SOUNDING SMART

I don’t have a lot of pet peeves. At least I don’t think I do. But please humor me by letting me vent about one of them.

It’s what people do to make others think that they are smart. In doing this, they either fall for the old “form over substance” error (or hope that others will). Or they apparently think that regardless of the merits of what they say, these tactics make up for any lack of truth or reliability.

Here are a few of them:

Being passionate – the emotion or “hot air” takes attention from the actual content that is being communicated. It says, “I’m smart – see how emotional I can get about this?”

Seeming cool & professorial (whatever that is) gives the impression of studied, dispassionate impartiality.  

Pushing the limits on polite speech (aka cussing, etc.) in order to sound sophisticated, clever, or cutting edge.

Using all kinds of supposedly authoritative information. Mounds of words & paragraphs prove nothing, especially if it’s too much for anyone who actually has a life has time to sift thru.

I’ve done my share of academic research & writing. Enough to know that a few letters behind someone’s name isn’t a guarantee that they are a reliable source of information.

Real experience in the real world, speaking with clarity & conciseness – that’s where smart comes from & where it is expressed.

The job of a teacher (in broad terms, a teacher is anyone who wants to communicate & bring information to others) is not to cloud things or complicate the subject. It is to “make the complicated simple.”

MOTIVATION

Our New Mexico legislature is apparently looking again at the legalization of recreational pot. I can’t speak as an expert on medicinal pot, but I will speak on what some legislators & special interest groups want to do in de-criminalizing & legalizing recreational.

What I say is based on 3 things: 1) the historical prohibition of producing, selling, possessing, & using pot after it became an issue in America; 2) common sense about it that is based on its effect on people (there is plenty of research out there if you care to google it); & 3) the negative effect pot has had on my & following generations.

Motivation is a huge part of why people do things.

Legislators & the special interest groups who advocate for legalization of recreational pot don’t do that in a vacuum. They also don’t do it from altruistic motivations. 

One of the primary arguments they use is that it will increase tax revenues coming into the state treasury. (Ironically, they claim that they will use part of those revenues to fund better mental health care.) They have a vested economic interest in the legalization & taxation of recreational pot. 

THIS CANCELS OUT ANY CONCERN THEY MIGHT HAVE FOR ITS NEGATIVE RESULTS.

On the other hand, people who oppose legalizing recreational pot have no economic interest in the results of the legislation. If it passes, we are not affected negatively or positively. (At least initially; public safety & other issues will ultimately raise vehicle insurance rates, etc. But that is another issue for another time.)

What I am saying is that those who oppose pot legalization are motivated for reasons that that are actually altruistic. We have nothing to gain or lose economically. But we do have specific concerns & reasons why we believe it should continue to be against the law.

Remember this when you start seeing propaganda intended to push this down our throats.