Missing Narratives

I heard the term bully used to describe some of the movements pushed in the news but I wanted to pass on some knowledge as to why. But then I saw a tweet by Princeton professor Robert P. George. “If someone wants to give you reasons for thinking as he does or joining his cause, listen to his argument and critically assess its merits. If, however, he seeks to bully you into accepting his ideological dogmas or shame you into participating in his rituals, don't give an inch.” Of all that I have been talking about, he has in two sentences hit the nail on the head.

Before you read on, please read my previous posts, You’re a Person of Color, So Now What? It will reveal the true source of systemic racism and provide a foundation for this discussion. I listened to yet another politician talking about the systemic racism in the cop culture and in America. My first thoughts were about how this politician seemed to truly believe what he was saying. But as he tried to rationalize his belief, it was so obvious to me he suffered from three common psychological errors also known as cognitive biases (you can Google them): representative heuristic, anchoring heuristic, and the bandwagon effect. It is so hard to be in a position where I understand what is going on and how knowledge of human nature has been hijacked to create and push a false narrative to the point it took on a life of it’s own. For instance, the false narrative behind the origins of Black Lives Matter unwittingly used legacy media propaganda about the Michael Brown incident. In short, unless ...

Nothing irritates me more than irresponsible journalism, which probably describes the lion share of what we have been bombarded with all year. And nothing has been truer than the news about hydroxychloroquine. Simply put, hydroxychloroquine was originally and still is considered a drug to reduce the possibility of complications if exposed to the COVID-19 virus. It doesn’t kill the virus. It simply reduces the body’s inflammatory immune response, which provides the breeding ground for what really kills COVID-19 patients: pneumonia. Taking the drug early enough can keep inflammation at bay if one does become infected is where it effective and is why Trump is taking it. As with any medication, there are medical conditions where it isn’t safe for the patient to take the drug. We already know all of that for hydroxychloroquine – have for decades. The truth is physicians know when and when not to prescribe the drug. The drug has been around so long that they probably studied it in medical sc...

The more I dig on the left the more I find just the opposite of their claims of supporting blacks. It's like they believe they won't be able to get into power unless the racial divide continues and continues big. But that's just what it seems. Hopefully, that isn't true. The latest thing I found is there was a "disconnect between the nation’s first Black president and the plight of its Black colleges". In short, Obama didn't work to fund Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). I'm beginning to wonder what he did do for the racial divide other than to increase it. https://diverseeducation.com/article/73463/ Wanna guess who did get HBCUs funded? Yes, racist Trump. Did you get that? Racist Trump rather than Obama cared enough about the HBCUs to push to get them funded. Even despite Michelle's activism about the importance of education. It was like their hands were tied - even when the Democrats controlled the federal government! https://ap...

I like to begin with first and foremost, so... first and foremost, all people, not just people/person(s) of color (POC), can benefit from reading this. It is because whether we do or do not identify as a POC, we are all people - human beings with common and unique faults, strengths, and weaknesses. What do you do about the bias against you that you experience as a POC? So far, we’ve seen many movements and many efforts to raise awareness, demand justice, and all of that. But that’s not what I’m getting at. What I am asking is what are you doing about you?  Before I continue, I have a few thoughts to share. First, there are always two sides of every experience that seems racially biased: those experiencing the bias and those demonstrating it. Each side of such experiences has components that exist and components that do not exist, in isolation with the other. Such experiences are dynamic largely because of how we are wired to look at the world and how we are wired socially.  Be...

First, it is important to point out there is a huge difference between bias and racism. Also, there is a big difference between post-Bellum racism and racism of early last century - and racism today. The attempt to lump it all into one does our society and future generations a disservice. Keep such in mind as you read on. In a previous post I referred to a test you can take to see if you tend to prefer white faces or black faces ( Harvard Project Implicit ). This test is built under the theory that quicker responses have stronger neural associations. There is more evidence to this found by chance by the Blue Brain Project. What was found is that bias and world view are represented in tightly grouped neurons. The reason why this is important is nerve impulses are very slow so the more they have to travel the longer it takes.  The results of millions of participants revealed that most people preferred white faces regardless of race. Black people taking the test also preferred white f...

Before you read, I just want to share my view that what Chauvin did to, and what the other officers didn’t do for, George Floyd, is outside what I’m discussing below. It is good people in society are out there catching with cell phone cameras criminal police officers who are supposed to protect us from criminals. But those are rare and really has little to do with the statistics I discuss here. Regardless, even one ever is one too many.  Preventing such incidents in the future requires much more police training and oversight on police behavior outside the police department. Police can become bad from the job (though they are still culpable). Of course, every cop is uniquely vulnerable. We need to learn how to detect early when a cop might go bad - even if that means the cop must be taken off the street. To put it into perspective, a retired Phoenix police officer once told me he had to get out of a beat because of all the crime. He developed a very low opinion of certain demog...

Ever heard something like "controlling the narrative" or some other reference to narratives that seem a little mysterious? Join the club. When I look at the narratives in the media and politics, I often ask, "what's missing from this narrative?" Do you ever do that?  If we experience an emotional reaction to what we see, hear or read, do we step back and ask, "What is the rest of the story?" Do we ever consider maybe those involved don't have magnanimous motives? Do we really trust them?  I don't trust them because of my education and experience I know exactly what they are doing. It's like military PSYOPS only it's politics. And I've noticed that anything goes. "All fair in war", as I've heard some say. You'll often hear the term narrative referred to but what does it really mean? It is simply another word for an ongoing story. The real question is: is it fiction or non-fiction, though a real answer is elusive at ...