. . . on Filters & Facts

·        People view the world through filters. They help you organize facts that fit your worldview, but lead you to reject facts that don’t fit. The more severe your filters, the more facts you ignore.

. . . on Ideas & Knowledge

·        Ideas are created in peoples’ heads - we make them up. Many of them are useful fictions, but since they are, by definition, a kind of fiction we shouldn’t get too attached to them.

. . . on the Difference Between Cynicism and Skepticism

·        I’m often skeptical, but never cynical. A cynic is negative and contemptuous of others and has a general distrust of people and their motives. Cynics aren’t a lot of fun to be around. And they’re much better at tearing down than creating. A skeptic simply begins with doubt and a questioning attitude. That’s the start of critical thinking. The purpose of skepticism is further investigation, with the goal of attaining relatively certainty. A skeptics tears down what doesn’t work and builds something that does.

. . . on Education

·        The education of American children hasn’t been a failure. Kids learn extremely well – but they learn what we give them to learn. Since they spend more time with television that in school, television is a bigger influence. Since they spend more time with music than reading, music is a bigger influence. The mistake is thinking education is confined to school.

. . . on Relativism

·        Relativism scares the 20%ers because they feel more comfortable when they believe they are absolutely certain of their views. But you can have firm commitments and beliefs AND understand the relative nature of knowledge. You simply make those commitments based on informed judgments, freedom of choice, or faith, rather than based on absolute beliefs.

. . . on the Current “Culture Wars”

·        Much of what passes for the “culture wars” in the US is actually an issue of intellectual and ethical development. There are three basic stages of intellectual and ethical development available to every person. The first is duality, where every issue is viewed in terms of black or white, right or wrong, true or false, and good or evil. When children start to reason this is how we explain issue to them. The second is multiplicity, where people see a range of views and options, with some being better than others. Here people begin to see the gray areas of life. The third is relativism, where people understand that ideas and knowledge are, by definition, contextual. This includes the realization that ideas are creations of the human mind and that while there are certain facts in the world, most of what we have in our mind are subjective interpretations about those facts. These are true stages, meaning that people progress in one direction only - no one starts at relativism or multiplicity and moves back to dualism.

·        Naturally, people at each level believe they are right. People at the higher levels are impatient with people below them because they can see “it’s a stage they are going through.” People at a lower stage are puzzled by the views of those at a higher stage and argue that they can’t tell right from wrong, or won’t make moral judgments. People at the higher stages make moral judgments for themselves, but are slower to make such judgments for others.

·        Regardless of what stage of intellectual and ethical development one is at, people must make commitments – about a career, a life partner, children, where to live, how to think, what to believe, and how to spend their time.

. . . on Commitment

·        Genuine commitment means making choices about what to believe and what to do - not from a false confidence that we’ve picked the one right answer, but in the security that we’ve examined a variety of views and are choosing freely to invest in a particular approach and a particular answer – not because it’s right in an absolute sense, but because it’s right for us.

. . . on Personal Responsibility

·        I hear talk show hosts lecture about personal responsibility one minute and then whine and complain about something the next. Most of them wouldn’t know personal responsibility if it came through their microphone and throttled them.

·        My standard for personal responsibility is to act as though I’m 100% responsible for everything I have and do, every conversation I’m in, and even what others think and say about me. I know what you’re thinking – “that’s not true.” Ah, but if I act as though it’s not, I’d be saying that someone else has control of my destiny. I prefer to act as though I have control. Not only is it empowering, it means I do less whining, complaining, and blaming. It’s very freeing!

. . . on Communication

·        Communication is essentially shared meaning. Since most of human existence takes place in the very subjective realm language, the amount of agreement we have in America – and the world – is more amazing than that fact we have a certain amount of disagreement.

. . . on the Difference Between a Red State of Mind and a Blue State of Mind

·        If you’re in a red state of mind, you see things in black and white. If you’re in a blue state of mind, you see the gray areas in life.

·        If you’re in a red state of mind, you believe in self-reliance and hard work. If you’re in a blue state of mind, you believe in alliances and teamwork.

·        If you’re in a red state of mind, you’re suspicious of science. If you’re in a blue state of mind, you’re suspicious of pseudo-science.

·        If you’re in a red state of mind, you think people who reflect on their behavior are wimps. If you’re in a blue state of mind, you think people who reflect on their behavior are wise.

·        If you’re in a red state of mind, you think that people who reflect on their country’s behavior are part of the “blame America first” crowd. If you’re in a blue state of mind, you think that people who don’t reflect on their country’s behavior are part of the “personal irresponsibility” crowd.

·        If you’re in a blue state of mind, you know some gay people. If you’re in a red state of mind, you know some gay people, but you don’t know which of your friends they are.

. . . on Patriotism

·        I’m blessed to be an American and wouldn’t live anywhere else. But people who feel the need to declare us “the greatest country in the world” are missing an important point about speaking in ways that other people can hear us. I learned this lesson from John Kennedy. In 1960, he could have promised that we’d have the strongest military in the world. But instead he declared the US military would be “second to none.” His claim showed pride and commitment but avoided upsetting fragile Soviet egos. That kind of diplomatic nuance is missing today. Instead we get George Bush declaring that you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists, we get the President daring terrorists to attack our soldiers, and we get the Vice President telling a US Senator to “go Cheney yourself.” I’m still looking for the group-ups, so we can put them in charge.

. . . on Politics

·        It’s the 20% of the people on the far right and the 20% of the people on the far left who are ruining this country for the rest of us. We need the extremes to push the envelope, but let’s not cede them the airwaves. That’s like turning sports over to Dennis Rodman and John Rocker or music over to Ludicrous and Eminem.

·        One clue someone is a 20%er on a given issue is if they have an absolute belief about it. A second clue is that a 20%er almost never surprises you with an opinion – they’re very predictable (and thus a bit boring). A third way to spot the 20%ers is to ask them to make the best-case arguments for the other side. They literally cannot do it. They usually present a silly caricature of others’ views – in a silly voice - because they haven’t really understood anything except the evidence that favors their view.

. . . on George W. Bush

·        The language of diplomacy is subtle and nuanced. The language of talk radio is black-and-white certainty. George W. Bush is long on determination and certainty, and short on flexibility and nuance. I think Dubya missed his calling – he could have made it in radio!

. . . on President Bush and Iraq

·        Before 2003, Iraq’s dis-ease was dictatorship, not terrorism. Some combination of exaggerated fear, stubbornness, and pride led the Bush administration to attack Iraq. Now Bush has committed the US to Iraq for years – with only the hope that we’ll be more secure when it’s over. He ignored one of life’s basic rules – if it ain’t fixed, don’t break it again.

. . . on President Bush & Foreign Policy

·        Republicans were fond of saying that “the adults were back in charge” in 2001. But President Bush’s black and white view of the world is anything but adult – and it’s hurting America. Bush has cavalierly rewritten longstanding US policy regarding Taiwan, the rationale required for going to war, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Each of these actions are going to come back to bite us.

. . . on John Kerry and Iraq

·        Kerry needs to be clearer about basic US policy heading into 2005. He should keep repeating that no matter who is president, the US will continue to pursue Al Qaeda relentlessly and will continue to build a peaceful Iraq. Whatever his disagreements with the Bush approach, America’s enemies should not think that their fate will be different depending upon who wins – because it won’t.

. . . on John Kerry and His Past Statements

·        Kerry made some silly statements about public policy when he was a young man. I don’t understand why some people think that’s worse than what George W. Bush admits to – not even thinking about public policy when he was a young man.

. . . on Conservative Talk Show Hosts

·        Without fail, talk hosts on the right all say they believe in personal responsibility. They will often argue that people with their hands out are complainers, imagining they need a crutch, who should stop whining about fairness and get on with life. But then the talk show host turns right around and whines and complains about the “liberal media” or some aspect of the “culture war” that’s not going their way. I’ve been hearing the excuse about the liberal media for years. When are these conservatives going to take their own advice, drop that worn out crutch, and get on with life?

. . . on the Myth of the Liberal Media

·        We have three branches of government in the US and journalism is known as the fourth estate, for a very good reason. The government’s job is to provide stability and the media’s job to question authority. The media will always be relatively conservative - supporting the existing structures in society. But they have a responsibility to question the government, question the status quo, and champion those who don’t have power. Some people see that as liberal; I see it as doing their job. And they don’t do enough of it these days!

·        The 20%ers are the serious liberals and serious conservatives in society today. The 20%ers in the media include the many very conservative talk show hosts (Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Ingraham, and many others) and the few very liberal talk show hosts out there (Schultz, Rhodes, Miller, Franken, Pacifica Radio, and a few others). But NPR? PBS’s News Hour? The network news shows? Sorry, but they’re not nearly bombastic, positional, or whiny enough to qualify as 20%ers. If network news is slightly left-of-center, that’s good, because the job of journalism is to question the status quo. Fox News is the one news network that is clearly NOT doing its job.

. . . on The Meaning of Life

·        The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

. . . on Taking Action in Your Life

·        Do it, don’t doubt it.

. . . on Ideas

·        Ideas aren’t like physical possessions. When you give me your ideas, we both have them. So bring ‘em on!

. . . on Happiness

·        Happiness is choosing what you have.

. . . on Ignorance

·        The more someone knows about a topic the less likely they are to say they have it mastered.

·        The less someone knows about a topic the more certain they usually are about their opinion.

. . . on Optimism

·        When I see what people accomplish in the world, I’m reminded that people are extraordinary. When I see how people deal with life’s trials, I’m reminded that people are courageous. And when I see peoples’ compassion, I’m reminded of our common humanity. Sure, I see the petty, the dishonest, and cruel things too. But I prefer to believe that all the negatives are dysfunctions that are ultimately correctable, over time. People will be great in their own way if you treat them as though they are great.