How cognitive biases prevent social progress

 

I find it amusing that those who insist a thing cannot be known with any certainty will often attack those who are informed only to insist that they too must share in their willful ignorance by ignoring what is happening right in front of their eyes. Demonstrating yet again that there are none so blind as those who refuse to see. All tyrannies, no matter how one might define the ideology which possesses the tyrants behind it, count on our willful blindness! In fact, they will invariably weaponize the 4^th Estate to carry out their deceptions to keep us blind to their actual designs!

The other day I had an old friend tell me that I must be a conservative since he laboured under the misapprehension that I wish to return to a former time when things were better thereby rejecting social progress. Since I taught process improvement and transformative business practices in my former career prior to my retirement I focused on helping my clients to reduce waste, cost, and variation, I found it rather galling to have a friend whom I care about misunderstand my position so badly. Perhaps due to the fact I reject the ideological possession of the radical left some folks might falsely assume that I am against social progress. Yet nothing could possibly be further from the truth. So first we must agree on what constitutes progress to ensure it is both positive and transformative in nature. First it must be both measurable and provable in terms of its actual results. All processes are measurable, quantifiable, and knowable to ensure that our ability to measure success must not be restricted by our biases. So, let’s look at the root causes for these cognitive biases.

Tunnel vision, in a metaphorical sense, can be caused by a variety of factors:

1. **Lack of Empathy**: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. If a person lacks empathy, they may have difficulty seeing things from another person's perspective⁵.

2. **Cognitive Bias**: This is a systematic error in thinking that affects the decisions and judgments that people make. Some cognitive biases can lead to tunnel vision. For example, the confirmation bias can cause people to pay more attention to information that confirms their existing beliefs and ignore information that challenges them⁵.

3. **Emotional State**: When a person is in a highly emotional state, they may be so focused on their own feelings and experiences that they struggle to see things from another person's perspective⁵.

4. **Cultural Differences**: Sometimes, cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings and make it harder to understand another person's point of view⁵.

5. **Lack of Experience or Knowledge**: If a person has limited experience or knowledge about a certain topic, they may find it difficult to understand someone else's perspective on that topic⁵.

In terms of improving one's ability to see things from another person's perspective, there are several strategies that can be helpful. These include practicing empathy, being aware of and challenging one's own biases, managing one's emotional state, learning about other cultures, and seeking to broaden one's experiences and knowledge.

There is an old saying in “Hávamál | Odin's Words of Wisdom from the Poetic Edda” that, “en vitløs mann vet alt han tror mellom fjellene hvor han bor!” or “a foolish man believes everything he knows between the two mountains where he dwells!”

I believe Odin’s warning applies quite well in this instance despite it not originating from a Biblical source!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-03-22

(1) Perceptual Positions - Seeing Other Points of View - Mind Tools. https://www.mindtools.com/aaryn61/perceptual-positions.

(2) 3 counter intuitive ways to take on another person’s point of view. https://psychologycompass.com/blog/point-of-view/.

(3) 3 Ways to See Things from Different Points of View - wikiHow. https://www.wikihow.com/See-Things-from-Different-Points-of-View.

(4) What is Tunnel vision and its causes and related conditions?. https://bing.com/search?q=causes+of+tunnel+vision.

(5) 7 Causes of Tunnel Vision: Plus Symptoms, Treatment & More - Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/tunnel-vision.

(6) Tunnel Vision (Peripheral Vision Loss): Causes & Treatment. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24435-tunnel-vision-peripheral-vision-loss.

(7) Tunnel Vision: Causes, Treatment & Prevention | MyVision.org. https://myvision.org/eye-conditions/tunnel-vision/.

The great problem we have in combating totalitarianism is that we have never come to terms with how truly infectious the parasitical ideas are which possess our ideological enemies. There can be no underestimating the hold that parasitical beliefs have on people's minds, nor can what people think be defeated on the field of battle. Here in the West, we have returned like a dog to its own vomit embracing illiberal and authoritarian ideas which have been kept alive by the very institutions that we have entrusted to guard us from them. By doing so we have managed to place the fox in charge of the hen house that lays the eggs which hatch our liberties. All the worst ideas which originated in the 19th Century that led to the murder of millions in the 20th Century are still possessing the lecture halls of the Academy in the 21st Century. This has led to parasitical ideation capturing the hearts and minds of many today. We are being confronted with an imminent ideological disaster which we are ill prepared to face, a social and spiritual ruin where even our own families and friends will become our ideological enemies! Remarkably there isn't a single example among any of the ideologies to which I am referring that will not require us to surrender our individuality and autonomy to the state run collective. These include the Neo-Marxist Critical Theory being taught in every university as viable political theory, the Corporate Fascism on display in the WEF among other unelected globalist organizations who dictate to sovereign nations how they must conduct their internal affairs, or even to political Islamism and the Islamic caliphates they intend to establish under Sharia Law. Oddly all appear to cooperate with one another despite their differing agendas!

So, I promise by the power of the Almighty to commit myself as long as God gives me breath to find the right words to expose the dreaded false doctrines which are now possessing the minds and hearts of a great many here in the West. I will never allow myself to remain silent in the face of them. My Godly ancestors came to Upper Canada long before we had become a Dominion to help found a Christian nation under God where peace, order, and good government would be its legacy! There is much that could have been done to build upon the foundation they laboured to lay yet we as a nation have chosen to do the diametric opposite!

The role of the Church is to resist Satanic lies:

In the face of this attack on Godly beliefs the Church has remained largely ignorant and silent about the leading ideological lies of our time. It is the very task of churchmen and women to stand against all false doctrines which fly in the face of the Truth of the Gospel yet today we have a weak church looking for escape from persecution. I want to remind you of that great martyr of the church, Dietrich Bonhoeffer who began to oppose the Nazi regime from its early days. He was involved in protests against the regime, especially its anti-Semitism, from the first days of the Nazi accession to power in 1933¹. Despite an 18-month absence during which he served as pastor of two small German congregations in London (1933–35), Bonhoeffer became a leading spokesman for the Confessing Church, the center of German Protestant resistance to the Nazi regime¹. His opposition to the Nazis was based on their godless ideology, which was in direct conflict with his Christian beliefs¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-03-23

(1) Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Biography, Theology, Writings, Death, & Facts .... https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dietrich-Bonhoeffer.

(2) Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer.

(3) Dietrich Bonhoeffer remembered – DW – 04/08/2015. https://www.dw.com/en/dietrich-bonhoeffer-pacifist-religious-reformer-and-victim-of-the-nazis/a-18366798.

(4) Biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Theologian - Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/dietrich-bonhoeffer-4771872.

More on Bonhoeffer’s legacy:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident. He was a key founding member of the Confessing Church and his writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have become widely influential¹.

Bonhoeffer was accused of being associated with the July 20^th plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was tried along with other accused plotters, including former members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office). He was executed by hanging on April 9^th 1945 during the collapse of the Nazi regime¹.

There's also a biography about Bonhoeffer written by Eric Metaxas. In this book, Metaxas explores both strands of Bonhoeffer’s life—the theologian and the spy—and draws them together to tell a searing story of incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil⁵.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-03-22

(1) Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer.

(2) Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - Eric Metaxas. https://ericmetaxas.com/books/bonhoeffer/.

(3) The Troubling Truth About Bonhoeffer’s Theology. https://www.equip.org/articles/troubling-truth-bonhoeffers-theology/.

(4) Dietrich Bonhoeffer remembered – DW – 04/08/2015. https://www.dw.com/en/dietrich-bonhoeffer-pacifist-religious-reformer-and-victim-of-the-nazis/a-18366798.

(5) Anti-Nazi theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged - HISTORY. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/defiant-theologian-dietrich-bonhoeffer-is-hanged.

(6) Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas - Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7501962-bonhoeffer.

(7) Bonhoeffer - 10th Anniversary Edition - Marketing Pages. https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/bonhoeffer/.

(8) undefined. http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/.

Let us examine the following, “Letter to the American Church” by Eric Metaxas which may be found at the following link; https://www.christianbook.com/letter-to-the-american-church/eric-metaxas/9781684513895/pd/513892?kw=letter%20to%20the%20american%20church&mt=e&dv=c&event=PPCSRC&p=1229926&cb_src=bing&cb_typ=search&cb_cmp=70217467&cb_adg=1229254328660772&cb_kyw=letter%20to%20the%20american%20church&msclkid=df774ee2c8e716d26abe2b1cc7f66d4b

From that book’s forward:

“The author of a bestselling biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas reveals the haunting similarities between today’s American Church and the German Church of the 1930s. Echoing the German martyr’s prophetic call, he exhorts his fellow Christians to repent of their silence in the face of evil.

An attenuated and unbiblical "faith" based on what Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace" has sapped the spiritual vitality of millions of Americans. Paying lip service to an insipid "evangelism," they shrink from combating the evils of our time. Metaxas refutes the pernicious lie that fighting evil politicizes Christianity. As Bonhoeffer and other heroes of the faith insisted, the Church has an irreplaceable role in the culture of a nation. It is our duty to fight the powers of darkness, especially on behalf of the weak and vulnerable.

Silence is not an option. God calls us to defend the unborn, to confront the lies of Cultural Marxism, and to battle the globalist tyranny that crushes human freedom. Confident that this is His fight, the Church must overcome fear and enter the fray, armed with the spiritual weapons of prayer, self-sacrifice, and love.”

About a decade ago while still residing in Norway I read Mikkel Clair Nissen’s book, “Manipulism and the Weapon of Guilt: Collectivism Exposed” which Mikkel calls the utmost controversial exposé and carefully detailed description of the awful emotional mind game that facilitates communism, socialism, fascism, and social-liberalism, known as collectivism. My personal experiences of life in Norway and my encounters with the authorities convinced me that I could no longer ignore what had confronted me on a daily basis while living there. The book itself exposes Denmark, the supposed happiest nation on earth, for what it truly is: collectivism’s biggest propaganda hoax but all of Scandinavia was in the grip of the same mindset. Norway was certainly little different in its cloying social demand for conformity to the state-run consensus. Yet the state itself could never make its demands clear in such a manner that would permit me to know my next move to avoid running into trouble. In his book Danish author Mikkel Clair Nissen tells the hidden facts and realities of life in Denmark’s democratic socialism that they never want you to know. I am here to tell you why I abhor social collectivism but moreover to define the hideous godless nature of it.

Like Bonhoeffer I am witnessing an attenuated and unbiblical "faith" based on what he called "cheap grace" which has sapped the spiritual vitality of millions of Americans, Canadians, and indeed a disturbing many throughout the West. Paying lip service to an insipid "evangelism," they shrink from combating the evils of our time. Repeatedly I have offered my help to pastors to assist them in developing speaking series on the prevailing culture wars, but not one of them has accepted my offer although it obviously still stands. Today we have a destructive escapist theology that teaches people to hunker down until Jesus returns to take them out of persecution. But they do not hold God’s clock. We are admonished to be about the work of God until He returns. By ignoring this the church is choosing to sit on the fence forgetting of course that the Devil owns the fence! Bonhoeffer warned the German Churches in the early 30’s when they still had the power to stop Hitler, yet they refused to listen to his warnings. Today is our Bonhoeffer moment. If the Church should only choose to take a clear stand against the culture war, we have the spiritual power to stop this emergent tyranny since the very gates of hell cannot prevail against us. However, if the church continues with its current silence and pandering to the wicked rhetoric being fomented by the critical theorist culture warriors what remains of the Christian West will sink back into an unspeakable tyranny. A tyranny which will far exceed the worst horrors of the 20^th Century. I will not keep silent no matter how many addle brained musicians demand that I hold my tongue. The lie that these idea pathogens constitute social progress is such a fallacy that I find it remarkable anyone can succumb to them, let alone my fellow Christians!

 

 

Evolution vs revolution: which is useful to restore peace, order, & good government?

 

I’ve mentioned on occasion that in my former life I worked as a Quality Systems Resource at the General Motors St. Catharines GEN III/IV engine plant and later as a quality consultant training my clients in workplace organization and problem-solving methodologies. It was through developing course material for a program that a colleague and I were writing that I met and fell in love with my wife, Anne-Siri. She had noticed that our course had been advertised on Linked-In and became interested in applying some of its training methods in Norway. Which is quite remarkable in since she was educated at Norway’s Sjøkrigsskolen (Naval Academy) in Bergen, at Staff College in Oslo and subsequently, and purely for fun, took a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Oslo, all of which has nothing to do with manufacturing. Yet, since the course of both love and continuous improvement are seldom linear but rather discontinuous, here we are. Most of what I have come to know about the Culture Wars and Critical Theory is the direct result of my relationship with Anne-Siri as well as from my personal experiences during my time while living in Norway.

Although continuous improvement may happen in a discontinuous fashion, it is certainly never revolutionary. When Dr. Edwards Deming, among others, helped Toyota to develop the Toyota Production System he did not tear down the previous gold standard for production excellence, the Ford Production System, rather he built upon it. Where am I going with this line of thought you may ask? Let me be blunt, when I talk about continuous improvement, I am a committed disciple of total quality since it assures measurable documented process improvements led in part by Kaizen Teams who “walk the Ghemba”, as we call it. In other words, this method engages those who are directly involved where production issues are cropping up so that they may be resolved at their sources to have their root cause(s) both identified and corrected.

Which leads me to ask what on earth do “social progressives” mean when they talk about dealing with systemic issues in the system when?

1.    They do not understand the nature of the system they are attempting to change.

2.    Have not correctly analysed the root cause for the failure(s) they seek to address.

3.    Seek to tear down the very foundations for the process improvements they claim they wish to implement.

4.    Have no idea how to create a more productive system.

5.    Mischaracterise others who are involved in the actual processes by calling them names while marginalizing them instead of engaging them in continuous process improvement.

6.    Refuse to measure the actual outcomes of their many failed attempts to create change to rid them of unwanted waste, cost, variation.

7.    Fail to realize that their attempts to create change have instead created chaos, disunity, and disorder.

People who haven’t a clue where I am coming from choose to mischaracterize me for stating these obvious facts.  Moreover, there is a mathematical reason why I teach my clients to ask why 5 times to drill into the issues they are facing. Asking why 5 times is based upon the Pareto Principle’s 80/20 Rule where 80% of your problems exist in 20% of the issues you are encountering. Therefore, if you should ask why 5 times this will help you drill down through the dross to the root cause(s) of a system’s failures. Since it is not possible nor is it feasible to deal with everything at once it is therefore advisable to confine oneself to these top five issues if our goal is process improvement. Since my wife is a senior bureaucrat, I am aware that this almost never happens in government since the social reformer types for whom she works are not in the least bit interested in process improvement. Rather they are committed in demonstrating that their social progressive policies are achieving their stated goals even in the face of their blatant failures.

Process improvements are never revolutionary, rather they are evolutionary. You cannot build a functional system if you seek to tear down its foundations. Just look at Trudeau’s band of Merry Critical Theorists who are unqualified reductionists and deconstructionists to their ideologically confused cores. They are not at all interested in building a better system, rather they are seeking to bring about the collapse of all functional order which could have been improved had they only chosen to do so. Any mule can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter using Dr. Deming’s methods to build a better one!

People with 'woke' beliefs experience higher anxiety and depression

 

From the National Post:

https://nationalpost.com/news/woke-beliefs-linked-to-higher-anxiety-depression

“People with 'woke' beliefs experience higher anxiety and depression: study

The study involved nearly 6,000 participants in Finland, including university faculty, students and the general public”

“Woke” beliefs are associated with increased instances of anxiety and depression according to a new study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.

Released earlier this month, the study involved nearly 6,000 participants in Finland, including university faculty, students and the general public. The CSJAS was based on theoretical frameworks from intersectional feminism, critical race theory and queer theory.

Researchers developed a seven-item scale, known as the Critical Social Justice Attitudes Scale (CSJAS), to assess attitudes toward “critical social justice,” defined as systemic injustices affecting various identity groups. The CSJAS evaluates agreement or disagreement with seven statements, with each statement targeting a specific aspect of social justice discourse, including systemic racism, microaggressions and gender identity.

The scale reads as follows:

“If white people have on average a higher level of income than black people, it is because of racism.”

“University reading lists should include fewer white or European authors.”

“Microaggressions should be challenged often and actively.”

“Trans* women who compete with women in sports are not helping women’s rights.”(reverse scored)

“We don’t need to talk more about the color of people’s skin.”

“A white person cannot understand how a black person feels equally well as another black person.”

“A member of a privileged group can adopt features or cultural elements of a less privileged group.” (reverse scored)

For the statements that are “reverse scored,” agreement indicates a stance opposite to what’s written. Reverse scoring allows all answers to be interpreted in the same direction, even when questions are asked in different ways, some positively and some negatively.

The findings revealed that women showed significantly more support for critical social justice propositions than men and overall, such support was less common in Finland than public and media discussions would have one believe.

Being on the political left was found to be more predictive of lower mental well-being than high critical social justice scores alone.

“People who supported left-wing parties and female university students in social sciences, education, and humanities, as well as people with ‘other’ gender, were the most in support of the scale items,” wrote the study authors.

The research aimed to fill the gap in empirical data regarding the prevalence and impact of critical social justice attitudes. The CSJAS scale is intended as a tool for future research, including focusing on populations beyond Finland.

Previous studies have found that varying political ideologies are linked with different social attitudes, ways of thinking and even personality traits. A 2003 study in The Psychological Bulletin found that conservatism is linked to greater fear of death, desire for stability, dogmatism and a craving for order, while being less open to new experiences and less tolerant of uncertainty.

Some studies have found that political activism might contribute to psychological well-being by providing a sense of purpose and community, while others have found that high levels of engagement with social justice issues may contribute to stress and burnout.

Each symptom of the effects of this ideology is solidly rooted in one overwhelming characteristic, viewing the world through an emotional lens rather than through the lens of reason. Should we be surprised then that this hyper emotionality leads to emotional instability? So here is a quick rule of thumb to help you determine if you are dealing with an ideologically possessed person, particularly when a discussion with them may go sideways. The tell is that your interactions with them will be based upon their subjective feelings rather than an appreciation of objective reality. Ethics, epistemology, and ontology be damned, they will project their insecurities onto you then blame you for their reaction to your use of reason. This is how you will know if you're dealing with an emotional three-year-old who is incapable of using reason and demonstrable facts to arrive at informed opinions. Possessed by their emotions they will often go so far as to demand that your arguments be silenced while labelling your viewpoint as dangerous and you hateful for defending it. It's best to avoid these folks if possible but frankly triggering them does afford me with such tremendous pleasure!

So, allow me to expand on these ideas. We are likely in the ideological battle of our lifetime since all the very worst authoritarian ideas of the 20^th Century have come to possess the minds and hearts of a great many in the 21^st Century. Each one of us must be ready, willing, and able to address the ideologically addled ideas of those who are seeking to tear down civil society to destroy peace, order, and good government even as they call this destructiveness social progress.

As for calling these ideological extremists stupid for holding authoritarian beliefs, there were and are many brilliant Communists, Neo-Marxists, Critical Theorists, Postmodernists, and Fascists. It should therefore be obvious that the power of ideological possession is impossible to underestimate since idea pathogens are obviously very attractive to ostensibly intelligent and well-educated people. After all, back in October of 2023 even the UN declared that trans-lesbians are real lesbians too! Emotional madness is on full display along the hallowed halls of the ivy covered towers in the Academy as well as on the floors of legislative assemblies all throughout the Western World. Illiberal and authoritarian ideas have taken hold of our most sacred institutions. And what are Christians doing about it? Very little, for most of them are unaware or do not understand what is coming straight after their Faith!

So let us examine the shift from rational debate to an insistence on emotional rhetoric:

The shift from **debate** to **pure emotional rhetoric** in public discourse has several underlying reasons:

1. **Attention Economy and Sensationalism**:

   - In an era of information overload, attention is scarce.

   - Emotional content tends to grab attention more effectively than reasoned debate.

   - Media outlets and social platforms prioritize sensationalism to maximize engagement.

2. **Confirmation Bias and Echo Chambers**:

   - People seek information that confirms their existing beliefs.

   - Emotional appeals resonate with preconceived notions, reinforcing echo chambers.

   - Debates, on the other hand, challenge these biases and may be less appealing.

3. **Polarization and Tribalism**:

   - Society is increasingly polarized along ideological lines.

   - Emotional rhetoric reinforces group identity and loyalty.

   - Debates risk exposing nuance and common ground, threatening tribal cohesion.

4. **Cognitive Biases**:

   - Humans are prone to cognitive biases, such as the **affect heuristic** (relying on emotions to make judgments).

   - Emotional appeals exploit these biases, making them more persuasive than logical arguments.

5. **Sound Bites and Simplification**:

   - Emotional messages fit well into sound bites and social media posts.

   - Debates require nuanced explanations, which may not fit the format.

6. **Emotional Connection and Persuasion**:

   - Emotions create a stronger connection with audiences.

   - People remember how a message made them feel more than its logical details.

   - Rhetoric leverages this emotional impact for persuasion.

7. **Lack of Critical Thinking Education**:

   - Education systems often prioritize memorization over critical thinking.

   - Emotional appeals require less cognitive effort than dissecting complex arguments.

8. **Political Strategy and Populism**:

   - Populist leaders thrive on emotional rhetoric.

   - Debates can expose weaknesses or inconsistencies, so emotional appeals are safer politically.

9. **Media Consumption Habits**:

   - Quick consumption of news and information favors emotional sound bites.

   - Debates demand time and attention, which modern audiences may not invest.

10. **Loss of Civility and Respect**:

    - Debates can devolve into personal attacks.

    - Emotional rhetoric avoids confrontation and maintains a veneer of civility.

In summary, while emotional rhetoric has its advantages in capturing attention and shaping public opinion, it comes at the cost of reasoned discourse and critical thinking. Striking a balance between emotional appeal and rational debate remains a challenge in today's communication landscape¹²³.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-03-20

(1) Python User Input - W3Schools. https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_user_input.asp.

(2) How to Handle User Input in Python: A Step-by-Step Guide. https://lset.uk/learning-resources/how-to-handle-user-input-in-python-a-step-by-step-guide/.

(3) User input methods and controls - Learn web development | MDN. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Forms/User_input_methods.

(4) Java User Input (Scanner class) - W3Schools. https://www.w3schools.com/java/java_user_input.asp.

(5) How to Take User Input in Python - PythonForBeginners.com. https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/basics/how-to-take-user-input-in-python.

Summing up our current dilemma:

Evolutionary psychologist, author and podcaster Dr. Gad Saad brilliantly sums up our struggle against these damaging ideas, “I'm trying to avoid that which has been tried in previous societies and failed. I'm trying to make people understand the anomalous reality that the West was able to create. I say "anomalous" because, in the history of human civilization, it's a complete outlier that we've had the types of societies that we're able to create in the West. This is not the default value. So, to have found the magic recipe where freedom of conscience and freedom of speech and the scientific method and all the other wonderful things that the West has offered us, are allowed to flourish, and to now see it being thrown away under the cloak of the progressive robe is very galling to me. It upsets me, it angers me. I become righteously, I think, indignant. So, I'm trying to offer people, if I may use the terms, a vaccine against the brain parasites that have absolutely infected the minds of Westerners.”

Whether it be cultural relativism, social constructivism, postmodernism, critical theory, identity politics, non-binary gender theory, the Trudeau government is possessed by all these ideas and none of them are founded in reality. The demand on the part of those who feel that idea pathogens ought to be considered as reality has replaced that which is real. Society has gone from believing in “what is” to believing in “what ought to be”, as it were. To say that it is impossible to build a functional society on this type of delusion is to say almost nothing. But it goes far beyond Trudeau and his government since the idea pathogens that Dr. Saad has warned us about now infect vast swathes of the population. So much so that Canada is no longer divided on political lines. Rather Canada, indeed the broader Western World, is now divided between what is known to be scientifically and biologically possible versus the delusional feelings of the many who have come to demand that we acknowledge that their fantasies are in fact realities. I mean, what could go wrong? Well, we are presently finding that out even as the evidence pours in that this deck of cards is collapsing in upon itself. Just as the Finnish study clearly demonstrated, for we have managed to create a generation of anxious depressed nihilists! If you think this is progress then you too have lost your freakin’ mind!

Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

You cannot solve a problem that you do not understand!

 

You cannot solve a problem that you do not understand, especially if you are convinced that your ideological position is correct but have never thought about the sources of the ideological issues you hope to correct. Ideological possession is the curse of our time and the express purpose of this channel. If we are to debate with our ideological doppelgangers, we must first understand their position well enough to debate on behalf of it against the most rigorous attacks. Only then should we consider ourselves to be qualified to address the nature of those ideas. If you become annoyed when people challenge what you think without calmly being able to present them with a reasoned response using ethics, epistemology, and ontology solidly based upon demonstrable facts and reasoned discourse, then it is time for you to rethink how you think. Or even perhaps why you assume you have learned how to think!

There's a glaring legal dichotomy in Canada which has led to our current cultural crisis. Lower Canada which later became Quebec is under French Civil Law while Upper Canada which later became Ontario has English Common Law, as does the rest of Canada except for Quebec. Civil Law focuses on collective rights and responsibilities while Common Law focuses on individual rights and responsibilities. Never the twain shall meet. Countries and jurisdictions with Civil Law cannot even comprehend the individual outside of them being viewed as a social expression of statism. These two opposing viewpoints are irreconcilable. This has made the Canadian experiment a legal impossibility. Every statist tyranny under which this sad nation has suffered came out of the Quebec loving Laurentian Consensus!

English Common Law's focus on the individual stems from its historical development through judicial decisions that emphasize the rights and liberties of individuals. This system evolved case by case, with judges creating law based on the specific facts before them, rather than applying a comprehensive code. This inductive method allows for a nuanced approach to justice that can adapt to new situations and societal changes.

The common law tradition values the protection of individual rights and often views the law as a means to resolve disputes and provide remedies to individuals who have been wronged. It's a system that has developed organically, with a strong emphasis on precedent and the outcomes of previous cases, which gives it a certain flexibility to address the unique circumstances of each case.

The United Empire Loyalists who fled north after the American Revolution had lost their properties and holdings in the US. Upon arriving here, they insisted that they be allowed to bring with them the legal traditions of English Common Law since it was a pillar of their liberties ensuring:

• Upper Canada would emerge as an economic hub of trade, commerce, and industry.

• English Common Law provided a framework for business transactions, property rights, and contracts.

The UEL’s therefore rejected the French civil law system since it was less conducive to commercial development. In contrast, Civil Law, with its roots in Roman law, is more focused on applying a set of established legal principles derived from codified statutes. The role of judges in civil law is more about interpreting the law as written, rather than creating law based on individual case decisions.

The individual-focused nature of Common Law has contributed to its emphasis on personal freedoms, liberties and property rights thereby shaping the legal culture in common law jurisdictions. Understanding these facts is essential to understanding the complexities of our present problems rather than merely looking at the symptoms of why Canada has become so dysfunctional. We are all well aware of the many illiberal manifestations perpetrated by those who look at individuals as mere extensions of the social collective. We can play whack-a-mole with those myriad manifestations all we wish but it will have no effect to stop them. Remember this, our reaction is our ideological opponent’s real action. If we are constantly in a reactive mode, we will only add fuel to them many cultural fires that they are constantly setting. We need to fully comprehend why people who believe that the government can solve all human ills can think the way that they do. 

What I am writing about in this post are the idea pathogens hidden in civil law. It places the focus away from the individual onto the collective. This made Quebec and the Laurentian Consensus ideal candidates for Hegelian Dialectical thinking. These idea pathogens are the source of all our confusion about the Rule of Law and the legitimate role of government.

If ever we doubted the power of ideological possession our time offers abundant proof. We are witnessing idiots who are possessed by all the worst ideas of the 20th Century who have infected the political class of the 21st in order to return humanity to madness and tyranny. This all-out assault on reason is being led by a species of imbecile who no longer believes that 2+2=4 or that biological sex is binary. These are those who do not believe the state ought to heed the voice of the citizenry. They believe that all decisions must come down from on high rather than to leave them in the hands of the people. This is why English Common Law is our greatest inheritance which must be protected at all costs from the encroachment of the Civil Law minded lawyers and justices who wish to destroy all vestiges of our cultural heritage while insisting that Quebec has some Divine prerogative to keep its cultural heritage intact!

And why am I so passionate about this? Because of Galatians 3:24 (KJV)

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

These ideologically addled fools want us to forget about the law because their Father Beelzebub doesn’t want us to come to the freedom which can only be found Christ! Something our UEL ancestors obviously understood, with all that Postmodern nonsense about my forefathers’ patriarchal tyranny, white privilege and ridding ourselves of their post-colonialism aside!

Restoring the Grand Narrative: 14 points to counter ideological possession

Preamble:

 We're in a crisis here in the West unlike anything we have ever seen. This is a crisis which has been long in the making. Due to our lack of confidence in our own cultural heritage, due to our rejection of the Grand Narrative about God, and due to our universities being taken over by critical theorists, everything downstream of our universities have been completely corrupted by parasitical ideas whose express intent is to deconstruct civil society to replace proper civil order with a utopian vision that is dystopic and nihilistic to the core. This so-called “progressive” vision is rapidly creating a dystopic reality where the meaning of words is being altered in order to reject the very nature of our humanity. And this is a crisis which isn't about to go away, no matter how much we may wish it would. It simply cannot be cured by electing another yet another politician from the same political parties that not merely only allowed the crisis to happen but actively cooperated in creating this crisis. This is why conservatives have adopted the language of the left out of a vain attempt to appease a monster that exists for the following basic purposes, to garner sufficient power to tear it all down without ever offering a better vision for the future of humanity that isn’t terrifying.

 In this episode I'll seek to apply a methodical means of restoring what has been literally torn down by those that I like to label as “Marxofascists” since this new ever morphing ideology combines all the worst totalitarian ideas of the 20^th Century. My ancestors were Methodists who believed in applying a set of principles in their Divine worship which would constantly renew their personal relationship with God through Christ. The Methodist movement had such great affect in Great Britian that it is known to have prevented Britain from succumbing to the same revolutionary fervor that led to the murderous French Revolution. So, I will attempt to do something similar by proposing 14 points of action aimed at restoring Godly civil order. Therefore, I invite you to follow along by keeping this blog open as you watch the video so that you may both read my words and hear my voice as I explained this process since I invite you all to participate in it. Moreover, that it is necessary that we participate if we are to hope for Godly order to be restored!

 Allow me to read from Revelation 3:18 (KJV)

 ¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

 Our present dilemma:

 You may not like what I am about to state. In fact, I don't like my observations either, even though I know them to be fundamentally true. There can be no political solution to our moral, philosophical, and spiritual crisis. We are witnessing a species of mass psychosis made possible by social media and the algorithms which control it. AI has become the preferred tool of ideologically possessed manipulators who are driven by a curdling "ressentiment" which causes them to see life through Hegel's dialectical lens.

 We are witnessing an emerging administrative surveillance state which is utterly incapable of managing itself, yet it is beginning to assume total control of our lives on a global scale. The ever-expanding role of government made possible by a metastasizing ideologically possessed bureaucracy has completely undermined the democratic will of the people. The military industrial complex, high tech, corporate pharma, and the investment banking industry in league with Beijing have co-opted our elected representatives to do their bidding to create the perfect blending of all the worst authoritarian ideas of the 20th Century. I call this, "Marxofascism" which is a new tyranny more terrible than anything mankind has ever witnessed. An autocracy that seeks to capture the soul of humanity to return us to serfdom, slavery, and worse, spiritual damnation! Collectively we must awaken for only those who are awake to this present threat to peace, order, and good government can stop this demonic nightmare from being fully realized!

 In this ideological battle for minds and hearts we need to remember that we cannot stop the myriad manifestations of ideological possession without first understanding the lens through which our ideological opponents view the world. Due to them seeing the world through a lens shaped by Hegel's dialectical analysis, it is literally impossible to stop these radicals from dismantling society until we can help them to see the world based upon reality. Those captured by these lies view the world predicated upon parasitic ideas which closely resemble a gnostic mystery religion.  It is a false cult which has replaced the Grand Narrative upon which the West was founded, namely Christianity. Which is why faith, family, and free speech are under assault!

 I find it troubling that many who share my concerns choose to play whack-a-mole with cultural radicals not realizing that our reaction is their real action. The Cultural War’s revolutionaries engage in policies intended to collapse capitalism and personal freedom since they fully intend to have the State assume total control of the economy, legislate what you are permitted to think and say, dictate with whom you are permitted to associate, and limit where you will be allowed to go. Totalizing enterprises invariably exist for this express purpose, to exert power since to them that is all there is. An all powerful, all knowing, Godless idolatrous tyranny where the State will have replaced the Divine. In other words, a Postmodern Tower of Babel doomed to collapse in confusion! This is due to the “Culture Warriors” seeing the world through the Hegelian lens of thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis where two opposing ideas are melded into an impossible synthesised unity. Which is why they can no longer tell the difference between men and women insisting rather that they are essentially the same.

The backdrop for my proposed solution:

I have often mentioned that in my previous life I coached managers in developing processes to create continuous improvement. I trained them in how to support their workforce to provide their workers with tools and information to do their jobs correctly the first time. At the same time, I trained both managers and workers in problem solving methodologies to reduce waste, cost, and unwanted variation. These goals cannot be achieved in a vacuum. What happens in one place of a business will also happen in another within the same business. Often managers unwittingly will have created a system of behaviours that are dysfunctional. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a systematic understanding of the interrelations between what may appear as disparate parts of the whole.

This is why we must help others to see through a lens capable of replacing Hegel’s dialectical analysis of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis to see life through a lens which reveals reality in all its complexities. I will then further attempt to adapt Dr. Deming’s system to reveal the spiritual nature of societal transformation since it will only be through spiritual renewal that we will be able to stop the cultural warriors from “tearing it all down”.

Japan played a very big role in the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, which was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan. The Axis powers were all united in their extreme authoritarianism and in general opposition to the Allies, however they lacked the comparable coordination and ideological cohesion of the Allies.

Shinto and nationalism in Japan

Shinto can't be separated from Japan and the Japanese, but in the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries Shinto became an established state religion, inextricably linked to the cause of Japanese nationalism. The Japanese believed that the State was represented by the Emperor who governed them by Divine prerogative and therefore they owed him absolute obedience.

How did General Douglas MacArthur use Dr. Deming among others to rid post-war Japan of ideological possession?

After World War II, the American teacher and **"consultant in statistical studies" Dr. W. Edwards Deming** was sent to Japan on two occasions by **General Douglas MacArthur** as an adviser to the Japanese Census. During his time in Japan, Dr. Deming met with members of **JUSE (the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers)**, which had been formed in 1946 to aid in the industrial reconstruction of Japan after the war.

Interestingly, a delegation from **Bell Telephone Laboratories** also visited Japan and showcased quality control materials that the Americans had used during the war. Dr. Deming's name was associated with this material, as he had contributed significantly to the development of **statistical quality control courses**. These courses, lasting 8 to 10 days, were attended by thousands of industrialists, engineers, and designers involved in the war effort. The program had a profound impact on both production quality and volume, leading to significant reductions in scrap and rework¹³.

In summary, Dr. Deming's expertise in quality-control techniques, combined with his involvement in Japanese society, played a crucial role in shaping postwar Japan. His emphasis on statistical process control and quality management left a lasting legacy in Japanese industry and beyond¹²⁴.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-03-14

(1) W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993): the man and his message. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-0539-2_5.

(2) W. Edwards Deming - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming.

(3) How Douglas MacArthur Shaped Japan After World War 2 | HistoryNet. https://www.historynet.com/american-proconsul-how-douglas-macarthur-shaped-postwar-japan/.

(4) NAE Website - W. EDWARDS DEMING 1900-1993. https://www.nae.edu/19579/19581/51314/51341/188359/W-EDWARDS-DEMING-19001993.

(5) undefined. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0539-2_5.

So, lets look at the system created by Dr. Edwards Deming known as The Deming System of Profound Knowledge® (SoPK). SoPK is the culmination of Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s lifelong efforts to define a comprehensive theory of management which embraces his 14 Points for Management and acknowledges the “Deadly Diseases” he offered as symptoms of poor management.

As first articulated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge provides a highly integrated framework of thought and action for any leader wishing to transform an organization operating under the prevailing system of management into a thriving, systemically focused organization. His book, The New Economics, presents a detailed explanation of his System of Profound Knowledge.

According to Dr. Deming, in the fourth chapter of The New Economics, “The first step is transformation of the individual. This transformation is discontinuous. It comes from understanding of the system of profound knowledge. The individual, transformed, will perceive new meaning to his life, to events, to numbers, to interactions between people.”

Once the individual understands the system of profound knowledge, he will apply its principles in every kind of relationship with other people. He will have a basis for judgment of his own decisions and for transformation of the organizations that he belongs to. The individual, once transformed, will:

-        ~ Set an example!

-        ~ Be a good listener, but do not compromise.

-        ~ Continually teach other people.

-        ~ Help people to pull away from their current practices and beliefs and move them into the new philosophy without harbouring feelings of guilt about the past.

Dr. Deming’s holistic approach to leadership and management ties together seminal theories in four interrelated areas: appreciation for a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge and psychology. The System of Profound Knowledge promotes transformation through an essential outside “lens” which can benefit anyone and any organization. In chapter 4 of The New Economics, Dr. Deming adds, "One need not be eminent in any part nor in all four parts in order to understand it and apply it. The 14 points for management (Out of the Crisis, Ch. 2) in industry, education, and government follow naturally as application of this outside knowledge, for transformation from the present style of Western management to one of optimization."

This transformation includes:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.

2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.

4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.

5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

6. Institute training on the job.

7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.

8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.

9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.

10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.

11a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.

11b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.

12a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

12b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective.

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

From Deming, W. Edwards. Out of The Crisis (MIT Press) (pp. 23-24)

Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge provides a distinctive map of theory for people in all organizations to continually improve, with the aim for everybody to win.

 

Demings Len’s in pictorial form:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lens of Profound Understanding of God’s purpose

 

And my adaptation of Dr. Deming’s 14 points to counter the present culture war:

1. Create constancy of purpose among Christians toward improving how the dissemination of Godly Truth can overcome ideological possession while winning new warriors in this ideological battle on behalf of Christ.

2. We must come to understand our opponents’ ideology. Society is in the midst of a new culture war. Western leaders both spiritual and secular must awaken to this challenge, must learn their responsibilities to defeat the voices which seek to tear down our culture, and take the responsibility of leadership to restore Godly order.

3. Cease dependence on others to restore sanity. Eliminate the belief that it is someone else’s job to speak Truth to the powerful who seek to gain total control of speech.

4. End the practice of awarding control of education on the basis of convenience. Move toward a single unifying cultural vision which will renew faith in our institutions whose job it is to preserve our Christian heritage while renewing loyalty and trust in the basic values we inherited from our forefathers.

5. Improve constantly and forever our methods and outreach of preaching the Gospel as an antidote to ideological possession to increase our effectiveness as missionaries in service of the Truth.

6. Institute training the whole church in the meat of the Word not merely the clergy who have failed to counter the lies of the evil one.

7. Institute church leadership based upon the pattern spoken of in the Holy Scriptures according to 1 Corinthians 14:26 (KJV): “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” The aim of Christian fellowship should be to help believers function as the Scriptures admonish us rather than merely sitting and listening to a sermon while we stand and sit when invited like so many robots who do not actually participate actively when we gather. Our meetings are therefore in need of overhaul, as well as those who are supposed to lead them.

8. Drive out the fear to speak out, so that everyone may work effectively for the perpetuation of the Gospel in the face of the onslaught of the prevailing ideological possession. We need to admit that the present prevailing ideological possession can only be driven out with much prayer and fasting. Ephesians 4: 14-16 (KJV) 14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”

9. Break down sectarian barriers between denominations. People possessed of the New Birth must set aside such arbitrary divisions in the Church to work in unity as Christ’s Body armed with the wisdom to foresee and counter the inevitable problems we will face as we fight this Marxofascist ideology.

10. Eliminate simplistic memes, slogans, and silly explanations for the complexities of this ideological possession. Such reductionist nonsense only helps to create unrealistic expectations. Or worse, the idolatrous belief that the next great leader can solve a moral, philosophical, and spiritual crisis. The bulk of the causes for ideological possession belong to a Marxofascist system which has inhabited our cultural institutions and thus lies beyond the power of any one person to resolve.

11.  Eliminate unattainable goals and timelines to defeat Marxofascism and substitute that with true spiritual leadership.

12. Remove the barriers which rob the ordinary Christian from their right to being discipled. It is the responsibility of Church leaders to assist in equipping the entire Body with the full armour of God.

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and spiritual growth so that each fellowship has a powerful team of faithful believers ready, willing and able to counter the Hegelian dialectical nonsense and idea pathogens of the WOKE cult.

14. Put everyone in every congregation at work to accomplish this Spiritual transformation. It is everybody's job to fulfill what Jesus has admonished us to pray in Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”!

My final thoughts and earnest prayers for you:

If His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we will need to understand the complexities of our present situation. This process must invariably begin with ensuring that we are living in the will of God. That my friends must first begin with our individual repentance and then an acknowledgement that the Church in its present state has failed to counter the leading false doctrines of our time! We are worse off than the local church in Pergamum written of in the Book of Revelation which needed to repent since it had fallen prey to the Nicolaism, which was a cult that distorted Christian teachings. The struggle of the Nicolaitans echoes the importance for us in using discernment to resist false doctrines. Yet what do I hear from most local fellowships today? Next to nothing useful to counter the prevailing false ideology of our time which has literally captured and hollowed out our sacred institutions to corrupt our system of governance and pervert the Rule of Law. A species of Godless perversion so ridiculous that its disciples can no longer state with assurance the difference between men and women!

In an article written by Jamie Sarkonak in the National Post entitled: We didn't need 'person with a vagina' added to the legal vernacular

For the second time in the past year, the Supreme Court of Canada has adopted terminology promoted by gender activists published on Mar 14, 2024

The term “person with a vagina” made its legal debut in Canada last Friday. It’s inclusive-speak for “woman,” and now it’s part of the vernacular of the Supreme Court.

The decision in which it was used, R v. Kruk, dealt with sexual assault, and whether it was correct in law to assume that women know when they are being penetrated by a penis. The answer turned out to be yes, as one would imagine, but the reasoning to get there took a bizarre route. Writing for all judges (except for Justice Malcolm Rowe, who wrote a concurring opinion), Justice Sheilah Martin wrote: “Where a person with a vagina testifies credibly and with certainty that they felt penile‑vaginal penetration, a trial judge must be entitled to conclude that they are unlikely to be mistaken.

“While the choice of the trial judge to use the words ‘a woman’ may have been unfortunate and engendered confusion, in context, it is clear the judge was reasoning that it was extremely unlikely that the complainant would be mistaken about the feeling of penile‑vaginal penetration.”

This wasn’t a ruling on how to properly identify the sexes. Indeed, what it was trying to do was make the distinction between women in general, “a woman,” and a particular woman at the centre of the case. But the effort to dispel any confusion did not pay off, and the passage ended up puzzling lawyers and laymen alike. While the decision mentioned the word “woman” more than 20 times, in one instance, it opted to crudely identify people — in this case, the victim of a rape — by their genitals. The vocabulary used isn’t central to the case, but it’s still noteworthy, given that it was deliberately chosen.”

Yes, madness has invaded Canada’s Supreme Court while our tax dollars are being used to fund ideological insanity!