A CONTROVERSIAL PLAN THAT WORKS!

There is no such thing as a neutral point of view concerning a controversial topic such as politics/economics. Especially during an election year people have strong yet divergent opinions which lead to heated debates.  I find that the debates of my fellow common citizens make more sense than the televised debates of this year’s crop of presidential candidates. They just don’t seem to get it. It’s the economy stupid! Why can’t they put together a simple plan to get us back on track and then promise to implement that plan?

Here is a political platform that I would promote if I were running for President: My main goal would be to get more companies to locate their plants in the U.S.. To accomplish this I would simplify the tax code, cut corporate rates, streamline regulations, make immigration policy more flexible and balance the budget slowly over the long term. Doing these things would create jobs which would create wealth which would solve most of our problems. I would stop spending billions on nation building and foreign aid and repair our infrastructure. I would make it easier for employers to get involved in education so that young people can be trained to do the emerging high-tech jobs. There, you see? It’s not that difficult. I do not have Pay Pal so, just send me a check.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT

It is truly amazing! Under the influence of a placebo prescribed by a physician people feel less pain, experience less fever, and get well. The placebo effect points to the importance of perception and the brain's role in physical health. If placebo medicine can induce people to release hidden healing resources then maybe there are other beneficial things that can come from believing in something that is not real or true. Take religion for example. There are so many religions in the world that it is impossible for all of them to be true. Yet believers receive benefits such as the comfort of having their sins forgiven and the promise of "knowing" that there is life after death. Even when science and reason proves that they are mythical, people continue to believe in their religions because of the benefits.


The placebo effect is a particular kind of priming effect. Perhaps a subconscious prime could be used as a placebo for the mind. Maybe subconscious primes could change character and attitudes. Once we have a theoretical understanding of how it works, we could exploit it in practical ways to change people's lives for the better! Just as we have discovered how to use placebo medicine to persuade people to heal themselves physically, we can discover placebo treatments for the mind. Pretenses about the environment could persuade people to be more moral, happier, nicer, more creative than they would be otherwise. I think it ought to be possible to devise placebo treatments for the self which  induce people to emerge as better people. However, there are some ethical problems that have to be dealt with. My theory needs some fine tuning before it becomes practical. I will keep working on it.

THE MATING HABITS OF SQUIRRELS

Just kidding. This post is really about New Year’s resolutions. We could all use some help on this subject. I recommend that you focus on habits_both bad and good ones. It is difficult to break habits. That is why good habits are very beneficial and bad habits are very destructive. First, you must understand that it is extremely hard to establish new habits or to break old habits. Psychologists tell us that it takes at least 3 weeks of concentrated effort to establish a habit. That’s the bad news. The good news is, once established, a habit is like an automatic pilot. It takes no effort to keep it going! 

So, choose one old bad habit to get rid of and one new good habit to acquire. Recognize that it will not be easy. It will take three weeks of focused, hard effort to accomplish your goal. Keep telling yourself you can do it and remind yourself of the tremendous benefits that will be yours if you succeed. Make up your mind to keep trying and do not give up if you suffer a setback. Your habits will make or break you. The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine!

THANATOPHOBIA

When I decided to write a blog post about fear, I asked my friend, Patrick Dennis Fero, for some ideas. He responded with, “Fear is a great motivator. Nothing gets people going like a good old-fashioned bodily threat. Fear is good because it often results in deliberation, perspective and caution. Those who fear not generally end up cleansing their gene pool. Dolts go where angels fear to tread. Aging inculcates fear. The more experience one has, the more one realizes that fear is justified more often than youth recognizes. Youth fears death; aging justifies death. Instead of fearing death, one welcomes it if only to be rid of that goddamn arthritis pain”.

 I agree with most of what he says but I think both the young and the old fear death. I am always surprised when people say they are not afraid to die. I do not think it is possible to overcome the fear of death. People cope with it by blocking it out. They refuse to think about it. If you think about it, it will make you scared.

The awareness of the end of existence, or death, ritualized the lives of our ancestors. These rituals were designed to reduce the fear of death. Psychologists have addressed the hypothesis that fear of death motivates religious commitment, and that it may be alleviated by assurances of an afterlife. Studies have shown that church centered religiousness serves as a protection against the fear of death. Believers have benefits and they are not about to give them up, regardless of facts proven by science. "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies." 

Mr. Fero is right. Fear is a great motivator!