What, Me Gullible?

 

From the Washington Post:

DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE: UNRECOGNIZED KILLER

The chemical compound dihydrogen monoxide (or DHMO) has been implicated in the deaths of thousands of Americans every year, mainly through accidental ingestion. In gaseous form, it can cause severe burns. And, according to a new report, "the dangers of this chemical do not end there."

The chemical is so caustic that it "accelerates the corrosion and rusting of many metals, . . . is a major component of acid rain, {and} . . . has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients." Symptoms of ingestion include "excessive sweating and urination," and "for those who have developed a dependency on DHMO, complete withdrawal means certain death."

Yet the presence of the chemical has been confirmed in every river, stream, lake and reservoir in America.

Judging from these facts, do you think dihydrogen monoxide should be banned?

Seems like an open-and-shut case -- until you realize that this chemical compound is plain old water (two hydrogen molecules bonded to one oxygen, or H 2 O, which can drown you, scald you or make you go to the bathroom.

In 1997, Nathan Zohner, an enterprising 14-year-old student at Eagle Rock Junior High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho, conducted his science fair project on just this theme. Nathan distributed a tongue-in-cheek report that had been kicking around the Internet, "Dihydrogen Monoxide: The Unrecognized Killer" (from which the quotes above are drawn), to 50 of his classmates.

In the end, 43 students, or 86 percent of the sample, "voted to ban dihydrogen monoxide because it has caused too many deaths," wrote Nathan in the conclusion to his project, adding that he "was appalled that my peers were so easily misled. . . . I don't feel comfortable with the current level of understanding."

Nathan's project, which won the grand prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, was titled, "How Gullible Are We?" But ninth-graders aren't the only gullible parties. I'm sure that, if Nathan tried the same experiment on adults, he'd find at least as many would want to ban DHMO.

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So we can see the Trump era’s use of facts, and of course lies, to lead a scientifically, historically, sociologically or politically ignorant public to a false conclusion is not new.

Karl Marx developed Critical Theory to address the oppressive symptoms of class divisions under 19th Century capitalism. As we know, Marx and Lenin are the philosophical founders of communism.

Britannica informs us:

Critical theory, Marxist-inspired movement in social and political philosophy originally associated with the work of the Frankfurt School. Drawing particularly on the thought of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, critical theorists maintain that a primary goal of philosophy is to understand and to help overcome the social structures through which people are dominated and oppressed.

Hmm. This sounds dangerous! 

Now Black and Brown sociological researchers, universities, educators, and other liberals are employing Critical Race Theory to study the history and effects of slavery and racism.

Given the Marxist origins of Critical Theory, should Critical Race Theory be banned?

We know what happened.

That’s exactly what Republican legislators have done.

When Trump lied about a rigged and stolen election, Republicans launched a nationwide crusade to restrict voter rights, and enacted efforts to enable their partisan control of elections.

Critical Race Theory, hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, and the Big Lie about a stolen election reveal the symptoms of the same human malady. It is popularly known as gullibility.

And it is quite evident which sector of the population is most afflicted with gullibility.