouldn’t have to defend our positions because they’re so clearly right and good that if someone doesn’t get it, it’s their problem — that it’s not my job to educate them.

But if it were that simple, we would all see things the same way. As kind as my friends on Twitter were, if they hadn’t actually made their arguments, it would’ve been so much harder for me to see the world in a different way.

We are all a product of our upbringing, and our beliefs reflect our experiences. We can’t expect others to spontaneously change their own minds. If we want change, we have to make the case for it. 💼

𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 — 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.” ❤️

SOURCES:

📘 “Beyond the Messy Truth” by Van Jones – https://amzn.to/2AH3raK

📕 “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Jonathan Haidt – https://amzn.to/2BzEQFw

📙 “Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope” by Megan Phelps -Roper – https://amzn.to/3cBdUSo

📜 Evergreen State College, Day of Absence Protest (Timeline) – https://bit.ly/3ePeOw5

👂Joe Rogan Podcast – Daryl Davis – https://bit.ly/2U9arnG

🗣️ TED Talk – Megan Phelps-Roper: https://bit.ly/2MwmFms

🎬 Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race, and America – https://amzn.to/3czwSc7

Why We’re Missing What MATTERS! (Mental Health Awareness Month)

May 9, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!!

For my well-being as a whole, I’d say I’m a pretty optimistic person with dashes of realism.

But for the Intellectual in me who looks out at society as a collective, I’m definitely more of a pessimistic optimist.

To clarify my oxymoron: I prepare for the worst, but I hope for the best.

As we’ve entered a new decade, I am pleasantly surprised to look back on our society and see how far we’ve come.

We have water we didn’t have to filter!

We drive on streets we didn’t have to pave!

We read books we didn’t have to write!

We listen to music we didn’t have to produce!

We use medicines we didn’t have to create!

We have so many things we can be grateful for!

“DONALD, DON’T BE SO NAIVE! WHAT ABOUT…?!”

Of course, the history of our humanity hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows either, no doubt!

Big shifts in our world have also included plagues, wars, and violent revolutions, things many of us have never had to experience firsthand.

I’m not a History major, but I agree with you; there’s no point in me denying the dark sides of history either!

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 “𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁” 𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱.

But in spite of all that, in spite of all the negatives I could tell you about, we as humans have nevertheless continued to move forward. We have not yet allowed ignorance to destroy ourselves and our fellow neighbors to complete oblivion!

Looking at our current society, from agriculture to medicine to artificial intelligence, we’re continuing to make great strides forward in science and technology!

To give you one stunning fact: the average life expectancy in the past century has gone from age 30 to 70!

“DONALD!!! HELLO?! COVID-19!!!”

Of course, all of us at the moment are collectively going through a crisis now with the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a ton of things I can tell you I feel very concerned about during this time.

But I encourage everyone not to dismiss the bigger picture, not to dismiss all the progress we’ve made as a human race as a means of holding onto one’s pessimism during stressful times.

I could tell you about my concerns for my loved ones who are very susceptible to this virus. I could also tell you about my concerns for the mental health impact our social distancing will have on people.

While I know the measures we’re currently taking are a necessity, I also won’t be so naive as to believe it doesn’t carry with it a new set of problems we’ll need to address.

…and that’s why I share this post with you today!

In honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, my hope in sharing this post is we continue expanding our understanding of mental health and focusing on long-term solutions to rectify it.

𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!!

While so many like myself can acknowledge the progress above and are grateful to be living in this day and age, I’ve also noticed many people, even way before COVID-19, are more pessimistic and cynical than ever.

We’ve come so far as a civilization. But for many, it somehow does not “feel” like it has.

Why is that?! If we live in such affluent times with more resources than ever for us to be happy, why are so many still unhappy?!

Despite many of us having way more than our basic needs for food, water, and shelter met, why do we still see depression and suicide rates continue to rise?!

Yes! 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿!

How, if there’s so many flowers in our gardens, more than we can count, do we still feel like we’re missing something?

Are we just so ungrateful that we can’t see what’s right in front of us?

Are we just not reminding each other enough about history and how great we actually have it today?

Are people just more open these days about their emotions, hence the increase in depression diagnoses?

I think these answers might be part of it, but I also don’t think the answers are so simple either. I think it’s multifaceted. If you want me to give you a simple answer to these questions, I’m sorry to say you’ve come to the wrong post!

But while I don’t have all the answers, I will propose at least one big cause I believe we as a society are greatly neglecting.

And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about in this post!

To start, I’m reminded of the words of Palmer Joss in the 1997 film “Contact”:

“𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆? 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚?

𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒃. 𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?”

I’m also reminded of the words from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl: “Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.”

I want you to read Frankl’s words again but slower:

“𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿.”

We have many flowers in our garden. But we have little understanding to WHY these flowers matter. We’re told we should appreciate them, but we don’t understand WHY we should.

𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!!

The problems I see happening:

We’re mastering Quantity at the expense of Quality.

We’re mastering our Outer World at the expense of our Inner World.

We’re mastering Intelligence at the expense of Emotional Intelligence.

We’re mastering Extrinsic Values at the expense of Intrinsic Values.

We’re mastering the Objective at the expense of the Subjective.

We’re mastering the Yang at the expense of the Yin.

We’re addressing more of what we Want at the expense of what we Need.

We’re feeding our Heads at the expense of our Hearts.

To use the Hopi word: Koyaanisqatsi, or “life out of balance”.

I see no better time than this day and age for more and more people to be experiencing an existential crisis, which is a serious contemplation on whether one’s life has any true purpose or meaning.

I can tell you from many firsthand experiences, having an existential crisis is VERY unpleasant! And sadly, I know some individuals who didn’t manage to make it out of this existential abyss.

In a world filled with many paradoxes and contradictions, in a world we’re told has absolute truths yet conflicting ideas keep filling us with doubt, in a world that at times can seem pretty absurd overall, what is a person supposed to believe anymore?!

Think about it: If everything you were once told to believe and embrace about life became ideologically challenged and the ideals you once held onto were now reduced to a pile of meaninglessness, what is the next step for someone like you to take?

I can’t blame someone who has had these life experiences and now has become so cynical about life. As George Carlin said, “Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.”

But let me assure you: there’s plenty of better options than just embracing cynicism. There’s plenty of better options than just embracing nihilism.

𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!!

I believe Johann Hari said it best when he said our society is great at doing many things, as I mentioned above with science and technology. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀.

We all need to feel like we belong in this world, the need to feel like our lives have purpose and meaning, the need to feel like we are seen and appreciated by others, the need to feel we have a compelling future to look forward to. You could call these “the needs of the soul”.

And yet, how many people right now are actually getting those needs met? How many are instead just being told to “be happy” or being told to just remember “how great our country is”?

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀.

Perhaps the conditions we’ve commonly known as Depression and Anxiety are not as simple as chemical imbalances in one’s brain as we once thought.

Perhaps our emotions have been messengers trying to tell us something important.

Perhaps our emotions have been signaling to us the way we’re living is making us ill.

Perhaps we’re living in a sick society that magnifies, reinforces, and exacerbates these psychological problems.

Let me clarify, I’m NOT claiming any conspiracies here! I’m not saying ANY of this is being done intentionally, but rather it’s the long-term results of a society neglecting these signals for so long.

We’ve been so focused on external factors to “fix” these signals, whether it was through drugs, alcohol, food, or needless distractions that we’re in the collective habit of inadvertently killing the messenger!

𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!!

I’ve talked in the past about how I am very passionate about advocating for what I call “the psychological development of the individual”.

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆!

THIS is the reason I’m so passionate about it. It’s why I’ve surrounded myself in the field of Personal Development. It’s why I’m such a fan of philosophy. It’s why I’m such a supporter of Tony Robbins’s work.

𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗜’𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

Compared to where we were a few decades ago, we’re now living in a much more complex world. In other words, we’re no longer going to be able to solve these complex problems with the same simplistic thinking which created them.

So what I’m advocating to you all is developing our Emotional Intelligence, developing our Cognitive skills, and encouraging to everyone the psychological development of the individual.

We’ve assumed for too long these skills would simply develop without much effort on our parts. But again, look at where many people are now.

It’s important I emphasize:

I’m NOT saying to start neglecting or throwing out what science and technology has to offer! Not at all!

I’m not saying we need to choose one OR the other; 𝗜’𝗺 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

As science and technology only moves forward with greater complexity, I want to ensure we as individuals are also moving forward too, psychologically and with a more complex understanding of “knowing thyself”.

But what will this require?

We need to appoint and elect leaders of integrity, of emotional intelligence, who build trust in leading through their example; that’s how we decrease cynicism.

We need to create meaning where there’s meaninglessness to be found in people’s lives; that’s how we decrease nihilism.

We need to teach people how to think and not what to think; that’s how we develop cognitive and critical thinking skills.

We need to develop self awareness, to challenge our black-and-white thinking habits, and learn how to communicate civilly with others we disagree with; that’s how we develop empathy.

We need to learn to compromise, to promote societal order, to re-establish moral standards and mutually agreed upon truths; that’s how we decrease what sociologist Emile Durkheim referred to as “anomie” or “normlessness”.

And I won’t be so naive as to think implementing these ideas will be easy, that they will be some quick fixes, that people will be so easily convinced they are necessary endeavors.

I know that me just saying this to all of you doesn’t mean you’re going to take any action to do them. But at the very least, I hope I planted some seeds in your mind to think more about.

These initiatives will require many more people to step forward and be a part of the change. This is not meant to come off like a political statement; it’s just something I’ve been very passionate about sharing with you all for a while. I’m glad I have the words finally written out to you now!

Because I don’t want to keep seeing people needlessly suffer!

𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!!

These ideas I share with you now are NOT EVEN MY IDEAS! They are not original! These ideas have been around a very long time!

The problem is we’ve either forgotten how important these ideas are or we were simply never introduced to them in the first place. And if you have never before, consider yourself introduced to them now!

You won’t learn these ideas browsing social media posts, I can tell you that much!

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

I can assure you: there’s a profound sense of humility which comes when you realize how little you know, how far we all can expand our understandings of the world, if we all made the conscious choices to.

I’ll leave you all with wisdom from the great philosopher Bertrand Russell. When asked what advice he’d give to future generations, he said this in 1959:

“𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆; 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒕.”

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