There's the saying, "Opinions are like assholes -- everybody has one." To which I like to add, "so what makes yours so special that you feel privileged to wave it around in public?" (Blogged about this myself a few years back -- "Opinion Entitlement.")
This shit is why I have no truck with the remaining members of my family. Fundamentalist, anti-vax, Trump cultists every one. These people aren't human; they barely qualify as animals. I am tired, I am angry, and I am altogether sick of the lot of them. (FWIW, I'm equally impatient of the "Owie Atheists" like Richard Dawkins and his ilk: they watched 15 minutes of Jerry Falwell, and now they have a Ph.D. in both Theology and Philosophy.)
And the people who say "I've done my own research"? I don't know that there is another phrase in the English language that will cause me to delaminate on the spot with greater speed and fury than that one.
There's a quote of Dewey's that comes to mind (I'm relying on memory here): "It is easier to pry a miser from his hoard then a man from his most cherished beliefs."
"Find your own truth." Little "t," yes. Big "T," no. The problem is that so many Americans feel that their beliefs supersede empirical, provable science. They know what they know, and no amount of hard data will get them to change their minds. To paraphrase Charles Bukowski, the intelligent ones are always doubting themselves, while the dumb ones are always so sure of themselves.
Intelligence, experience, and insight are no longer valued. Indeed, they are too often seen as drawbacks, contrary to "God's Truth." And who decides what "God's Truth" is? Some zealot trying to pad his bank account.
We've becoming a nation of mindless sheep, unwilling to think critically...but too often willing to follow a charismatic populist who will tell us what to think.
There's the saying, "Opinions are like assholes -- everybody has one." To which I like to add, "so what makes yours so special that you feel privileged to wave it around in public?" (Blogged about this myself a few years back -- "Opinion Entitlement.")
This shit is why I have no truck with the remaining members of my family. Fundamentalist, anti-vax, Trump cultists every one. These people aren't human; they barely qualify as animals. I am tired, I am angry, and I am altogether sick of the lot of them. (FWIW, I'm equally impatient of the "Owie Atheists" like Richard Dawkins and his ilk: they watched 15 minutes of Jerry Falwell, and now they have a Ph.D. in both Theology and Philosophy.)
And the people who say "I've done my own research"? I don't know that there is another phrase in the English language that will cause me to delaminate on the spot with greater speed and fury than that one.
There's a quote of Dewey's that comes to mind (I'm relying on memory here): "It is easier to pry a miser from his hoard then a man from his most cherished beliefs."
Well said.
"Find your own truth." Little "t," yes. Big "T," no. The problem is that so many Americans feel that their beliefs supersede empirical, provable science. They know what they know, and no amount of hard data will get them to change their minds. To paraphrase Charles Bukowski, the intelligent ones are always doubting themselves, while the dumb ones are always so sure of themselves.
Intelligence, experience, and insight are no longer valued. Indeed, they are too often seen as drawbacks, contrary to "God's Truth." And who decides what "God's Truth" is? Some zealot trying to pad his bank account.
We've becoming a nation of mindless sheep, unwilling to think critically...but too often willing to follow a charismatic populist who will tell us what to think.