How to: How to Know When You Have Made the Right Decision or Judgment-Julia Galef, TED

This video by Julia Galef, a researcher, shows what type of emotions and mindset we must have to reach accurate conclusions about facts and the world around us.  That mindset includes:

1. Openness– we have no ego that causes us to avoid being thought of as wrong.  In Christianity, this is called humility.
2. Curiosity-we are curious and pursue as much information as we can about the subject to make the best decision possible.
3. Groundedness-we do not have a self -interest in a specific outcome.  Our identity and self-worth is not connected to the subject we are analyzing.  In legal terms, this is called “conflict of interest”.

She misses one of the most important traits that we mention in our Path to Freedom, Form #09.015, which is the ability to recognize inconsistencies or conflicts within a system of facts or beliefs that might render our interpretation incorrect.  The Truth can NEVER conflict with itself or it simply isn’t truth.  Alleged truth that conflicts with itself is what is called a “logical fallacy”.  Click Here for extensive explanation of what a “logical fallacy” is.  She also concludes that making good judgments have NOTHING to do with any of the following skills or traits:

1. Intelligence.
2. Logic.
3. Rhetorical ability.
4. How much you know or don’t know.

For a similar, longer, and much more comprehensive discussion of the same subject by the speaker that is very enjoyable, see:

Soldiers and Scouts: Why our minds weren’t built for truth -Julia Galef
https://youtu.be/yfRC8ZgBXZw

These considerations are the way our readers and members should approach our materials, and how they can know that what they say are true.    As far as item #3 above, GROUNDEDNESS, the OPPOSITE of “groundedness” is when someone refuses to address or agree with a truthful conclusion mainly because doing so would economically injure them.  Worst yet, they not only refuse to discuss it but try to “cancel” the messenger, which has become prevalent in today’s cancel culture.  On this site, we refer to such issues as “Third Rail Issues”.  Third Rail Issues are the main thing that protects the ILLEGAL enforcement of the income tax franchise codes (not “laws”, but “codes”).  Groundedness or what we call “absense of conflict of interest” is the most important aspect of good decision-making because:

1. When politicians want to get elected, they will try to DESTROY “groundedness” and create financial conflicts of interest by offering or promising government goodies or benefits if they get elected.
2. When God wants to fix a LACK of “groundedness”, he sends prophets to tell people things they do not WANT to hear.
3. God’s biggest complaint about humanity is always about a LACK of “groundedness”.  See Jeremiah 5:20-31.
4. The cross and our need to take it up seems to be a symbol for accepting out duty to fight evil by pointing out and ELIMINATING the LACK of “groundedness” or the ABUNDANCE of conflict of interest.
5. The entire purpose of the separation of powers is to eliminate the concentration of power that conflict of interest or lack of “groundedness” creates.  See Form #05.023.
6. LACK of groundedness or benefitting TOO much from the way things currently are is the main reason that most people do not want to learn or practice the abundant truths on this website or in the Bible generally.
7. In a court setting, the main purpose of the voir dire jury selection process is to ensure that the jurors are free of conflict of interest and therefore are “grounded”.
8. A judge cannot hear a case that he has a financial conflict of interest.  See 28 U.S.C. 144, 455 and 18 U.S.C. 208.
9. It is a severe ethical violation for an attorney to accept a client if he is also representing the OPPONENT of that client.

These considerations are the reason why one of our favorite sayings is:

“If freedom of speech under the First Amendment means anything, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
[SEDM]