Three substitutes for logic

by Jon Rappoport

June 28, 2016

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Since logic is no longer taught as a required subject in schools, the door is open to all sorts of bizarre reactions to the presence of information.

Here are three favorites:

One: grab the headline or the title of an article, make up your mind about how you “feel,” and ignore everything else.

Two: Actually read the article until you find a piece of information that appeals to you for any reason; latch on to it, and run with it in any direction. In all cases, the direction will have nothing to do with the intent of the article.

Three: From the moment you begin to read the headline of the article, be in a state of “free association.” Take any word or sentence and connect it to an arbitrary thought or feeling, associate that thought with yet another arbitrary thought…and keep going until you become tired or bored.

You might be surprised at how many people use these three “methods of analysis.”

The very idea that the author of the article is making a central point doesn’t really register. And certainly, the notion that the author is providing evidence for the central point and reasoning his way from A to B to C is alien.

A college liberal education? These days it could be imparted in a matter of weeks, simply by hammering a small set of values into students’ skulls—along with requisite guilt and fear at the prospect of wandering off the reservation.

Logic as a subject is viewed with grave suspicion, as if it might involuntarily take a person down the wrong track and dump him in a politically incorrect ditch—a fate to be avoided at all costs.

Therefore, the practice of rational debate is on the way out. Too risky. Besides, the preferred method of dealing with opponents is screaming at them, shoving them off stage, and whining about “being triggered.”

If you think obtaining what’s called a liberal college education is vastly overrated (and absurdly expensive), you’re right. Learning logic, instead, would be a good start down a different road.

And an analysis of the principle of “greatest good for the greatest number” would be very, very useful—since it underpins so much of values-centered education these days.

What does greatest good mean, specifically? How would it be achieved? Who would implement it? How would the implementation affect individual freedom?

Wrestling with these questions would open up whole new territories of insight.

As I’ve mentioned in past articles, when I taught a few basics of logic to middle-school students, the clutter in their minds receded. They found the ability to follow a line of thought—for the first time, they recognized there was such a thing as a connected flow of reasoning from A to B to C to D. The lights went on.

The world may be sinking into deeper levels of know-nothing non-rationality, but that’s not a good excuse for trailing along down into the swamp. It should be a wake-up call to go the other way.

No matter what anyone says, it’s not a crime to be smarter than other people.


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Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.

8 comments on “Three substitutes for logic

  1. Josh Vaughn says:

    “You might be surprised at how many people use these three ‘methods of analysis.'”

    After 20 years of observing people dump their ‘thoughts’ on the internet? not at all.

  2. barn moose says:

    I think we’ve adequately ‘described the problem.’ Ad nauseum, in fact.

    That may partially account for the scattershot quality of comments:

    Been there. Described that. Little effect. What difference does any of this make. Gush.

  3. barn moose says:

    Another motive for commenting is to register that you are ‘here’. You could say: “I am here. I am thinking about it.” -or- “I am confounded. My thoughts not fully formed.” -or- “Eureka! Not sure what that implies just yet.”

    Or you could effuse, as you describe.

    If we were in the same room it would be different. Effusing is not so easily ignored. Different energies are at play.

  4. will iam says:

    Forget about the greatest good, it means absolutely nothing if you can’t see and are denying what is.

    Teach people to first see the hand in front of their faces.

    The greater good is what has the masses giving away their power because it will always be ‘tomorrow’, and the “greatest good”, no matter who believes “it”, is a dead end because it is a judgment.

    Do you think truth has anything to do with that?!!

    Truth has to be in the moment, how could it not? 🙂

  5. D and J Oldfield says:

    DEAR JON, “MACDONALDS” NEED MEAT =BRAZIL GROWS MEAT ON RAINFOREST =INDIGENOUS FOLK MUST DIE THIS EQUALS MODERN LOGIC. kindest regards david oldfield……..in the lucky land down under

  6. Paul says:

    Never let your schooling interfere with your education – Winston Churchill
    I reserve the right to be smarter today than I was yesterday. John F. Kennedy

    Most of us don’t understand higher or even intermediate 3D thought. We often intuit that something significant is being said but realize we don’t quite get it. The adventurous ones jump in anyway to see what is triggered in oneself or what it may trigger in others. If one jumps in the pool and cannot swim, then they are presented with the challenge of staying alive by pushing their abilities to the limit. Conscientization will happen gradually, there are no shortcuts. Please allow me to use your thoughts as a springboard, that I may move to where my thoughts lead me next. It may be comforting to you that I immerse myself in your point, however, I am merely using your thoughts for my own purposes.

  7. theskyisfallingweb says:

    Super article. Concise and sad! I have also taught logic to students, and it’s transformational.

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