Column #64

Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, publishes a blog. The man is “off the wall” but he offers interesting points. Here are abbreviated excerpts.

Last year I suggested that the most productive and predictive way to view reality is through what I call the Persuasion Filter. The base assumption of the Persuasion Filter is that people are irrational 90% of the time and only rarely – when no emotions are involved – truly rational. This is the reverse of the common filter for reality, in which people are assumed to be rational 90% of the time and a bit crazy 10% of the time.

The Persuasion Filter is related to the idea that the human brain never evolved to accurately comprehend reality. In order for us to be here today, our predecessors only needed to survive and procreate. They had no need to understand reality at any basic level. And we have no such need either. That’s why you might believe you are reincarnated from a monk and I might believe my prophet flew to heaven on a winged horse but we can both get through the day just fine. Many different interpretations of reality are good enough for survival. I like to describe reality as each person living their own movie, which works well unless our scripts conflict.

Adams was talking politics, but his comments also explain why people with

a mouthful of tasty stuff see no evil. Surviving on carbs and sugar is living large. When “survivors” tell me (in detail) about their chronic diseases, I tell them why the food they eat is the bad guy. Our movies don’t mesh so they become irritated.

Billions are living and procreating with fictional interpretations even when its obvious to outsiders their realities are fictitious. This is why “denial, myth, and scam” are in our vocabulary. Even when negative experiences overwhelm irrational people they can’t recognize the causes nor project solutions. So they just proceed like a vegetable.

I can name many hot topics, but chronic misinterpretations of religions, politics, and diet may top them all.

Most religions have loving origins, but interpretations skew their meaning creating divides within and between believers that result in bloodshed.

Politics is power. Washington and Hamilton (elitists) desired a powerful central government, central bank, and large army like England. Jefferson and Madison (the people) desired stronger states rights, no central bank, and peace. Public debates were incendiary with the media backing elitists. Yet colonists fought against elitists having power over the people.

There is considerable science proving why certain foods cause chronic diseases. The worst foods are sugar, grains, seeds, and oils followed closely by nuts, grain-fed meats, and fruit – foods Americans eat most. Few eat enough vegetables, especially the important greens, nor grass-fed and Omega-3 meats and wild-caught seafood.

Consequently nearly every American man, woman, and child is experiencing chronic diseases costing billions in healthcare and lost productivity. Americans look down on other countries yet they ignore the realities of the great plague that grips them while their incomes stagnate during a most prosperous time for elitists.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

Educational Resources About Food and Diets

Dilbert by Scott Adams

The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon

Real Median Household Income in the United States