Many people mistake entertainment for philosophy - or worse, they mistake propaganda for philosophy.
I've heard many people repeat the ideas of a comedian that "Cigarettes might take 10 years off your life - but those are the shitty years where you'll get food by a tube and poop in a colostomy bag," - and use that idea as a rationalisation for their tobacco addiction. Of course, the idea doesn't stand up to a moment's scrutiny. If cigarettes do shorten your life, it's not like they'll just take off the bad years - they'll just make the bad years come earlier.
People repeat advertising slogans like "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," or "Diamonds are forever." It's not true - diamonds aren't particularly rare, and are a rather poor store of value. As Epstein writes in his famous piece for The Atlantic: "The diamond-holding public, which includes people who inherit diamonds, had to remain convinced that diamonds retained their monetary value. If it saw price fluctuations in the diamond market and attempted to dispose of diamonds to take advantage of changing prices, the retail market would become chaotic. It was therefore essential that De Beers maintain at least the illusion of price stability."
Another phrase which I read carelessly thrown about, is the line from Tim Minchin's poem 'Storm' - "Do you know what they call alternative medicine/That's been proven to work?/Medicine." - even that wouldn't be so bad, except that people normally stylise it as "Do you know what they call alternative medicine that works? Medicine." - a subtle change in wording which makes a much bolder statement. With either statement, in the context of the poem, Minchin's point is that we shouldn't use alternative medicines, and that we shouldn't even consider the use of them. To go along with that, we'd have to assume that either: the modern body of scientific knowledge is perfect and lacks nothing, or that the pursuit of truth is beyond lowly non-scientists such as ourselves, or even to scientists who are outside of a laboratory. If we are interested in truth, the ideas which we carry in our heads should open us to greater paths of knowledge, not limit us to our prejudices.
Your thoughts, your words and your actions are valuable. Don't allow anyone to get a free ride in your brain. "Culture is not your friend." Don't allow a pithy expression to be accepted as true, just because it's cute. The truth is not a meme.
About me
My name is Kurt Robinson. I grew up in Australia, but now I live in Guadalajara, Jalisco. I write interesting things about voluntaryism, futurism, science fiction, travelling Latin America, and psychedelics. Remember to press follow so you can stay up to date with all the cool shit I post, and follow our podcast where we talk about crazy ideas for open-minded people, here: 