Paying Attention

MY FRIEND the forever Trumper, steadfastly becoming my former friend, as he was walking away to avoid hearing my response, told me to "start paying attention". To what, he said not. We had just engaged in another of our unpelasant political discussions, in which he had once again convinced me that he is, like all Trump supproters, mentally ill, so I actually had a pretty idea what he wanted me to pay attention to. In his warped perspectie, the one and only reason why I or anybody else would possibly not agree with his MAGA point of view is, quite simply, failure to pay attention to what's going on in the U.S. and the world. He was suggesting that I pay greater attention to his correct point of view, including presumably his belief that climate change is not caused by human activity, that the election was stolen, and that racism in America would not exist if people like Obama would stop talking about it. To tell my friend that he is the one not paying atention, and that I pay much more attention to reality than he would be useless. He suggested the documentary movie "Two Thousand Mules", which allegedly proves massive election fraud, but in fact proves nothing. I told my friend that I had sn the flim, and asked him whether he had. Just some sound bytes and brief scenes, he said. Maybe you should pay more attention, I said. I remind myself that I must always question my own opinions and beliefs, and be willing to consider the possibility that those of others are valid. therefore I must question my belief that climate change is real, caused by humans, and a dire threat to our future. I must question my firm belief that Joe Biden was elected president fairly and squarely. I must question my belief that Donald Trump is a criminal, and is mentally ill. In many situations, it seems highly probable that I will merely confrim my beliefs when I question them; but I must carefully avoid assuming this in advance. Long live critical thinking skills! I would never suggest that an antire class of people is mentally ill, unless a large number of people displays the same bahavior, behavior which from an unbiased perspective clearly seems to indicate mental dysfunction, behavior like living in a false reality and refusing to accept what is clearly, demonstrably real. These days, there is certainly plenty of that going around.