I thought this might be something worth a look. John Fugelsang interviewed Andy Norman on his podcast last week. Andy Norman was talking about how the human mind is susceptible to beliefs that can harm us and others because we don’t want to either take the time to verify what we hear or because we want to be a part of tribe that believes certain things even if they are not true! I entertained his website and found it very interesting and informative.
Before we knew about germs, our ancestors lived in constant fear of infectious diseases. Smallpox. Tuberculosis. Cholera. Typhoid. For a long time, these seemed unavoidable: a necessary part of the human condition.
Then something amazing happened. We learned about germs. We learned how to control their spread. (Wash your hands, people!) We even discovered we could teach our bodies’ immune systems how to fight off the nasty little buggers. (That’s what vaccines do.) The science of immunology transformed the human condition, saving hundreds of millions – perhaps billions – of lives, and spared humanity untold suffering.
We’re ALL susceptible to mind-infections, and neither intelligence nor education can make you immune. The good news? We can all take steps to reduce our susceptibility. The trick is to keep your mind’s immune system functioning well. This means thinking about your thinking.
The body’s immune system is activated, of course, by germs; the mind’s counterpart is activated by information that conflicts with existing beliefs. Healthy mental immune systems manage such conflict in a particular way: a calm, reflective way that promotes learning, adaptability, and growth. They listen to doubts, consider reasons, seek objective touchstones, and adjust beliefs accordingly.
Digital connectivity made our computers vulnerable to distant hackers. It also networked our minds, exposing them to mind-bugs for which we lack immunity. The following principles will help you care for your mind’s immune system. Put them to work and they’ll protect you from infectious and manipulative information…
You may have heard someone say they have a “right to believe what they want” or that they’re “entitled to their opinion.” Maybe you’ve said it yourself. Legally, this is true: in a free society, we have the right to our beliefs. But as Eleanor Roosevelt reminded us, “With freedom comes responsibility.”
Our beliefs drive our behaviors and inform our decisions. Holding false beliefs can cause us to act in ways that cause harm. For example, a parent who believes in homeopathy may deprive their child of life-saving cancer treatment. Believe you can drive drunk and you might very well harm yourself or others. Our beliefs not only impact us, they can impact those around us, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, we have an obligation to believe responsibly, and to identify and shed problematic beliefs.
What if we could solve today’s “infodemic” problem the same way? Why not afford our minds the same protections we afford our bodies? What if we helped everyone boost their immunity to “viral” misinformation? Imagine the world we could build if mis and disinformation weren’t constantly warping our worldviews and setting us at odds!
Mental immune deficiencies occur when the mind fails to generate the antibodies – doubts, reservations, objections, etc – needed to fend off problematic ideas. If you’re too trusting or gullible, bad information tends to get past your filters.
Mental autoimmunity occurs when the mind’s defenses attack good information, perhaps because it threatens our identity. The mind’s security team, in other words, can become overzealous.
As the saying goes, we want to keep an open mind…but not so open our brains fall out. We can be too gullible AND we can be too critical for our own good. Those with healthy mental immune systems strike a balance.
Mental health professionals have been warning us from the start that he is unfit for office- afflicted by malignant narcissistic personality disorder which in actuality. is composed of: narcissism,sociopathy,paranoia,and sadism.He suffers from the same disorder as Hitler and Mussolini and as such poses a clear and present danger to all of us and to the country.
Trump is paranoid and is a narcissist who is telling us out loud how absolutely crazy he really is. His mental unfitness should be declared by the media every time he speaks.
I think it’s both conscious and unconscious. I think he is deliberately making these comments to scare the hell out of maga and at the same time his psychosis is becoming more violent and inappropriate. Here’s the real scary part, the people who don’t mind this and want him to follow through with it. That keeps me up at night.
It is so obvious that Fascist Trump is mentally ill. Trump has Narcissistic Personality Disorder ( he has every attribute DMS-5) and is incapable of having any introspection or seeing his own illness. He is hard wired to believe that he is special and can say and do anything he wants. Facts are of no matter. He only cares about himself and his family are merely extensions of himself. He will not change or seek help because he can't. He is as dumb as a post, cannot speak English, can't spell, has no knowledge of grammar and he is oblivious to this because he lacks the capacity to do so. His father's wealth bought his way through life and he thinks he is the best. All Narcissists do. The Republicans want to keep him in power to serve their purposes like taking healthcare from the poor and giving the money to their super rich masters, tax reform which is really letting the rich have a life unencumbered with too much taxes. I bet they despise him, but he is useful for now. As Stalin said: “a useful idiot”. We, the people must prevent him and his cronies from gaining office before our democrat republic is destroyed. He will not go quietly. Some of his recent scrambled paranoid language makes me wonder if like his father, he has a form of dementia. Perhaps it will become flagrant so even his minions will see it. If the brave people who founded our country had waited till a more prudent time or less devisive moment to act, we would still be a colony of England.
I’m surprised about those attacks on Biden given he can do a lucid speech etc. AND with Trump as their candidate. Clearly they’re projecting their candidates problems onto Biden, again. Which is what Narcissists do. DARVO.
Trump has always been a clear and present danger to someone his entire life. For the past seven years he has been an existential threat to America and the rest of the free world. Your blog clearly delineates the stark contrast between Biden and Trump. Biden is doing a good job. Trump is doing nothing but ranting and raving and riling up crowds. Clear and present danger. Shout it out loud and clear.
Trump has made a career of believing his own lies. It a lot of projection, a lot of denial and he goes in and out of believing them. Sometimes he remembers that he lied, sometimes the evidence is too strong to deny, but a little bit down the road he'll go right back to believing as this has always been his go-to move. He was never a smart man, couple that with the onset of dementia and he's essentially a puddle of mush.
Trump's sanity should be questioned & is very relevant to the presidential campaign, & should be brought up by the media. I don't care if it's "old news", so is Biden's age (in more ways than 1).
Every time Trump says something deranged, which is every time he speaks, reporters should question his sanity. I don't know if it's dementia or some other psychological disorder. He's been "diagnosed" with psychopathy, sociopathy, paranoia, sadonarcissm, megalomania, & various other forms of depravity, so it could be related to any of them. Mental illnesses have a way of getting worse over time if not treated.
In my previous comment, I forgot to add that the documentary “Unfit” on U Tube is an excellent expose on Trump’s malignant narcissistic personality disorder and a dire warning from several mental health professionals exercising their responsibility to warn the citizenry when there is danger amiss.It should be watched by every citizen who loves democracy and abhors neofascism.Once again-Unfit- is the name of this excellent,documentary.
Why didn't we hear about Reagan's dementia in his second term? He was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia. How long did he have symptoms that were covered up? Who was actually making decisions? I hope it wasn't Nancy using horoscopes.
The media IS reporting on tRump's paranoia. Perhaps they should be reporting on it more stridently, but the media is reporting on it. Expect tRump's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination to attack it more strongly. For now, just follow MSN and Politico. Also read The Guardian.
The sad reality is Trump CAN say anything and his supporters hear what they want to hear. His recent statements defending Putin seem to have
no impact . His polling stats are Rising ! Mind boggling. Will continuing praise of Putin provoke second thoughts among people sympathetic to Trump between now and election day??!! Doubtful. Evidence presented by Pyschiatrists etc that he is paranoid will be ignored. They are ‘experts’ . Experts are a class not to be trusted in contemporary America which is a trend that began back in the 60s among the right and the distrust has only ballooned since as a political reality.
What does it take to wake people from this stupor ???
I’m shocked this has not been widely discussed for years. Experts in dementia should be educating the public about the signs. Along with other symptoms, my dad became paranoid in his last years and could not be reasoned with when he was in that state.
Of course, I suppose the former president could be a better actor than I give him credit for, and preparing for an insanity defense, but I doubt it.
Mr. Reich,
I thought this might be something worth a look. John Fugelsang interviewed Andy Norman on his podcast last week. Andy Norman was talking about how the human mind is susceptible to beliefs that can harm us and others because we don’t want to either take the time to verify what we hear or because we want to be a part of tribe that believes certain things even if they are not true! I entertained his website and found it very interesting and informative.
https://mentalimmunityproject.org
Before we knew about germs, our ancestors lived in constant fear of infectious diseases. Smallpox. Tuberculosis. Cholera. Typhoid. For a long time, these seemed unavoidable: a necessary part of the human condition.
Then something amazing happened. We learned about germs. We learned how to control their spread. (Wash your hands, people!) We even discovered we could teach our bodies’ immune systems how to fight off the nasty little buggers. (That’s what vaccines do.) The science of immunology transformed the human condition, saving hundreds of millions – perhaps billions – of lives, and spared humanity untold suffering.
We’re ALL susceptible to mind-infections, and neither intelligence nor education can make you immune. The good news? We can all take steps to reduce our susceptibility. The trick is to keep your mind’s immune system functioning well. This means thinking about your thinking.
The body’s immune system is activated, of course, by germs; the mind’s counterpart is activated by information that conflicts with existing beliefs. Healthy mental immune systems manage such conflict in a particular way: a calm, reflective way that promotes learning, adaptability, and growth. They listen to doubts, consider reasons, seek objective touchstones, and adjust beliefs accordingly.
Digital connectivity made our computers vulnerable to distant hackers. It also networked our minds, exposing them to mind-bugs for which we lack immunity. The following principles will help you care for your mind’s immune system. Put them to work and they’ll protect you from infectious and manipulative information…
You may have heard someone say they have a “right to believe what they want” or that they’re “entitled to their opinion.” Maybe you’ve said it yourself. Legally, this is true: in a free society, we have the right to our beliefs. But as Eleanor Roosevelt reminded us, “With freedom comes responsibility.”
Our beliefs drive our behaviors and inform our decisions. Holding false beliefs can cause us to act in ways that cause harm. For example, a parent who believes in homeopathy may deprive their child of life-saving cancer treatment. Believe you can drive drunk and you might very well harm yourself or others. Our beliefs not only impact us, they can impact those around us, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, we have an obligation to believe responsibly, and to identify and shed problematic beliefs.
What if we could solve today’s “infodemic” problem the same way? Why not afford our minds the same protections we afford our bodies? What if we helped everyone boost their immunity to “viral” misinformation? Imagine the world we could build if mis and disinformation weren’t constantly warping our worldviews and setting us at odds!
Mental immune deficiencies occur when the mind fails to generate the antibodies – doubts, reservations, objections, etc – needed to fend off problematic ideas. If you’re too trusting or gullible, bad information tends to get past your filters.
Mental autoimmunity occurs when the mind’s defenses attack good information, perhaps because it threatens our identity. The mind’s security team, in other words, can become overzealous.
As the saying goes, we want to keep an open mind…but not so open our brains fall out. We can be too gullible AND we can be too critical for our own good. Those with healthy mental immune systems strike a balance.
These are some of the points brought by
Andy Norman
author of “Mental Immunity” and CEO of
mentalimmunityproject.org And his team
Mental health professionals have been warning us from the start that he is unfit for office- afflicted by malignant narcissistic personality disorder which in actuality. is composed of: narcissism,sociopathy,paranoia,and sadism.He suffers from the same disorder as Hitler and Mussolini and as such poses a clear and present danger to all of us and to the country.
Trump is paranoid and is a narcissist who is telling us out loud how absolutely crazy he really is. His mental unfitness should be declared by the media every time he speaks.
I think it’s both conscious and unconscious. I think he is deliberately making these comments to scare the hell out of maga and at the same time his psychosis is becoming more violent and inappropriate. Here’s the real scary part, the people who don’t mind this and want him to follow through with it. That keeps me up at night.
It is so obvious that Fascist Trump is mentally ill. Trump has Narcissistic Personality Disorder ( he has every attribute DMS-5) and is incapable of having any introspection or seeing his own illness. He is hard wired to believe that he is special and can say and do anything he wants. Facts are of no matter. He only cares about himself and his family are merely extensions of himself. He will not change or seek help because he can't. He is as dumb as a post, cannot speak English, can't spell, has no knowledge of grammar and he is oblivious to this because he lacks the capacity to do so. His father's wealth bought his way through life and he thinks he is the best. All Narcissists do. The Republicans want to keep him in power to serve their purposes like taking healthcare from the poor and giving the money to their super rich masters, tax reform which is really letting the rich have a life unencumbered with too much taxes. I bet they despise him, but he is useful for now. As Stalin said: “a useful idiot”. We, the people must prevent him and his cronies from gaining office before our democrat republic is destroyed. He will not go quietly. Some of his recent scrambled paranoid language makes me wonder if like his father, he has a form of dementia. Perhaps it will become flagrant so even his minions will see it. If the brave people who founded our country had waited till a more prudent time or less devisive moment to act, we would still be a colony of England.
I’m surprised about those attacks on Biden given he can do a lucid speech etc. AND with Trump as their candidate. Clearly they’re projecting their candidates problems onto Biden, again. Which is what Narcissists do. DARVO.
Trump has always been a clear and present danger to someone his entire life. For the past seven years he has been an existential threat to America and the rest of the free world. Your blog clearly delineates the stark contrast between Biden and Trump. Biden is doing a good job. Trump is doing nothing but ranting and raving and riling up crowds. Clear and present danger. Shout it out loud and clear.
Trump has made a career of believing his own lies. It a lot of projection, a lot of denial and he goes in and out of believing them. Sometimes he remembers that he lied, sometimes the evidence is too strong to deny, but a little bit down the road he'll go right back to believing as this has always been his go-to move. He was never a smart man, couple that with the onset of dementia and he's essentially a puddle of mush.
Trump's sanity should be questioned & is very relevant to the presidential campaign, & should be brought up by the media. I don't care if it's "old news", so is Biden's age (in more ways than 1).
Every time Trump says something deranged, which is every time he speaks, reporters should question his sanity. I don't know if it's dementia or some other psychological disorder. He's been "diagnosed" with psychopathy, sociopathy, paranoia, sadonarcissm, megalomania, & various other forms of depravity, so it could be related to any of them. Mental illnesses have a way of getting worse over time if not treated.
In my previous comment, I forgot to add that the documentary “Unfit” on U Tube is an excellent expose on Trump’s malignant narcissistic personality disorder and a dire warning from several mental health professionals exercising their responsibility to warn the citizenry when there is danger amiss.It should be watched by every citizen who loves democracy and abhors neofascism.Once again-Unfit- is the name of this excellent,documentary.
Why didn't we hear about Reagan's dementia in his second term? He was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia. How long did he have symptoms that were covered up? Who was actually making decisions? I hope it wasn't Nancy using horoscopes.
If he was a threat to himself or others he should have been examined. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/involuntary_civil_commitment#:~:text=Involuntary%20civil%20commitment%20refers%20to,outpatient%20treatment%20against%20their%20wishes.
When Trump was president, several members of his cabinet wanted to invoke the 25th Amendment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#:~:text=It%20clarifies%20that%20the%20vice,vice%20president%20can%20be%20filled.
The media IS reporting on tRump's paranoia. Perhaps they should be reporting on it more stridently, but the media is reporting on it. Expect tRump's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination to attack it more strongly. For now, just follow MSN and Politico. Also read The Guardian.
The biggest danger comes from all those who are willing and eager to use the madman to achieve their own political goals.
The sad reality is Trump CAN say anything and his supporters hear what they want to hear. His recent statements defending Putin seem to have
no impact . His polling stats are Rising ! Mind boggling. Will continuing praise of Putin provoke second thoughts among people sympathetic to Trump between now and election day??!! Doubtful. Evidence presented by Pyschiatrists etc that he is paranoid will be ignored. They are ‘experts’ . Experts are a class not to be trusted in contemporary America which is a trend that began back in the 60s among the right and the distrust has only ballooned since as a political reality.
What does it take to wake people from this stupor ???
I’m shocked this has not been widely discussed for years. Experts in dementia should be educating the public about the signs. Along with other symptoms, my dad became paranoid in his last years and could not be reasoned with when he was in that state.
Of course, I suppose the former president could be a better actor than I give him credit for, and preparing for an insanity defense, but I doubt it.
Why are experts not speaking up?