I saw a great bumpersticker last week, which is worth repeating today.

[Skinner]

It said:

"Don't believe everything you think."

When I first saw the bumpersticker my reaction was something like, That makes no sense at all. But after I thought about it for a moment it clicked.

By now you've all heard the story of the alleged foiled British terror plot. And, like clockwork, some people here on DU are already pushing totally baseless speculation about who may have been responsible, or why this happened now.

This post is to remind everyone that just because you can think of something does not mean it is true. Yes, skepticism is a virtue -- we should not blindly believe what the government or the media tell us. But skepticism also includes being skeptical of your own ideas.

I'm just sayin'...

[waiting for hope]

1. Thanks for reminding us...

But there is also a total lack of trust and for good reason - that's the hardest part to overcome.

[Annces]

2. so you think there is no link between yesterday's news and today's news

Hmmmm

[madokie]

3. oh shit now I'm really scared

I know you hear what you want to hear and you see what you want to see but

[Sydnie]

4. You're a smart man, Skinner

and I feel honored to have crossed your path, even from a distance.


You really should post more. You add so much to the conversation when you do.


Thanks again, for all you do to keep us going and thinking.

[Jacobin]

5. Its like clockwork

The massive denial of the fact that there are muslims hacked off enough at the US to retaliate boggles my mind.

[5X]

10. Lay that at bush's feet. If not for the clockwork precision...

of all of the terror threats...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

39. Except that in this case...

...it appears to be muslims born in the UK being hacked off at the UK.

[helderheid]

6. Damnit Skinner! You just spoiled all the fun!

[Jersey Devil]

7. Well, we did the formula for fizzy drinks ironed out

Diet Coke & Mentos a deadly combination!

[NMDemDist2]

8. that's a good one Skinner

you mind can be your worst enemy

[patdem]

9. Skinner, I think alot of this is just funnin..It's like we live in a comic

book world. When they use words like "mass murder on an unimaginable scale." it tends to make it look like they are trying to make us more AFRAID than INFORMED..so we just having some fun. I know it looks to the rest of the world like we DON'T believe ANYTHING, but more than disbelieving the plot, I think we are looking agog at the timing of the announcement, and the reaction by our 'Saviors' that is making us skeptical. (See Mitt Romney)

[marions ghost]

31. right

in a world where Truth is as elusive as Osama...all is disinformation til proven otherwise.

[CrispyQ]

11. Harr!

I've gotta find that sticker!

[sendero]

12. Exactly..

... that's why one has to be careful with the term "flip-flopper".

If you never change your mind, maybe it's not working.

[gordianot]

13. The late Idi Amin said it best.

"Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking."
--Idi Amin

[Junkdrawer]

14. The Little Boy who Cried Wolf....

Maybe if this were only the 11th or 12th false alarm...

[TahitiNut]

15. "All that we are is a result of what we have thought." — Buddha

"Sometimes I feel like a figment of my own imagination." — Lily Tomlin

[glitch]

25. Who said "you only exist because I occasionally think of you" ?

Thanks for Lily Tomlin early morning smile.

[TahitiNut]

33. Dunno... but Lily Tomlin is an underappreciated philosopher.

It must be her Detroit roots.

[glitch]

42. I saw her one woman show when it hit Seattle a few years ago.

Amazing, and the standing ovation would not stop.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

16. Thanks, Skinner.

I'll keep that in mind today while reading the threads on DU....

[northernsoul]

17. Amen, brother

I like my hasty conclusions supported by just a smidgen of empirical evidence.

[Ohio Joe]

18. Well Said

Myself, I like to wait until more information is available before giving any real reaction, first reports seem to never give enough information for me to reach any real conclusion. This may be real or it may be fake, I don't know enough yet to know.

[zippy890]

19. thanks, good for perspective

was going to avoid DU today because of Tin Foil Hat-O-Rama posts

[rug]

20. So I shouldn't call Congress right now?

[stepnw1f]

21. kick (nt)

[maddezmom]

22. Thanks for the reminder

[pinto]

23. Good one.

[Swamp Rat]

24. LOL!

[LSK]

26. 2 years ago the common GD theme would be to claim BS on this

Today the common GD theme is to swallow the official story and put down the ones claiming BS.

What is happening here?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

38. Why not wait until we get some information...

...before jumping to conclusions? That seems the most reasonable approach.

[sistersofmercy]

27. Yes, a very wise statement. n/t

[Iniquitous Bunny]

28. I have no doubt there likely was a terrorist plot.

I think they're just running with it to increase their mantra of "FEAR, FEAR, FEAR- Follow our foreign policy and we'll protect you from the terrorists."

We're smart enough to not be persuaded to support their policies which do not work, but sadly, some people are that fearful and short-sided in our country. Because of that, I think we need to remain vigilant and ask the tough questions.

[zbdent]

29. I can just see some freepturd ... "Think ... think ...

this means something ..."

[LynneSin]

30. Come on Skinner, Cheney said this stuff would happen if Lieberman lost

and he did. The terrorist were just waiting for the official results from CT before enacting their plans!

[patcox2]

32. Lamont voters embolden our enemies!

yes, indeed, precisely as predicted.

[LoZoccolo]

34. Great advice, but I think when people theorize wildly...

...there's could be some other stuff going on too, like wanting to feel more perceptive than the vast majority of people, or wanting to be the first person to "discover" the "real goings-on". These rewards might seem greater to some than that of having a solid grasp on reality!

[lectrobyte]

35. Think for yourself. Question authority.

That's all I have to say about that.

[RobertSeattle]

36. Choose your MYTHS Carefully

[hfojvt]

37. "Pooh began to feel a little more comfortable,

because when you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it..."

Keynes said something similar in the preface to his now classic economics book, but I do not have a copy of THAT sitting around here that I can quote from.

[Xenotime]

40. My father used to say..

"Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see."

[tomp]

48. i know that line from "heard it through the grapevine". nt

[Hoping4Change]

41. Excellent advice. Thanks.

[WilliamPitt]

43. If you type it on DU, it is immediately true

Or something.

[petgoat]

44. I can't resist leavening that one with another great one:

Never Believe Anything Until
it's been Denied by at Least Two
High-Level Official Sources

[WildEyedLiberal]

45. Kicked for sanity

Nice to see that 90% of GD is doing exactly what you warn against and screaming about how they "know" it's all a hoax.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

46. God Bless You Skinner.

I mean that with the deepest sincerity. Your posts are always a breath of fresh air and I find myself wishing you posted more often in GD.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

47. well said

[lostnfound]

49. I believe so little of what I think that I end up a tabula rosa..

or, just mixed up: hence, "lostnfound".

The last 5 years are wearing on me.
How I long for clarity of worldview.

[immoderate]

50. A variation...

Sometimes when I am engaged in a serious philosophical discussion, I'll pose this reality check: "Do you think that everything you believe is true?" I've done it a few times in discussions on DU.

Anybody who answers yes sets himself up for the paradox posed by the next question, "Does anyone else on earth share your exact set of beliefs?" If the response is no, which makes sense, then the implication is that everyone else on earth believes something that is false except you.

Assume that everybody's belief system is unique. At most, only one person can have it right.

--IMM

[RagingInMiami]

51. That is a good one

I wouldn't mind getting one of those. Would it be a copyright violation if DU comes up with a sticker like that?