Think for Yourself

There are always gurus, elites, experts and false prophets who want to tell you what to think. Follow us and all you have to do is … Invest in Penny Stocks and make a fortune. The future is plastics. Real estate will go up forever.

History is full of Horrors - Mao’s Cultural Revolution, Hitler’s Nazi concentration camps, Leopold II of Belgium in Congo, Jozef Stalin Russian Gulags & Purges, Hideki Tojo Japan civilian deaths in WW2, Ismail Enver Ottoman cleansings, Pot Pol Cambodia and Kim Il Sung North Korea purges & concentration camps. These leaders each killed between 1.5 million to 20+ million people during their reigns.

Plenty of people will run your life if you let them. Even though am religious, history has churches, temples and mosques that advocated conquering neighbors.

The secret is to listen to everyone, then make up your own mind. Disagree with what makes you uncomfortable. Be nice, but make them defend their ideas. Try to improve their thinking as well as your own.

I read people who I disagree with. Paul Krugman comes to mind. It is not that he is not smart nor doesn’t make good points. There are many times I agree with Paul. It is my worldview does not believe central planning can control something as complicated as an economy. If anything excessive government regulations have reduced the US economy by 1 - 2% over the last two decades. Unlimited stimulus by the Fed has produced less and less economic improvements. But by reading Paul I find I have to think about my assumptions and ideas to see if they are correct.

The problem we all have Blind Spots and Confirmation Bias. We look for information that confirms what we believe, and ignore evidence we may be missing the mark.

My saving grace is if someone else has a better idea, or better combination of ideas, I give them credit and advocate the better ideas. Am smart, but we can always build better plans with small motivated groups. We can learn from everyone.

By the way you have permission to disagree with me, and tell me about it.

Good Thinking Everyone.

Are You Stuck with Negativity?

Of course you are not stuck. Interesting how many people believe in future disasters are coming and we can’t prevent them.

How about 1970’s ‘The Population Bomb’ predicting mass starvation in the next decade and a half? Four decades later we are fatter, population growth is down substantially, life spans are growing, and less land is used farming. Farmers have become more efficient, more automated and food quantity and quality are better than ever.

These Earth Day predictions from 1970 never came true

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/04/22/these-earth-day-predictions-from-1970-never-came-true.html?intcmp=trending

So what do you believe that will happen to destroy the earth? Why do you believe that doom and gloom? Is it possible the experts are wrong? Of course it is. Am an expert and often find myself off in my predictions.

Why are predictions so bad? There is much we don’t know, and new technologies or discoveries improve life. Exaggerated extrapolation of recent trends leads us to believe (in much more of the same). Hate to tell end of the world gurus, the secret is people do change behaviors to improve lives. Humans are amazingly resilient, capable and creative.

Look at is another way. What has been discovered in the last 50 years?

·      Cell phones that do everything

·      Self driving cars

·      Quarks

·      DNA & Stem cells

·      Cancer treatments

·      More stars and planets

·      Oil supplies from depleted wells

·      Most cities have less air pollution

Preparing for disasters is a smart course of action. Carrying insurance is a wise financial investment. But living life afraid of the future? Not a good idea.