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I don't know where it originally came from, but Stewart Brand published a saying in the old Whole Earth Catalog, "smart but not wise."

I read that back in the seventies, and it has come to mind on myriad occasions since, when encountering the pronunciomentos of "smart people."

Regardless of intellectual deftness, people are subject to the will of their basic emotional drives. Fear trumps all others, and so-called "smart" people are extremely vulnerable to fear of things not proximal to them. Memory correlates with intelligence, and pattern recognition is also largely imprinted as a function of memory.

Smart people remember a lot of things, wise people are those that properly categorize the things they remember. The two cohorts overlap to some degree, but perhaps not to as great a degree as we might suppose....

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Glad to see you moving toward becoming an anarchist! No leaders, no institutions! No management class! No bureaucracy!

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Fear could do that especially to old men like Chomsky. Fear for their own lives. Not excusing them. Reminds me of that story of Bertrand Russel falling into a hole and being rescued by an old lady only if he recanted his atheist ways

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"And then there is the psychological effect of the Big Lie which is axiomatic in gaslighting. The paradox here is that the bigger the lie, the harder it is for the mind to bridge the gulf between perceived reality and the lie that authority figures are painting as truth. I believe that the prospect of being deceived evinces a primitive emotional response on a par with staring death in the face. We are hard-wired to fear deception because we have evolved to interpret it as an existential threat. That’s why deception can elicit the same emotional response as the miscalculation of a serious physical threat. Lies told to us don’t always bear the same cost as a misjudged red light, but the primitive part of the brain can’t make this distinction and we rely on cerebral mediation for a more appropriate but delayed response. And in the long run, the lie is often just as dangerous as the physical threat. Many government whoppers – ‘safe and effective’ – do cost lives.

To avoid the death-like experience of being deceived, a mental defence is erected to deny that the lie is happening."

(From https://leftlockdownsceptics.com/alleged-cia-involvement-in-jfk-assassination-goes-mainstream-so-now-what/ )

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"The evolutionary psychologist William von Hippel found that humans use large parts of thinking power to navigate social world rather than perform independent analysis and decision making. For most people it is the mechanism that, in case of doubt, will prevent one from thinking what is right if, in return, it endangers one’s social status. This phenomenon occurs more strongly the higher a person’s social status. Another factor is that the more educated and more theoretically intelligent a person is, the more their brain is adept at selling them the biggest nonsense as a reasonable idea, as long as it elevates their social status. The upper educated class tends to be more inclined than ordinary people to chase some intellectual boondoggle. "

-Sasha Latypova

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Apr 10, 2023·edited Apr 10, 2023Liked by Toby Rogers

Ugh - I have said the same thing many times. It just baffles me how so many people that I had previously considered as being "smart" were so easily manipulated and fooled. Many very close friends (fortunately we have been able to remain friends in spite of their failure to see it or even now to admit that they failed to see it) as well as the public "intellectuals" that you mentioned.

Taleb was just shocking to me. I've read all of his books and have generally thought of him as a smart and rational person (even though he has had a tendency to be a belligerent ass on Twitter when he disagrees with someone). But then he went "all in" on the Covidmania, and couldn't even contemplate that he might have allowed an over reactive amygdala to cloud his judgement, even more than 18 months after the initial lockdowns.

He posted something non-Covid related on Twitter in October 2021, correcting himself on something he had said previously, and made a big deal about how he was "constitutionally required to publicly admit when he was wrong about something" or something like that. As luck would have it, I saw the post about 2 minutes after it went up and I was the first to replay "So when are you going to admit you've been wrong about Covid?" Just that. No name calling. No disrespect. Just a simple, and as far as I'm concerned factual, statement. And the thin skinned d-bag immediately blocked me. Oh, boo hoo - now I won't be able to see any more brilliant Twitter posts from the eminently brilliant NNT!!

I consider that moment to be a badge of honor. And I wear it proudly. We can never again allow ourselves to be led by these overcreditialized, self proclaimed, echo chamber reinforced naked emperors. To paraphrase Reagan: The trouble with our elites is not that they are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so.

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In my opinion, they'd already crossed that Rubicon a while back, during the Obama presidency. His election was kind of the ultimate triumph of the 1960's movements, but when it turned into a real nightmare for so many of the purported beneficiaries, they became his Praetorian guard, leaving all critical analysis behind. When so many of those beneficiaries then turned against them, joining the populist revolt that defeated Hillary, passed Brexit, etc., defeating that movement became their all-consuming goal, even if that meant allying themselves with the absolute worst kinds of authoritarians, warmongers and profit-seekers in the entire world today. COVID then came along (coincidentally?) at exactly the right time to establish a new order seemingly less susceptible to that kind of populism. Essentially, in the mid-2010's, most of the left came to understand that the most compelling criticisms of the ruling global order were coming from the right, and so they cast their lot in with supporting that order. When that order became associated with COVID biomedical facism and criticism of it became associated with the right, the mainstream left had only one place to go, and it wasn't critical analysis.

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Apr 10, 2023Liked by Toby Rogers

"We cannot allow ourselves to ever be led again..."

But the sheep are being led, still, right now. Down the path toward poverty and misery in the name of fighting "climate change." If you thought the past three years were bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.

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So true and well said, so much was missed by spiritualists, intellectuals and academics. I had to write about it:

https://open.substack.com/pub/sinatana/p/identify-yourself_its-required?utm_source=direct&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Mar 30, 2023Liked by Toby Rogers

Such a good analogy - the Asch conformity experiment. Not so sure 'vax' culture is on its last legs, most of the kids at my child's school have parents who sacrificed them to the system and are unlikely to see it. And they will continue to comply with additional 'shots.' Just knowing the numbers of the autistic tragedy, I find to be emotionally unbearable. I can't get my head around the fact that parents are ignoring this calamity of enormous suffering to children, due to parental negligence. It is negligent to relinquish doing the work needed to make an informed decision. On another note, but related, I heard a radio discussion today with the mother of a highly educated black woman who died from hypertension brought on during pregnancy. According to the mom, the hospital staff nurse minimized the patient's concerns and told her to go home and wait it out, which ended in disaster. The mother said her daughter was dismissed because she was a black woman. I could not go along with her assumption, since I as a Caucasian have experienced an enormous amount of minimization and poor treatment at the hands of the medical establishment. Her assumption has gained traction, and that is dangerous because it is not founded on fact, but springs from the natural emotions rooted in grief and anger from the loss of a child.

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I agree. It's unlikely to be because she was black and more likely to be simply because she was a person in hospital in need of medical attention. It is the wrong time to seek medical attention and maybe for some time hence. The medical establishment seems to have been taken over by a strong anti human sentiment, not to mention a general ignorance about health . The conditioned belief in human "overpopulation" has led many medical personnel to complicitly support eugenics and engage in murder under the guise of euthanisia while justifying their actions with lies about their "good intentions" and service to the "greater good".

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I agree. Her daughter was ignored because she was a person. The system is set up to champion the depersonalising, abstract & undefined concept of "universal good" at the expense of actual people . We are bombarded with messaging, that is largely designed to resonate at the unconscious level, underpinned by strident anti-human sentiment ("the world is overpopulated" ) & an undermining of everything that makes individual lives meaningful - family, children, relationships, community, connection, quests for knowledge & understanding, transcendence, deep connections through shared experiences etc etc

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Some nurses kept their humanity during the covid hysteria, but most hospital staffers acted without empathy for their fellow human being. Doctors were angry at those who did not take the shot. Venting was profitable and killed most. Perhaps you are right there is a subliminal message about overpopulation, and that led to dehumanization of patients. I think the protocols themselves were 'killing protocols' and following protocol was the primary driver for medical staff, even if unethical. Essentially, doctors and nurses put their careers ahead of the survival of patients. It is not justifiable in any way. How do they live with themselves, I guess denial is one of the most powerful psychological defenses.

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Who disciplines? A. Self? B. Others?

If the first, then moral/ethical compass must direct.

If others, then lowest acceptable intolerance will rule all.

The one is more loving. They other more damning.

The one more tolerant. The other more fatal.

Always.

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Quite dark, Mr. Rogers.

But...

Blessings to you, Toby. Prayers for you, Toby. Keep heart, Toby!!!

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There is one possibility worse than that the smartest people in the world have lost their minds. It is that through all of this they have *kept* their minds.

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While I am convinced of the damage vaccines and pseudo-vaccines can do, I read an article today that discusses the possible role of acetaminophen in the incidence of autism. If this is true, everyone should be screaming it from the rooftops. Many babies are given Tyenol after receiving vaccinations--a possible double whammy. What do you think?

https://www.theepochtimes.com/ultra-orthodox-jews-have-lower-autism-rates-is-it-because-they-circumcise-their-boys-differently_5142854.html?ea_med=desktop_health&tmp=1&ea_src=ai_recommender

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Yes. My own bel;ief gleaned from sifting through some of the scathes of evidence and from engaging in the tiniest bit of thinking is that injecting conconctions that include metallic compounds known to be neurologically toxic into very young, very small children resulting in blood concentrations far in excess of minimum toxicity levels (which in any event are likely to be set to levels that are already too high to begin with) is a dangerous course of action that will cause neurological issues in many recipients. Doubling down by injecting multiple doses over a short time frame and continually adding additional doses to health protocols without undertaking any analysis of the detrimental effects of these additions is a particular kind of cynical, sadistic insanity. Throwing acetaminophen (aka paracetamol) into the mix, which, unsurprisingly, is marketed as a “safe “ “go to” pain reliever for young children, has been shown in studies to be associated with an increased risk of neurological damage in small and pre-term babies is merely the extra harmful, extra sadistic cherry on top. So, yeah

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Leftists are generally stupid. Naomi Wolf is a worthy exception

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Somebody explain to me how the so-called Left went so completely off the rails during Covid. It's truly the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. How can progressives--who traditionally were the vanguard against corporate malfeasance and over-reach--be so blind to the obvious depredations of Big Pharma which have a long and shameful history? And be willing to swallow the crap that was fed to us via the MSM and the government? And suddenly fall into this mania for censorship?

Thank you, Toby, for being such a courageous and sane voice in these times, when up is down, and it seems, as a society, we've gone through the looking glass into an alternate reality. Truly this is Bizarro World.

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I don’t understand what you mean - it’s not about stupidity, it’s about inserting communism and world government. Saying you don’t understand is too ignorant of what’s going on. The followers may be ignorant. — the rest of us must understand and fight to enlighten the mass.

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Maybe it happened because of the extra efforts of all media to "teach"the left and right what their position should be against the others.

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It's the weirdest social phenomenon I've ever seen. An entire group of people, millions of people, flipping their values to the exact opposite, simultaneously, in an instant. How did that happen? I know fear erases rational thought but whoa, it's wild to see it in real life at such scale.

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Apr 11, 2023·edited Apr 11, 2023

I agree. It still is a mystery to me, even after taking into account the astronomical level of fear mongering, the theories about mass hypnosis, hysteria, psychosis, the decades of groundwork preceding this psyop. Even when I consider that I had been observing some of it happening already, especially since 2016, I am still convinced there is something more going on. Fear is powerful, but it is an acute response that should dissipate fairly quickly in the face of reality, and even though for many it became an addiction too many chose to indulge, I find that explanation hugely inadequate. Could it be some highly sophisticated mind-altering weapon we still don't know about? Or--as the anguish I feel suggests as I contemplate the moral, intellectual and social devastation--is it Satan throwing his powers into his final battle?

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It didn't happen quickly, it began when Trump won. The media was stoking those people up for four years. They were chomping at the bit by the time covid was released.

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Not to forget the pro-vaccine conditioning we have all been subjected to for the best part of 50 years or so which has intensified as time has passed. It is so strong that many people who had doubts still chose to risk their health and their children's health rather than be labelled as an "anti-vaxxer".

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Actually, I am counting it from 2014. When Malaysian flight 17 was shot down, and the lies just burst forth and never stopped. And all those people who used to be against state/corporate lies just fell into step. Fell into some sort of hypnosis.

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True, but they wouldn't shun you back then if you disagreed. That didn't ramp up until Trump. What most people can't face and is the root of all our problems, is that we're bankrupt. Things will continually get worse until we restructure our economy so that it benefits everyone. For quite sometime the costs have been borne by the lower 90 percent of the population while all the benefits have gone to the top 10%. Since 2008 its even worse with most benefits going to the top 1%

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Yeah, the shunning and the silencing with invectives began around 2016. Things gained speed around then, and talking across political lines earned me a PTSD and lost friends. :-)

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Sorry to hear that, but stress and pressure usually brings out peoples trueselves. I wish i could tell you it will be better in the future but i figure we're gonna have some worse days ahead of us. Gird yourself, be a rock that the waves break upon.

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I still am incredulous as to how so many can be shifted so far so quickly.

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Mar 29, 2023·edited Mar 29, 2023

I think that in most cases those who didn't immediately balk at the messaging were fertile ground to plant the seeds, and nurture the growth, of militant compliance. As with 9/11, people were incapable of even entertaining the thought that the government might have a hidden agenda. And even with people that had doubts about the benevolence of the government, it really was impossible to make them understand that the medical establishment would be willing to give them false assurance. Their doctors told them to mask up and get injected, and the government through MSM told them they were a threat to society and would be ostracized if they objected. It was herd stupidity.

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It is indeed wild, and also a bit impressing. Above all, the rug was swept away under my feet, since now seeing how extremely easy it is to manipulate the mass, nothing in my history books can ever again be considered to be true. As I’m telling those around me - I’m totally surrendering to the idea that i might be insane. Cause if I’m not - ALL has to be questioned. And that’s a really strange place to be in.

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When I watch Noam Chomsky’s condemnation of all our last ten presidents,

When I watch how MSM adjective-ally condemns a person before describing what he/she allegedly has done,

When I hear folks say “I saw it on TV” to prove their line of thinking ——-

I question everything. And that is indeed mentally volcanic.

I rely on neighbors more. They are my immediate safety ring.

I pray more.

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There's a lot to be said for being at least a little bit insane. Besides, when society goes insane, then any who retain their senses are called madmen, or "conspiracy theorists" to bring the vocabulary up to CIA standards.

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Matthew 10:16 “I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents but harmless as doves.”

Yes, there ARE wolves! THEY are conspiring continuously. Be circumspect!

Imagine, exercise caution and advise accordingly.

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Much of my skepticism about Pharma and our so-called public health agencies stems from the fact that I've been struggling with chronic Lyme Disease for over ten years. If you know anything about the 'Lyme wars' you may know how Lyme activists have struggled for the last 30-40 years to get recognition, better diagnostics and treatment for this illness, while being subjected to ridicule and massive medical gaslighting. The fiction that chronic Lyme doesn't exist is widespread and endemic in medical schools and other research institutions. (I recall one anecdote from a patient who was seeing both a neurologist and an infectious disease dr. for her symptoms. Surprisingly (or not) it was the neurologist who suggested and administered antibiotics, following a hunch that the symptoms might be Lyme induced. When the woman reported back to her infectious disease dr. that her symptoms began to abate after the antibiotic therapy, and asked that she be retested for Lyme, her doctor pounded on her desk and screamed "There is no such thing as Chronic Lyme!" What kind of person, much less a medical professional, acts like this? Too many, it seems.

If this isn't gaslighting par excellence, I don't know what is (Unless you consider the gaslighting of the mRNA vaccine-injured which is equally despicable). This is medical hubris and medical abuse, pure and simple. When I became ill and went through a maze of drs. --mainstream and alternative--emptying my bank account in the process (a depressingly common experience in the Lyme community) I became all too familiar with the role of the CDC and the IDSA's intransigence toward Lyme patients, and its stubborn refusal to allow any dissent from the narrative that Lyme is hard to catch and easy to cure. As if that weren't bad enough, drs. who treated Lyme (and its co-infections) were often ruthlessly hunted and suppressed--dragged before state medical boards and threatened with delicensing, simply because they administered long-tern antibiotic therapy to their patients--in 'violation' of the CDC diktats. (Sound familiar?) I thought, naively, that the Lyme epidemic would be the canary in the coal mine, so to speak; that it would reveal the inadequacies of mainstream medicine and its poor track record in treating chronic illness, and rip the facade off the CDC and expose the fraud and malfeasance in this agency that had allowed this pestilence to smolder into an out-of-control fire. Then Covid arrived. So all of this is by way of saying that I already had a well-earned, jaundiced view of our so-called public health agencies; I immediately knew that there were too many things about the Covid response that didn't pass the smell test, and that I was seeing the Lyme playbook on steroids. I just wish we could see more solidarity between Lyme-treating and Covid-treating drs. Different illnesses but same issues.

Check out these links to the work of attorney and Lyme advocate Jenna Luche Thayer:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/corruption-human-rights-violations-against-lyme-now-luche-thayer/?trackingId=1sVkp3jSQrOynjRMJ8LysA%3D%3D

And this--which now also includes Covid drs.:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/france-lyme-association-files-criminal-complaint-jenna-luche-thayer/?trackingId=54%2Fq%2Bz4YRdeblHiPrNdP1Q%3D%3D

250 million people worldwide suffer from some form of tick-borne illness. If this isn't a pandemic, I don't know what is. But the WHO refuses to declare it as such. I'm not holding my breath.

I think our last, best hope lies in lawsuits--and wouldn't it be great if someone filed a lawsuit with the ICC!

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CDC once published “properly prescribed” medical fatalities over 100,000 per year. And “Iproperly prescribed” medical fatalities over 100,000 as well.

How do medical doctors describe medical doctors as cause of a pandemic?

Just can’t happen. Right?

Hmph!

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Mar 29, 2023Liked by Toby Rogers

Pure F*ing gold every. Single. Time! 👏👏👏👏👏 My eternal thanks will never be enough, Dr. Toby!

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Thank you!!! 🙌

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