How many times in the last few months (or years) have you heard someone make a statement that was so bizarre and outrageous that you could barely believe anyone could think that true?  I have—more than once.  It’s tempting to just roll my eyes and try to run in the opposite direction.  That, or silently accuse them of (among other harsher judgements) not being able to think critically.  But unfortunately, those actions don’t seem to be isolated.  In today’s world it seems that such declarations and behaviors are everywhere—in the media, online and out of the mouths of people we meet at the grocery store. We can’t run from everybody who lies and/or makes up wacky assertions.  Instead, maybe we ought to learn, and to teach each other, how to critically ignore that input.   Or, as William James, the author of The Principles of Psychology wrote, “The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.”  [Read more…]