Get any book of mine free. Here's how.

Kevin Pezzi, MD

I developed technology to instantly
stop school shooters and other criminals,
such as rapists, robbers, home invaders,
and shoplifters. I also created ways to block
airborne germ transmission. Read more >

Iconoclastic views on economics, politics, technology, science, and life.

Disagree with something I wrote? So do I! Read more

“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”

— Elbert Hubbard, American editor, publisher, and writer (1856–1915)

Trivia: He and his wife, Alice Moore Hubbard, the noted feminist and writer, died aboard the RMS Lusitania, which was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine on May 7, 1915, when they were heading to Europe to cover the war and interview Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

If you disagree with something I wrote, feel free to challenge it. Some of my viewpoints are the antithesis (exact opposite) of what they once were. That isn't flip-flopping; that is changing opinions with scant evidence to support them into convictions with a firmer foundation of facts.

My political philosophy is an amalgamation of libertarian, conservative, and liberal principles. My opinions have changed so significantly that my conservative friends might be horrified by how I strongly believe that liberals are correct on certain issues. I've previously written about some of them, but to make this more fun, I will present others as challenges in which I offer $100,000 to the first person who can refute the logic I used in forming that opinion. Please note that due to my limited time and difficulty using my hands after I broke my neck, I cannot quickly update my previously published opinions. However, now that I am balancing the promptings of head and heart, I strongly disagree with many opinions I expressed in my writings.

I like finding people who make me think, not necessarily those who agree with me. Genius Robert Heinlein said, “I never learned from a man who agreed with me.” If you can educate me, I'm all ears.

“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.”
— Albert Einstein

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
— Albert Einstein

“What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation, not people just casting aspersions at each other … it's unbelievable to me the way people act like third graders. And if somebody doesn't agree with them, they're this and they're that … it comes from both sides. And it's just so infantile.”
— Dr. Ben Carson, neurosurgeon

“The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about and refuse to investigate.”
— Dr. Wayne Dyer

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”
— General George Patton

“Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes

“A lot of people risk their lives in a brief act of heroism, which is kind of cool, but Jill has what I call slow heroism. She is risking her professional life on something that her own calculations show may not work for a thousand years—may not ever. So I like to support people that are risking their lives.”
— ex-Microsoft billionaire brainiac Nathan Myhrvold speaking about Jill Tarter, who inspired the character played by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact. It takes a brilliant person to see that others who go against the grain of conventional wisdom may be sages although lesser minds often ridicule their ideas.

“I am not young enough to know everything.”
— Oscar Wilde

“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
— Winston Churchill

“Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.”
— Euripides, Greek tragic dramatist (484 BC - 406 BC)

“It is socially unacceptable to be right too early.”
— Robert Heinlein

“I'd rather stand alone on the truth than with millions on a lie.”

“The most distinctive mark of a cultured mind is the ability to take another's point of view; to put one's self in another's place, and see life and its problems from a point of view different from one's own. To be willing to test a new idea; to be able to live on the edge of difference in all matters intellectually; to examine without heat the burning question of the day; to have imaginative sympathy, openness and flexibility of mind, steadiness and poise of feeling, cool calmness of judgment, is to have culture.”
— Arthur H. R. Fairchild

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”
— Abraham Lincoln

This reminds me of something stressed by one of my psychology professors, who said that society imposes rigid boundaries for what behavior is acceptable, and applies tremendous pressure trying to force people to conform to the behavioral expectations. Some of the most brilliant and productive outside-the-box thinkers led unconventional lives. One of the side effects of forcing people to think inside the box is that by lopping off outside-the-box behavior, potentially great outside-the-box ideas are lost, too.

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.”
— Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (1908-1965)

“You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.”
— John Eliot

Why big shots are often close-minded

A series of experiments (see note #1) reported in the journal Psychological Science sheds light on why powerful people often seem so stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas and hence unwilling to listen to people with them. The upshot of the research is that power—or even the illusion of it—can lead people to grossly overestimate their abilities and inflate their self-esteem. The perception of power can thus “go to one's head.” Powerful people also tend to possess an exaggerated sense of control.

The ability to accurately perceive reality is key to enhancing success and survival, in terms of both evolution and individual lives. Not accurately perceiving reality is incredibly nonadaptive. Gross distortions of the perception of reality occurs in certain psychoses. Some “crazy” people experience hallucinations and delusions that distort their perception of reality and hence are nonadaptive. However, even subtler distortions of reality can produce negative effects. From the standpoint of biology and psychology, the most adaptive beliefs are the ones that most closely comport with reality. Thus, the most adaptive individuals have the most accurate sense of their abilities, neither minimizing them (e.g., people with poor self-esteem) nor overestimating them (e.g., Presidents who know virtually nothing about economics yet think they can solve our economic crisis).

When I worked as an attending ER doctor in a teaching hospital, one of my responsibilities was to supervise resident physicians in the emergency department. I quickly learned that the most dangerous doctors aren't the ones who didn't know something, but the ones who didn't know and wouldn't admit it. If they didn't know, I could teach them. If they told me they knew how to do something (start a central IV line, repair a laceration, intubate, defibrillate, etc.) but really didn't know what the heck they were doing, they could do a lot of damage. I walked in one room and found the resident had defibrillated the patient so many times at such short intervals that the room smelled like a summer barbeque.

Obama fans: Reading Comment #206 (below) will likely keep you from blowing a fuse, thinking this article isn't fair.

When I think of the dangers of people who purposely camouflage their ignorance, I think of Barack Obama. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Obama did nothing to dispel the notion that he is some sort of a once-in-a-lifetime genius—a political Einstein, in other words. However, as an ER doctor with years of experience rapidly assessing the mental status of patients, I knew that Obama was smart, but hardly a genius. His vaunted ability to give speeches is attributable to a flair for reading a teleprompter. In fact, he used that teleprompter crutch to introduce a Cabinet nominee. Why would a genius need a teleprompter to give such a short introductory speech? And why would a genius refuse to release his college records? Might the genius have flunked Economics?

In early March 2009, Obama revealed how little he knows about economics by saying, “What you’re now seeing is, profit and earning ratios are starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you've got a long-term perspective on it.”

Ahem. Even folks who received a D– in Economics 101 know that P/E ratios refer to price-to-earnings ratios, not profit and earnings ratios! This degree of ignorance is like a doctor not knowing what penicillin is, or a builder not knowing what a 2x4 is—it's simply unfathomable! If Obama doesn't know Econ 101 basics, do you think he knows enough to end our economic crisis?

Imagine that you took your young daughter to the ER after she developed a high fever, severe headache, and a new-onset seizure. If most of what the doctor said indicated that she knew little about pediatric emergency medicine, you'd want another doctor, stat. Millions of people who voted for Obama now wish they could change their vote because the President clearly doesn't know how to rescue the economy, nor has he mastered Economics 101. Isn't it odd how people wouldn't tolerate a doctor who was similarly ignorant, yet they put up with a President in dire need of remedial education?

President Obama has enormous power, and it's gone to his head. He is grossly overestimating his abilities. He doesn't know Econ 101 basics, yet he is trying to delude us into thinking that he has The Right Stuff to tinker with our economy without making a bad situation even worse.

Doctors cannot practice medicine without passing many examinations. It's too bad that politicians are not held to the same standard. They can wield far more power even when they don't really know what they're doing. If they sound good, as Obama does, they can enthrall people with their style, but style will not solve this crisis.

Let's return to the ER. Your daughter is still seizing. She's becoming increasingly blue. You scream, “I want another doctor in here NOW!”

You wouldn't choose a doctor because she looked great in a mini-skirt, so why should voters elect politicians because of their style?

Now imagine that a nurse tries to soothe your anger by touting not the qualifications of the ER doctor, but her style. “Hey, you're a man. Don't you just love how her spiffy mini-skirt reveals so much of her luscious legs? And what about her lovely smile? Or her shiny blonde hair?”

If a nurse said anything even half that daffy in such a circumstance, your rage would skyrocket, and rightfully so. Similarly, the Americans who care about substance over style are livid about the inexplicable and even offensive priorities of American voters whose love affair with style put an incompetent captain at the helm of a ship that is navigating very treacherous waters.

Notes:

Fast et al. Illusory Control: A Generative Force Behind Power's Far-Reaching Effects. Psychological Science, 2009; DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02311.x
Free the Idea Monkey (great site and book)
Brand New: Solving the Innovation Paradox -- How Great Brands Invent and Launch New Products, Services, and Business Models
Oreck bankruptcy: Company looking for a buyer, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Comment: David Oreck is admirable, savvy, and very smart, and I don't know if he is too close-minded to consider inventions from independent inventors, but most companies are, and rarely can any company find all the innovation it needs within its ranks. It's too bad he doesn't know about my vacuum cleaner invention that would permit him to leave all competitors in the dust.

The views expressed on this page may or may not reflect my current opinions, nor do they necessarily represent my past ones. After reading a slice of what I wrote in my various websites and books, you may conclude that I am a liberal Democrat or a conservative Republican. Wrong; there is a better alternative. Just as the primary benefit from debate classes results when students present and defend opinions contrary to their own, I use a similar strategy as a creative writing tool to expand my brainpower—and yours. Mystified? Stay tuned for an explanation. PS: The wheels in your head are already turning a bit faster, aren't they?

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Reference: Imagining dialogue can boost critical thinking: Excerpt: “Examining an issue as a debate or dialogue between two sides helps people apply deeper, more sophisticated reasoning …”

Comments (1)

What about Bush?

It's one thing to criticize Obama, but his predecessor showed a deliberate and willful ignorance to accept new ideas -- even going so far as to wear his ignorance and arrogance as though it were a badge of honor. To give Bush a pass but to criticize Obama smacks of hypocrisy, or pro-Republican bias. If you admonish one, you must treat the other equally.

REPLY FROM KEVIN PEZZI: You raise a good point. Bush was—and likely always will be—about as open to new ideas as Casey Anthony is open to discussing her guilt. I loathe close-mindedness, so I'm no fan of Bush, but I was politically asleep during most of his presidency. Furthermore, during those years, I was a staunch Republican, so I was inclined to give Republicans a pass. If you read some of my recent blog postings, you'll see that Republicans no longer enjoy that immunity with me; I figuratively give 'em both barrels.

Every article I write is a snapshot of my opinions at that time, but many of my opinions have changed substantially since I wrote them. I update some if I have time when I stumble across something I previously wrote that I now strongly disagree with, but I don't have time to keep every opinion updated. I have dozens of websites and several hundred web pages, some of which are as long as a book. Add that to the many books I've written (and am writing), and the many other things I'm involved in, and there just isn't enough time to do even 10% of what I'd like to do.

BTW, as an example of my political metamorphosis, see my article blasting Fox News. I'm not through with them yet.

Now that I am more open-minded, I agree with some liberal opinions I once pilloried with a passion, and I even have some nice things to say about Obama (for example, read my article explaining why he's not a socialist).

I am not anti-Obama. Some of what he does is truly impressive, such as signing the JOBS Act that enables business financing via crowdfunding.

I understand Obama's appeal but I also understand why he riles his detractors. Frankly, he gives them lots of ammo to blast him. He tries to cover his tracks with lame excuses such as pretending he's just a bystander who doesn't know what people in his Administration are doing until he reads about it in the papers, but the ones he fools are just that. I'd prefer an Obama more secure in himself so he can proudly tout his achievements while not feeling the need to camouflage his mistakes. I've yet to hear of any great person who was perfect or nearly so. People who don't raise eyebrows in church generally don't do anything great. There's a reason for that.

The fans who always support Obama aren't doing him a favor. Without them, and without his extensive network of paid-to-smear bloggers, he would feel a burning need to do even more than he has, and he would deliver it. The potential of most people remains latent until it is unleashed by a painful but potent weapon: ridicule. As I discussed in an article, social rejection fuels motivation. Research supports that conclusion, and I've seen the truth of it in my life, comfortably on cruise control and wasting 99% of my talent until a fire was lit under me.

President Obama hit a home run by signing the JOBS Act, but he could hit a grand slam that won the World Series by introducing a reform that would save the United States while thrilling his enemies, not just his supporters. I introduced that idea years ago and no one has yet found any fault in it other than suggesting that some politicians may not like it because they like controlling us more than helping us. My plan would be wildly popular with liberals, conservatives, and everyone in between, from the Tea Party to the Give Me More party.