In today’s podcast, I deconstruct the absolutely absurd flawed critical thinking process demonstrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson about the safety and efficacy of experimental gene therapy mRNA drugs in a 25 minute podcast between himself and Patrick Bet-David. However, there were already so many critical thinking failures stated by deGrasse Tyson in the first 8 minutes of the 25-minute podcast, that I stopped watching after 8 minutes and critiqued only these 8 minutes. For if I critiqued the entire 25 minute podcast, I was likely to find twice the critical thinking failures I discuss above, and my critique would have turned into a multi-hour affair. In any event, I reviewed just the first 8 minutes of his 25 minute interview because that was more than sufficient to delineate the type of critical thinking failures one must avoid that will destroy not only your physical health but will destroy your financial health.
The Overall Benefits of Building a Solid Critical Thinking Framework
Critical thinking frameworks for one topic can always be applied to other topics so one does not need to be an expert or specialist in another subject matter to still spot the inherent flaws in an argument presented out of your area of expertise. This is the value of such exercises as the one I’ve presented in the above podcast. Become a better critical thinker in one subject matter and it will enhance your decision making across a variety of different topics, including even investing and wealth building.
Even if you read this entire article, ensure you watch the entire podcast above, because as someone that studied neurobiology and cellular biology in university and worked in healthcare for 4 years post university graduation, including administering immunization programs, the most important points I make about the absurd failures in critical thinking made by deGrasse Tyson is not in the content of this article, but in the above podcast.
In almost every instance in which a demagogue successfully led masses of people into adopting mass delusional beliefs, he or she has been very well versed in “how to sound smart” while really saying nothing of consequence at all. Not only has this tactic been a very effective tactic in baiting people into believing that drugs that clearly have not been tested for safety by any rigorous scientific standards are completely safe for consumption, but this tactic has been repeatedly deployed in the investment industry by charlatans to sell “can’t fail”, “as safe-to-near-guaranteed” investment strategies to the masses that ultimately fail and cause massive losses in personal wealth.
And if you cannot learn to identify how such information sold as “safe” on the surface is truly dangerous and risky if blindly followed, it will not only destroy your physical health but it will demolish your financial health as well. If you follow someone that destroys your financial health, this obstacle, while undesirable, can still be overcome with hard work, better education and discipline. However, if you follow someone that destroys your physical health, this obstacle often can never be overcome for the rest of your life. Thus, this is the reason I always emphasize a strong critical thinking framework as the essential foundation in building a better life.
If you cannot identify the gatekeepers that continuously spin facts in the most deceitful manner to mislead the greatest amount of people possible into making harmful decisions, then there is no chance you will ever make the right choices in your life, whether about your physical or financial health. Thus using Neil De Grasse Tyson as an example of a demagogue that spreads dangerous, 100% provable lies and presents them as facts, let me deconstruct the Gatekeeper talking points in all areas that you must learn to identify to thrive in 2023. Once you learn to deconstruct these talking points in the manner I explain in the above podcast, you will be able to immediately identify lies in politics, finance and investing as well or at least have the discernment to question talking points, that on the surface, appear to be factual but may be the exact opposite.
