Thinking

“Would you vote a woman for President?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“A woman is not fit for the Presidency. She would have these hormonal moods and be an emotional wreck. Before you know it, we would be in the middle of a war due to her emotional moods.”

“You do realize that most wars have been initiated by men?”

…(Silence)…Mouth open and close like a fish.

I’m paraphrasing from memory the discussion between a comedian and a rally goer, so this is not an exact quote but a reasonable simulacrum of what transpired.

I’ve been looking at videos that punches through the logic of some people and those videos do come across as funny. I do get a good chuckle, but I also wince at the same time.

Here’s another one, this one about Antifa being the one instigating the violence at the insurrection of January 6th.

I have to admire those who can punch through those conspiracy stories with elegance, stopping them in their tracks. I don’t think I could do it, but these guys are masterful.

We look at these people and think it’s funny and wonder how can they believe in these theories or conspiracies and think of them as rubes. (Maybe most of the left or liberals are not thinking that and so I am projecting here.) But are they really rubes?

Ginni Thomas believes in the QAnon conspiracies…or at least that is what I have read. Her texts to Mark Meadows came out, saying the Biden family and other lefties were being arrested and placed on barges in preparation for a trial in Guantanamo Bay. My first thought was, “No, she does not really believe this…she’s just mouthing lies just to have some kind of excuse for what she was doing.” What was she doing? I guess trying to convince Mark Meadows to continue or uphold Trump’s effort to overturn the election results. I thought she was lying and I kind of still do today.

I mean, she’s a lawyer or has training as a lawyer so she can’t really believe in these conspiracy theories.

Except, she used to be in a cult. It’s really hard to fathom how someone trained as a lawyer can get wrapped up in a cult but there you go, she had been in one and has since been warning people on how to stay out or get out of cults.

And she’s now in the Trump cult and quite possibly believes in the QAnon. She got ensnared in another cult, despite knowing her disposition for cults. I’m having a hard time believing she believes in this stuff and yet, her history says she is predisposed…

I don’t think she’s a rube, so she is a warning that even educated people can get ensnared in cults.

So how does one protect oneself? It doesn’t appear critical thinking alone would work because even the educated can fall into a cult. So, the predisposition has nothing to do with intelligence or critical thinking. After doing some internet searches, it sounds like you are most vulnerable when you are 1) isolated, 2) feeling depressed, 3) uncertain, or 4) looking for spiritual guidance. I would just Google “how does one protect oneself from cults” and a couple of articles will come up. I don’t want to provide a link (or a few) because at this time, I don’t know which one is the best.

It’s getting late and I need to move on to my usual nightly data gathering.