Qualified Thinking

I just watched an interview with the Prime Minister of a country that has been lurching from democracy to dictatorship over the past few years, and his belief in his own lies, as well as his ability to calmly recount those lies to the interviewer, was absolutely incredible. Of course, being able to delude one’s self can be a good thing. Believing in your own greatness ahead of your achievement of same is akin to self-delusion. As well, believing in the delusions of those we look to for leadership can also be a good thing, from children of parents to astronauts in the Kennedy era. But both of these are aspirational, whereas this fellow’s beliefs are revisionist. In an era of ever-decreasing signal to noise ratio, with ever-increasing effort to get to objective facts, I can see how convenient it is to just believe in the lie. I can see that Trump’s true allure is his removal of the anxiety of doubt when he speaks to his constituents, even if the certainty in which he says one thing or another has little to do with facts, forethought or even afterthought. It’s comfort food for the common citizen, and, like most comfort food, it’s a heart attack waiting to happen. I think that the most important lesson to teach our children is to think objectively and draw qualified conclusions, but children learn from their parents, so I think that we - collectively - need to learn that lesson first.