Issue 1
Welcome!
Inauguration Day 2025 - Martin Luther King Day
Hello Readers,
Regardless of one's politics, the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States marks a significant point in American History, one that seemed unthinkable to many of us just 10 years ago. This seems like an appropriate time to publicly launch my website/blog, especially with the irony of the inauguration taking place on Martin Luther King Day. This is very much still a work-in-progress, so comments from readers will be especially appreciated as I hone this site.
If you, like I, have been trying to make sense of this seemingly crazy and ever more complicated world, this site is for you.
The main focus of this site is to use a multidisciplinary approach to attempt to discuss complex, contemporary issues from an objective and pragmatic perspective. And while at first blush that approach may not seem particularly unique, it seems surprisingly rare these days. Analysis often leans toward editorial advocacy, similar to listening to only the prosecutor or defense attorney in a court case. One side is presented in the strongest possible way, and the other side is trivialized and represented weakly. What passes for political debate is often two extremes yelling at each other. A lot of talking, and very little listening. Objectivity is a word that has somehow gone out of favor.
And ideally my goal is to do this all with a sense of humor, respect, and acceptance. This site is very much a work in progress, so I welcome thoughts, suggestions and constructive criticism.
A Bit of Background
Although I think of myself as skilled in logic and critical thinking through education and experience, that did not prepare me for the change in the political landscape and the increasing polarization that we have been seeing. How could people see things so differently, and how could seemingly reasonable people make such seemingly unreasonable decisions? Clearly there were things that I didn't understand, things that I had wrong.
A key turning point for me came in October of 2016, the month before Trump was first elected President, when I attended a lecture given by David Ropeik through the Parker Lecture Series[1] in my hometown of Lowell, MA. His lecture focused on the work of Daniel Kahneman and the book Thinking Fast and Slow.[2] A book that describes the way in which our human subconscious (fast thinking) and conscious (slow thinking) interact. It made me realize that as much as we have come to think of humans as unique individuals, we share many similar mental traits that influence our thinking and approaches. These traits affect our perceptions and decision-making. One of the most fascinating traits that we share is that we tend to deny that we have those traits.
Much effort has been made to categorize these traits, now commonly called "cognitive biases" and the closely related "logical fallacies." As of this writing, Wikipedia lists well over 200 such biases and fallacies[3]. The reason for this focus on cognitive biases is based on the theory that if we educate ourselves and others about these biases, we can overcome them, thereby becoming more rational thinkers which will reduce polarization. Thus, many believe that more education on critical thinking is an antidote to polarization. This is the case that noted Psychologist and Harvard Professor Steven Pinker eloquently makes in his popular book Rationality[4].
This all made sense to me. But then I saw a Pew research poll in 2019 that demonstrated a sharp decline in confidence/respect for the value of education[5]. The poll showed that only half of Americans think that colleges and universities have a positive effect on our country. Among Republicans, that number was 33%, down from 53% in less than a decade! That is truly a mind-blowing and sobering statistic. More education is a great ideal, but doesn't achieving that require that education is valued? How do we promote education and critical thinking to those who believe our educational institutions don't have value? Aren't those the very people we need to reach most?
That got me to start thinking differently. I enrolled in a Master's program at UMass Boston in Critical and Creative Thinking[6] to ponder this further. To step back and consider how well-meaning efforts to reduce polarization can actually contribute to polarization. Telling someone that they are flawed or wrong (even when they are) is not usually a winning strategy for changing minds. In reality, it may be more likely to trigger fighting instincts, to create an enemy, to close a mind instead of encouraging thought.
I graduated from the program in 2022. I have spent the last 2 years in internal debate with myself, trying to figure out the best path forward. I still don't have many answers, just lots of questions. But asking "why?" is one of the most important components of critical thinking. There is an old joke about a yeshiva student who asks: "Rabbi, why do you always answer a question with a question?" And the rabbi replies: "Why not?"
Why did I decide to start this site? Why not?
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
Disillusionment
disillusionment - the condition of being disenchanted : the condition of being dissatisfied or defeated in expectation or hope. - Merriam Webster Dictionary
If I had to pick one word to sum up our world today, and especially this last Presidential election cycle, it would be "disillusionment." I feel it. I see and hear examples of it every day. For many of us who voted against Donald Trump, the disillusionment is rooted in the realization that the values and foundations of our American democratic system that we took as universal, are not universally held. And for many people who voted for him, they did so out of disillusionment with some of our iconic American institutions. Institutions that they feel have failed them.
I have come to see disillusionment as a natural reconciliation between reality and our beliefs and expectations. And therefore, for true truth-seekers, disillusionment is a natural progression in the search for truth. Our lifelong learning process is filled with disillusion, continuously dashing our idealized view of the world with a ruthless dose of reality. We learn to cope and move on. As infants and children, we learn that the world doesn't revolve around us, that our cries will not always be met with instant gratification of our desires by our parents. As we grow, we learn that we don't always get what we want, we have to share and consider others. Love is not always reciprocated, it is often unrequited. And over time, and through science, we learn perspective, recognizing that our individual perceptions are not always accurate. For example, it sure seems like the sun revolves around the Earth. (We stand still and watch the sun go around us.)
These are all examples of disillusionment. And as such, disillusionment isn't purely a negative, but rather something that helps us find the truth, a natural part of education and our evolution as human beings in a society with other human beings. The word "disillusion" itself tells us that what we believed was an illusion. So, ridding ourselves of illusions can be a good thing. And of course, the truth isn't always pretty. Reality isn't idealistic, as much as we would like to believe otherwise. Better to know the truth than to believe something that is more pleasant, but untrue.
The key is how we deal with disillusionment. We can accept it and deal with it, we can deny it, we can tilt at windmills, we can wallow in disappointment, or we can turn away and isolate ourselves. Acceptance is hard, it requires us to challenge our beliefs. Denial is much easier. Tilting at windmills may make us feel better, make us feel like we are doing something, but it replaces one illusion with another...the illusion that our actions will make a difference. Turning away is a survival instinct; what is the point of worrying about something we have no control over?
As we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, this is a good time to think about how we deal with disillusionment. His life was certainly a lesson in dealing with disillusionment. Despite the promise of equity and value for human rights delineated in our Constitution, despite the promises that our legal system would uphold those principles, the reality is that all too often people are judged by the color of their skin, not the quality of their ideas. Martin Luther King had many options for dealing with this disillusionment, but he chose the path of exposing reality and finding a constructive way forward. MLK acknowledged the disparity, shed light on the reality, and set a path forward toward fulfilling the dream of a nation that lived up to its ideals. At this time of disillusionment, we can all take inspiration from his legacy.
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mahatma Gandhi
Moving Forward
Human reason is complex and truly amazing. Most of the evolution of our brains took place in a much different world than the one we live in today. Well before the "invention" of mathematics, logic, the printing press, or any forms of written language. Yet those same brains are able to cope in this modern world of mechanization and technology. We innately set high expectations for our abilities. Expectations that are often idealistic and sometimes unrealistic, but which help the human race survive, thrive and progress.
Early humans were generalists. We had to be able to perform all tasks to survive. Living in societies allowed us to become more specialized. One person could become adept at cooking, another at hunting, another at medicine. By sharing the results, we created a "synergy" that allowed us to be collectively better off than if we didn't specialize. That is a core component of societies, we can benefit from the specialization of others. In our modern world, we continue to become even more specialized. Whether that is in our professions, our hobbies, or simply our approaches to thinking.
In a world that requires us to specialize, sometimes it is useful to step back, to observe the world we live in from a different, more general perspective. To not only observe others, but to observe ourselves objectively as well. To do our best to let go of our preconceived notions, and observe neutrally, as if we were vacationing visitors from another planet.
That isn't easy. Our subconscious brains are not wired for that. Our conscious brains are capable, but it takes effort. We need practice, encouragement, and travel companions to help make sense of what we are seeing. The goal of this website is to serve as a travel companion.
As such, there will be 3 main areas of focus on this website. One is simply to try to better understand how humans think and make decisions, and the evolutionary reasons for why that is. This helps us understand both ourselves and others, as both are essential if we want to work on solutions to contemporary complex problems. We may not always be able to change others' minds, but if we understand them better, we might be able to come up with pragmatic solutions. Visit the How We Think page for an introduction to concepts that will be further elaborated on as this site develops.
Another area of focus is to encourage our own conscious minds to be better observers and objective thinkers. This takes practice, and we can benefit by observations of others. For lack of a better term, I will group this under "Critical Thinking." Visit the Critical Thinking page for further discussion on the importance of stepping back to gain a broader perspective. Over time, additional discussions will be added.
The last area of focus will be on uncertainty. Complex problems have uncertain answers, but our brains and our culture are oriented to finding certainty (e.g. yes/no, true/false, guilty/not guilty). This tendency leads to polarization. If we expect to be able to mitigate polarization, we will need to become more adept at handling and understanding uncertainty. Visit the Uncertainty page for a very quick summary. That section is just barely getting started.
And to act as glue, I hope to create monthly "issues" that focus on specific issues/thoughts. The next issue, Issue #2, focuses on Polarization.
References
- ↑ Moses Greeley Parker Lectures https://www.parkerlectures.com/
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationality_(book)
- ↑ https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/08/19/the-growing-partisan-divide-in-views-of-higher-education-2/#:~:text=A%20new%20Pew%20Research%20Center%20survey%20finds%20that,negative%20impact%20%E2%80%93%20up%20from%2026%25%20in%202012.
- ↑ https://catalog.umb.edu/content.php?catoid=53&navoid=8860
