~ APOI ~ A Plague Of Ideologies

~ BI-A-MP-PTQL-IM ~ Bad Ideas – Are – Mind Parasites – Pathogens That Quite Literally – Infect Minds

~ H-M-H-IS:OT-KBIAB-S-TSDAPW-S-BIOTATDM-IF-AMDCCUCKOS-ETKOSISTT ~ Happily – Minds – Have – Immune Systems: Operations That – Keep Bad Ideas At Bay – Sadly – These Systems Don’t Always Perform Well – Sometimes – Bad Ideas Overrun Them And Thoroughly Disorder Minds – In Fact – A Mind’s Defenses Can Collapse Under Certain Kinds Of Stress – Especially The Kind Of Stresses Ideologies Subject Them To

~ T-EOU-WWT?-IRIACID ~ That – Epidemic Of Unreason – We’re Witnessing Today? – It’s Rooted In A Cultural Immune Disorder

~ WAO-C-‘T’-IMTST-OTBEB-DAP-ETV:TSJ-WFAMTOL ~ When An Out-Group – “Them” – Is Made To Seem Threatening – Our Thinking Becomes Especially Bent – Demagogues And Propagandists – Exploit These Vulnerabilities: They Stoke Judgment-Warping Fears And Manipulate Their Own Loyalists

~ WFTA-BQ-ES-SB-A-SOWTC ~ We Fail To Ask – Basic Questions – Embrace Self-Serving Beliefs – And – Saddle Others With The Costs

~ T-GV-IT-O-ODP-PTWFE-TIAHPFH-A-AHB-BN-W-IC-IHBA-ET ~ The – Garden-Variety – Irresponsible Thinking – Of – Otherwise Decent People – Paves The Way For Extremism – This Is A Huge Problem For Humanity – And – Always Has Been – But Now – With – Internet Connectivity – It Has Become An – Existential Threat

~ MM ~ Mental Malware

~ P-IIVTPI-ICSDB-F/D/D-BI-UPTP ~ Propaganda – Induces Its Victims To Propagate It – Ideas Can Spread Despite Being – False / Delusional / Destructive – Bad Ideas – Use People To Proliferate

~ AICB-S-TB-B-L-TH ~ An Idea Can Be – Short-Term Beneficial – But – Long-Term Harmful

~ AIC-BIH-W-HO ~ An Idea Can – Benefit Its Host – While – Harming Others

~ IUT-U-TFOBI-WNTCO-PI-JAWCO-PB ~ It’s Up To – Us – To Filter Out Bad Ideas – We Need To Call Out – Problematic Ideas – Just As We Call Out – Problematic Behaviours

~ I-C-S/A/C/D/D-COATTICAIW ~ Ideas – Can – Seduce / Addict / Confuse / Disorient / Derange – Compromise Our Ability To Think In Clear And Impartial Ways

~ I-A-CROB-A-FBOW-ROM ~ Ideas – Are – Constantly Rewiring Our Brains – And – For Better Or Worse – Remaking Our Minds

~ CI ~ Cognitive Immunology

~ U-QAR-TTI-A-PCATWH ~ Use – Questions And Reasons – To Test Ideas – And – Pay Close Attention To What Happens

~ ‘WTSWAIIGOB?”-TAIS-WA-WWFTAI-TBOPAEUCH ~ “Who’s To Say Whether An Idea Is Good Or Bad?” – The Answer Is Simple – We Are – When We Fail To Assess Ideas – The Bad Ones Proliferate And End Up Causing Harm

~ CID ~ Cognitive Immune Disrupter

~ WITR-TTTBRT-RR-T-SDCT-O-ECTFCS ~ When Ideologies Take Root – They Tend To Become Resistant To – Rational Revision – They – Shut Down Critical Thinking – Or – Exempt Core Tenets From Critical Scrutiny

~ MI ~ Mental Immunity

~ BYHATA-IWTHNTUBI ~ Believing You Have All The Answers – Interferes With The Humility Needed To Unlearn Bad Ideas

~ A-WF-WT-CPI-OD ~ A – Weakness For – Wishful Thinking – Can Progress Into – Outright Derangement

~ NYST-YOATU-A-ICCI-TP ~ Nurse Your Sense That – Your Opinions Are Treated Unfairly – And – It Can Curdle Into – Toxic Partisanship

~ IIT-A-YWCDAFR ~ Ignore Inconvenient Truths – And – Your Worldview Can Drift Away From Reality

~ FTRTIIYO-A-YSTSOMC ~ Fail To Resolve The Inconsistencies In Your Outlook – And – You Sow The Seed Of Moral Confusion

~ ATO-T-S-S-O-S-S-A~ Accept Things On – The – Say-So – Of – Self-Styled – Authorities – Increases Susceptibility To Demagoguery

~ HM ~ Hijacked Minds

~ WWCYM? ~ What Would Change Your Mind?

~ C-WU-C-ATTRRW? ~ Can – Willful Unreason – Compromise – Ability To Tell Right From Wrong?

~ BDT-RC-A-Y-MC-ILTGH ~ Become Deaf To – Reason’s Call – And – Your – Moral Compass – Is Likely To Go Haywire

~ ‘IPT’-WITI-IVHTTI-F-MW ~ “Identity-Protective Thinking” – When Information Threatens Identity – It’s Very Hard To Think In – Fair-Minded Ways

~ HCTS-INGTYAT-O-ATWAC ~ Having – Critical Thinking Skills – Is No Guarantee That You’ll Apply Them – Or – Apply Them With Any Consistency

~ A-GHM-IOTP-IDBRAR-IHITTSSIATO ~ A – Genuinely Healthy Mind – Is Open To Persuasion – It Distinguishes Between Reasoning And Rationalizing – It Holds Itself To The Same Standards It Applies To Others

~ WN-MN-T-R-MTTLHNBR ~ We Need – Moral Norms – To – Regulate – Many Things The Law Has No Business Regulating

~ T-‘VAS’-I-HR-OD-PCI-‘R’-II-F-T-VIIP-I-DIQ-I-KC-A-BAFM ~ The – “Values Are Subjective” – Idea – Hamstrings Resolution-Oriented Dialogue – Philosophers Call It – “Relativism” – It Implies – Falsely – That – Value Inquiry Is Pointless – It – Delegitimates Important Questions – It – Kills Curiosity – And – Breeds A Fixed Mindset

~ IIUTBAIO-SVF-WSPOTYIDOMSAM-TADYAK-IWSSDTAU-CTGSITFOQ ~ It Is Unwise To Build An Identity On – Shaky Value Foundations – When Someone Points Out That You’re In Danger Of Making Such A Mistake – They’re Arguably Doing You A Kindness – It’s Worth Suffering Some Discomfort To Acquire Understanding – Conviction That’s Genuinely Stable In The Face Of Questioning

~ IAIFU-MWCTI-EAIEAB ~ If An Idea Feels Useful – Many Will Cling To It – Even After It’s Exposed As Baseless

~ B-WAYBEOTW-BOO?-ATIT? ~ But – What About Your Beliefs’ Effect On The Well-Being Of Others? – Aren’t They Important Too?

~ DORSOOR? ~ Don’t Our Responsibilities Sometimes Override Our Rights?

~ A-WLDV-‘T’-T-E/I/T-D ~ Authoritarians – Will Label Dissenting Views – “Traitorous” – Then – Exile / Imprison / Torture – Dissidents

~ HTT-CBR-DEW ~ History Teaches That – Coercive Belief Regulation – Doesn’t End Well

~ CW-T-LTEIIOATGOIMOTOT ~ Culture Warriors – Typically – Locate The Evil Ideas In Others And The Good Ones In Members Of Their Own Tribe

~ PF-AT-IE-OAB-ILATTCD:ITTB-IA-A-R-A-IT ~ Pointing Fingers – At The – Ideological Elements – Of Another’s Beliefs – Is Like Admonishing Them To Calm Down: It Tends To Backfire – It Arouses – Anger – Resentment – And – Irrational Tenacity

~ RSU ~ Responsible Shared Understanding

~ IT-A-RLTOA-W-OM-PR-A-ADS ~ Inquiring Together – And – Really Listening To One Another – Was – Opening Minds – Provoking Reflection – And – Altering Deep Sensibilities

~ RT-DW-DB-T-EOI-CI ~ Real Thinkers – Don’t Wage – Dialectical Battle – They – Engage Others In – Collaborative Inquiry

~ TP-TWOI-YNT-CQI-B-YGTRTTTATWHTI-VTSAA-LO-PYWL-PTO-EW-AOHATBSU ~ To Practice – The Way Of Inquiry – You Need To – Challenge Questionable Ideas – But – You’ve Got To Resist The Temptation To Attack Those Who Host Those Ideas – View The Situation As A – Learning Opportunity – Perhaps You Will Learn – Perhaps The Other – Either Way – An Opportunity Has Arisen To Build Shared Understanding

~ MP ~ Mind-Parasites

~ OBHIFTW-BOO-TICB-LOS-HOB-ABBECBHTT-B-TVN-BAODTBICW ~ Our Beliefs Have Implications For The Well-Being Of Others – These Implications Can Be – Large Or Small – Harmful Or Beneficial – A Belief’s Behavioral Effects Can Be Hard To Trace – But – By Their Very Nature – Beliefs Alter Our Disposition To Behave In Characteristic Ways

~ OIAH-B-UCDOIO ~ Overregulation Is A Hazard – But – Underregulation Carries Dangers Of Its Own

~ O-M-A-MC-CTOE-T-PSIAE ~ Our – Minds – Are – Makeshift Contraptions – Cobbled Together Over Eons – To – Promote Survival In Ancestral Environments

~ O-BS-AWB-TA ~ Our – Belief Systems – Are Warped By – Tribal Allegiance

~ WCTIARAW-B-AOT-WOT-DPI-A-OWTPF ~ We Can Test Ideas About Right And Wrong – By – Among Other Things – Working Out Their – Downstream Pragmatic Implications – And – Observing Whether They Promote Flourishing

~ RF ~ Reason’s Fulcrum

~ IYT-Y-BR-I-Y-YTM ~ I’ll Yield To – Your – Better Reasons – If – You – Yield To Mine

~ DWADCBOP ~ Dialogue With A Detractor Can Broaden Our Perspective

~ I ~ Ideodemic

~ UTBR-IJAFOBUTSTF-IAAFOBUTYTT ~ Unresponsiveness To Better Reasons – Isn’t Just A Function Of Being Unable To See Their Force – It’s Also A Function Of Being Unwilling To Yield To Them

~ WATTTTTOCI ~ We’re Averse To Thinking Thoughts That Threaten Our Chosen Identities

~ S-WOSRATAO-ES-I-WSORF-F-T-A-P ~ Sadly – We Often Sacrifice Reason At The Altar Of – Economic Self-Interest – We Sell Out Reason For – Fame – Too – And – Power

~ IDTRW-W-YNTRPTFLADHB ~ It’s Difficult To Reason Well – When – You Need To Reason Poorly To Feel Like A Decent Human Being

~ RBCWQ ~ Reasonable Beliefs Can Withstand Questioning