This video depicts a modern issue concerning smartphone addiction. It compares lab experiments with our primate cousins to human “experiments” with human children. Here is the direct address for this video: https://youtu.be/VO1uRMTZB_E
Category: Victimization
Border Dismanagement
We have misinformation and disinformation; the difference is that the first is simply an innocent mistake, while the second is a deliberate act to deceive, manipulate, or harm. Although not widely used, we also have mismanagement and dismanagement. We’ve all worked in organizations mismanaged by unprepared or lazy managers—dismanagement parallels disinformation. Dismanagement is the deliberate…
The Lazy Road
Disinformation engineers and their wealthy overlords target “easy” voters in the arena we now call democracy. After democracy is supplanted by authoritarian control, their need to persuade and convince will be unnecessary. They will be like the throwaway politicians from Trump’s first term (e.g., Jeff Sessions and Michael Pence). How do these victims not see…
Maybe Truth Doesn’t Matter
In the tradition of truth and history, this video examines the psychological connection between a boy with an out-of-control ego and his impact on the course of history. Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain introduce the video by asking why America suddenly wants to take over the peaceful and cooperative land of Greenland. Direct web address…
Reality Always Trumps Beliefs
Ideologies and beliefs offer certainty. Reality offers consequences. In moments of stability, fixed belief systems can appear wise and efficient. But history shows a recurring pattern: when conditions change suddenly, ideology often fails — and reality takes over. In this Truth Matters episode, we examine three defining crises: 1) The Great Depression (1932), when economic…
Though this be madness
Shakespeare’s Hamlet dramatizes the tragedy associated with madness, paranoia, and deception. Unfortunately, all Americans have become unwilling actors in a similar tragedy. As an aside and to quote Polonius, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.” From day to day, the current administration spews nonsense, and more dangerously, acts in bizarre and…
The Country Where Truth Became a Farce
Welcome to Veritonia — a totally fictional modern nation where truth is flexible, confidence beats correctness, and memes count as peer-reviewed research. This short cinematic satire explores how facts get “professionally improved,” arguments replace thinking, and news guarantees certainty — not accuracy. But some people still dare to ask the most dangerous question: “Is this…
Being Conned by Disinformation
How do smart people fall for confidence tricks like grandparent, lottery, and romance scams? How do smart people buy into Ponzi schemes and crypto-ATM cons? How do smart people believe totally unfounded theories about vaccinations, ethnic conspiracies, the Denver Airport is the Illuminati’s headquarters, a pizza shop in Washington, DC, is the center of a…
The Twilight of Fantasy?
The central premise of this website is based on the belief that political, economic, and religious extremism forces those on the boundaries of reality to circle their wagons, irrationally defend their extremism, and create painful mental states for themselves. Many of these folks are “tag-along” extremists. While “true” extremists proudly display their extreme beliefs, “tag-alongs”…
The Art of Lying
The Two Main Types of Liars Type 1 liars require no further explanation. They are hucksters, entertainers, politicians, or salespeople who everyone expects to exaggerate and embellish. They are like entertaining carnival acts. In fact, many celebrate the whoppers told by these type 1 liars. They create alternate realities that allow others to enjoy a…