I am utterly amazed at the reaction to the announcement that the US has been in a recession since December of 2007.  Amazed.  Some reactions are absolutely, mind-bogglingly insane that I can’t even have conversations with some people.  People are shocked??  REALLY?? Shocked?!  I thought we were all just playing the game that we all know what was going on, but we can’t use the”R” word because some people might panic.  No?  We weren’t playing that game?  Was there a memo I missed?

Look… it’s not that hard.  But just in case you think I’m being overly critical (a shocking concept, I know ), let’s use an example.  As a child you learn to categorize and define things:

An object has four sides.

Grade school kids will quickly define that object as either a Square or a Rectangle based on the length of the sides.  As you get older, you learn that the object might also be called a Quadrilateral and that depending on the angles that those four sides create, it could be a Diamond, a Rhombus, Kite, Trapezoid, or a plain old Parallelogram.  And as you delve deeper into mathematics and geometry, you learn that the basic, friendly Square you met with your blocks really isn’t as simple as you first learned in preschool–a Square is a “special geometrical case” with very specific rules and definitions that determine whether you can classify a Polygon as a “Square.”  If it doesn’t meet those rigid standards, it isn’t a Square.  If it does, it is.  And the people rejoice!

What do we learn here?

At first glance, instinct tells you that it’s a Square.  After the academics bludgeon you with definitions, equations, logic proofs and explanations of the rarity of the “Square,” you find out after a year of examination that it was, indeed, a Square even considering all of those things.  You might not have known exactly why  it was a Square, but you knew.  Oh… you knew.

Instinct is usually correct. 

Does the mass population really need someone with some kind of perceived “authority” to tell them that it’s a Square?  We’ve all seen the patterns, we all know the definitions, we all know what it looks like… why is this a surprise or shock to anyone who has two brain cells to rub together?!  I am incredibly disappointed in the sheep-think mentality that I’ve seen today.  “OMG, did you hear? We’re in a recession!”  I couldn’t take it anymore and had to ask someone today if they have been in a coma for the past year.  I’ve been so stupefied by this reaction that I swear I can feel my teeth trying to retract into my head to chew out my brain.

Today’s Reality 101 Lesson:

Any grade schooler can tell you that if it walks like a duck, and it quack likes a duck… chances are it’s a damn duck.  Learn to use the brains, instinct, and educations that you’ve been given (or purchased, as the case may be) and think for yourself.  You were supposed to learn critical thinking some time in your education.  Yeah… That was one of those things you were supposed to actually digest and apply to real life, not just regurgitate for a test. 

Oops.  Looks like someone might have missed a memo!

You know what?  Just call me when we start discussing Hyperbolic Geometry and Squares no longer have four 90 degree angles. 

Tags: economy, Please tell me you have been in a coma, rants, Reality 101 Lessons, Sheep-think, Social Commentary, society