April Fools Day

Usually no one wants to behave like a fool. But a little-considered fact is that in feudal times the court jester, or fool, was not only a performer; but because he was considered a fool, he was the only one who could tell hard truths to the king without fear of losing his head, literally. (See King Lear for examples.)

Accordingly, here are some things to consider that are often ignored or overlooked.

I recently heard a kind, caring person say with respect to ridding an area of beavers causing damage, “You shouldn’t do that; that would be messing with nature” and another said something similar about controlled burns in a park prairie. Without messing with nature, we would not exist. The human race would have died off without meat by killing animals, without fruit and vegetables by clearing fields for farming and keeping the pests away. We have always been messing with nature in order to adapt and survive. Even nature messes with nature in the sense that cheetahs kill antelope and lightning causes burning to allow for renewal. We shouldn’t unnecessarily mess with nature. That would be a waste, and waste is bad. But to make such a blanket statement seems foolish.

Consider this: In 1985 the first Blockbuster video store opened. At its peak there were nearly 9100 of them, providing jobs for over 84,000 people. Today there is only one in the world, and I’m sure they are not depending on support from corporate headquarters. In less than 35 years an entire industry was created and all but disappeared, and no one misses it. Just to stay in business for that long they had to transition from videotapes to DVDs. The story serves as an excellent example of how quickly the world is changing, and it’s only getting faster. It reinforces my argument that America cannot survive if Americans refuse to change, continue to behave in the same ways they have in the past, particularly with respect to making unwise decisions and choices in the 5 key dimensions.

This website asks, “Could the type of shampoo you use actually CAUSE Alzheimer’s, or even worse, cancer?" The site is called trustworthy fitness, but it appears to be anything but trustworthy as it also advertises a free one-minute tummy-toning workout – as in spot reducing, which has been shown over and over to be totally bogus. But back to the shampoos – If you search for "shampoos and Alzheimer’s" on the Internet the first page of the browser shows 9 links to pages passing along the dreadful news about how toxic the chemicals in shampoos and skin creams are. 

Only a single one has an opposing view, a YouTube video from a McGill University Professor of Chemistry examining the science and alleviating any concerns about those chemicals. In the only study he found, researchers exposed cells extracted from rats’ brains to a preservative used in the leading shampoos, and found that they didn’t grow properly. Gee, that’s pretty scary stuff, if you assume your brain is so similar to a rat’s, and if you plan to expose your brain cells directly to the chemical! In summary, there is nothing to this claim; it’s completely bogus. But the Internet search leads to the truth only 10% of the time. Critical thinking anyone?

So have a happy April Fools Day, and don’t believe everything you see, hear or read – not just today, but every day and for the rest of your life. By the way, your shoelace is untied 😀.