A delusion is a mistaken belief that is held with strong conviction even when presented with superior evidence to the contrary. Something a person believes and wants to be true, when it is actually not true.
I was watching some stuff around Armstrong recently and was reminded of how David Walsh’s quest to expose the lie aligns with my efforts to show who Thomas Sowell really is:
And through that lens — show what America has become and how we can fix it.
Walsh asked questions the resistance was unwilling to — as they had something to protect. Anyone wanting to know the truth — would not behave in ways that ensure they never will. The “National Treasure” narrative around Sowell is like the world wrapping its arms around a cancer survivor who came back to dominate the sport of cycling.
Never mind this:
Before this guy got cancer he’s ridden the Tour de France four times. His best place was 36th overall. In a mountain stage, he never finished within 8 minutes of the winner mostly he was 20 minutes 25 minutes 30 minutes behind. So how can you get cancer, come back from cancer, and be completely transformed? And this was a sport that the previous year had been revealed to be a doping circus.
Something doesn’t sound right. If you’d like to live in a world where people don’t sail straight into a narrative to outright reject your reasoning, you can’t turn on a dime to pull that stunt when it serves you.
According to Sowell in his Weapons of Crass Obstruction: “People who talk glibly about intelligence failure’ act as if intelligence agencies that are doing their job right would know everything.”
The title alone sounds cheap — not to mention, this:
D.O.E’s standard is to spin a tube at 20% above 90,000 RPM before failure — so 48,000 short is a pretty loose definition of “rough indication.”
And since the entire point of testing should be to replicate the conditions of centrifuges, one would think that the full-blown testing would be performed before the N.I.E. was completed.
— Richard W. Memmer: Act II
Between Sowell’s words and mine
Which ones strike you as glib?
By Sowell’s own standards, that I’m “nobody” and he’s a “National Treasure” has no bearing on the issue. His followers flood the internet with his words — then honor him by instantly abandoning them the second he’s under scrutiny (or anything else they don’t like).
That flies in the face of the principles upon which they put him on a pedestal and preach on a daily basis to boot.
Since the Left has no love for Sowell — why not just go to them for help? As this story exposes them too — I’m persona non grata there as well. Whatever I think of the Right, they’re not always wrong. For telling undeniable truth for 20 years, I’ve been practically spit on by that crowd — but that doesn’t change the truth when they occasionally tell it.
How I’ve been treated is immaterial to my interest in the truth. If someone’s making sense, I’m not gonna hold their hypocrisy against them to deny what reason renders.
How about all these “non-partisan” organizations” — surely such stalwarts of reasoning would welcome a story at the core of America’s decline. Cognitive dissonance doesn’t care if you signed a “Pro-Human Pledge” professing your principles.
When their interests are at stake, they change the rules — like almost everyone else.
I’m sure there are a few independent journalists with the integrity to take on a story like this, but most people stay within their wheelhouse. What they fail to see is that they’re reporting on events that could be avoided or mitigated by addressing how dumb moves in one domain can do catastrophic damage in others.
But rather than recognize how you played a role in harming your own interests — it’s always the other side’s fault. It’s like committing unforced errors in tennis then blaming your opponent for capitalizing on them.
In politics, they’re probably cheating in the process. You could cry foul or realize how you shouldn’t have made the mistake in the first place.
A.K.A. learning
What about the professionals in the business of studying human behavior?
Elliot Aronson was chosen by his peers as one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century
— Amazon’s “About the Author”
Dr. Aronson put me in touch with his friend and fellow renowned psychologist, Dr. Phil Zimbardo — “a very smart guy with incredible energy,” he added.
Since Dr. Zimbardo is 90 years old — that’s saying something. For medical reasons, he’s unable to get involved, but in response to an email on the essence of my idea, he wrote:
Very Interesting and original
Even in his condition, he saw what so few of his colleagues can. They’re busy. Is the point to forever analyze irrational behavior or do something about it?
It’s one thing to follow the formula when nobody knows what else to do. But when someone comes along with an idea so radically different, yet rooted in fundamentals — so sound and solid with a real shot at success:
How could you blow off what might work to stay busy on what won’t?
Cognitive dissonance happens when one’s beliefs are no longer in alignment with reality
— The 2020s: A Decade of Cognitive Dissonance (blurb excerpt)
On what basis would you believe that another book, conference, project, study, report, podcast or organization — would make a dent in the systematic self-delusion driving this nation into the ground?
Conventional methods have repeatedly failed and won’t put a pinprick in today’s trench warfare between armies of unreachables. But integrate your methods into an unconventional framework for honest debate — and now you’ve got something.
If you don’t like being lumped into “armies of unreachables” — don’t be unreachable.
Unlike efforts out to change policies, laws, institutions, or society as a whole — I just need to expose one man with a cult-like following who’s not what he claims to be — and I can demonstrably prove it.
“Demonstrably” — that word used to be mean something. But many things that once meant something, now mean nothing.
Speaking of which . . .
Fact:
truth verifiable from experience or observation
If you have a history of hypocrisy and lying — you are a hypocrite and a liar. If you don’t like being called those things, don’t do those things. But so typical of the times — nothing has meaning anymore.
Calling criticism “mudslinging” is just somethin’ to say to escape scrutiny.
And the irony is
I’ve received almost nothing but mudslinging for decades — by people who cry foul with counterfeit claims on what they do for real. And let’s face it: You need it to be mudslinging, because if it’s not — your beliefs are gonna fall apart.
Time-honored custom in situations like this is shoot the messenger
— David Walsh
I know the feeling — all too well.
To claim that Iraq WMD wasn’t a lie should be like saying we didn’t land on the moon. In denying that reality, half the country helped create a culture where denying reality is now the norm.
20 years ago, it would have been impossible for Trump to be seriously considered, let alone win. If you’re not looking into that, you’re not looking.
One Tweet is all it should take:
Thomas Sowell flagrantly failed to follow the facts on Iraq WMD — opting to peddle partisan hackery that poisons political discourse & butchers debate to this day. Here’s my 7-part documentary that exhaustively details the biggest and most costly lie in modern history
You’re all operating under umbrellas of interests that don’t account for complexities outside of them.
And this — is where my Clear the Clutter framework comes in:
How do we make people realize they’ve been lied to? You have to knock down one small pillar that’s easier to reach.
The people who Tweeted those lines I combined from a conversation I came across — had no idea that they perfectly captured the principle of my Clear the Clutter plan.
I’ve got the perfect pillar
As exposing Sowell is my bridge to expose it all.
But believe it or not, I’m not out to “DESTROY” this man — quite the contrary: Admitting where he’s wrong will work wonders for where he’s right.
I’m not just taking him to task because he’s got it comin’ — I need this guy. The ultimate irony is that blind loyalty limits him — while my criticism could elevate him to heights your hero-worship ensures he’ll never go.
So, you’re saying that your plan will elevate Sowell to worldwide recognition — by holding him accountable? That if he comes clean — he could be the catalyst to turn the tide?
That’s exactly what I’m saying
It won’t matter that Sowell blew it on WMD or why — all that matters is having the guts to say:
I was wrong — and I’m trying to make it right
Have you ever heard of anyone taking someone to task for the purpose of putting them in a positive light that could change the course of history? That sounds intriguing — but that’s me.
Elevating him is not my aim, but I can live with it to stem the systematic self-delusion that’s taken this nation totally off the rails:
Right & Left
It’s time to start solving problems instead of endlessly talking about them and getting nowhere. And to do that — first we gotta clear the clutter that’s crippled this country.
To the uneducated, abstract ideas are unfamiliar; so is the detachment that is necessary to discover a truth out of one’s own knowledge and mental effort. The uneducated person views life in an intensely personal way — he knows only what he sees, hears or touches and what he is told by friends. As the unknown sage puts it, “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”
But more than ever, even the most educated minds act in an uneducated manner in service of their interests — and do colossal damage by doing so.
The Pro-Human Pledge: I believe in applying the same rules to everyone
I don’t believe you
From firsthand experience with one of your most famous advisors flagrantly violating everything FAIR stands for:
Why should I?
And since I predicted this voice of reason would outright reject it to protect his hero — how do you think my prediction would pan out for his fellow advisors who worship Sowell?
Let’s find out, shall we? . . .
One Voice Became Two 