Opinions. A Small Book Review. Bad Jokes.

“That’s right. And if I think that Kirk is a Denebian slime devil, well, that’s my opinion, too.” – Star Trek, TOS

I’ve found that telling pizza jokes is all in the delivery.

Opinions.

Marcus Aurelius (dead stoic guy with a crappy son) said, “It never ceases to amaze me: we love ourselves more than we love other people, yet care more about their opinion than our own.”

I was talking with a friend about opinions today. Which opinions matter?

Well, if a toddler had an opinion, I’d generally disregard it because, like Joe Biden, they poop themselves and can barely string a coherent sentence together, even if you spot them a verb.

Toddler opinions generally don’t matter to me. And I never feel bad making fun of toddlers because, just like students in Baltimore government schools, toddlers can’t read.

Are chubby babies heavy infantry?

Okay, toddlers are out. Not that toddlers are always wrong, even they can see that I’m bald, for instance. Bald, however, is not an opinion. But try explaining that to a toddler, those drooling idiots with their Cheerio® encrusted fingers.

When I hear an opinion, I generally don’t accept it at face value. I try to filter it.

First, does it matter? Most people have opinions about most things. And most of those opinions don’t matter, really, to anyone. I don’t care about what anyone’s favorite color is. When The Mrs. wanted to paint my study, I didn’t really care about what color The Mrs. picked, as long as it’s not purple – I hate purple more than blue and red combined.

I don’t, however, let The Mrs. pick my cigars. My opinion on them matters, really, only to me and the company that I buy them from. I mean, when I looked up “how to light a cigar” on a search engine, I got 70 million matches. I might be interested in your opinion on good cigars, and might even try one, but it won’t change my world.

Can a cigar box? No, but a tin can.

The second filter is whether I can do anything about the opinion. If it passes the first filter, of “it matters” then I ask if I can do anything about it. This is a bigger question – I do have opinions on things I can’t do anything about. But as I go through life, I’m finding that often I have the ability to do things I never thought possible, like live in a country at the edge of civil and nuclear war with a president that has a dementia patient meth addicted son. So, there’s that.

I often find that, when I really try, that things I thought impossible were, in reality, really not that hard if I put my mind to it and dedicate myself to them. Of course, to really dedicate myself, then I face the risk of failure. Failing is tough, but it’s worth it on something that really matters.

I wonder why Ma Wilder always said “Embrace failure,” when she gave me hugs.

So those are the two big filters on whether an opinion matters to me.

The other opinions are opinions about me. I’d like to say that the opinions of people about me don’t matter, but I’d be a liar. I actually enjoy it when I troll people Leftists on X™ and they start frothing at the mouth. I guess you could call X© my troll booth.

I keep seeing Cthulhu memes, but I’m disappointed because all I ever see are the Old Ones.

But when people I respect share that opinion, well, I listen. And I run it through the filters.

This was a short one, and it’s also time to mention I just finished reading Hans Schantz’s latest book, The Wise of Heart. Full disclosure, I did get a review copy. I enjoyed it, as I have the other works of Mr. Schantz – especially the first book of his trilogy, The Hidden Truth.

This particular book was fully funded on Kickstarter®. When Kickstarter™ found out that it was a take on Leftist sex politics that didn’t follow the Leftist line, they kicked Hans off. He was fully funded (and then some) on FundMyComic©. Reminder – the people who run most tech companies hate you. Anyway, if you want, you can buy it at Amazon© (LINK) or other places. I get no compensation either way.

Like I said, I enjoyed it. But that’s my opinion.

Author: John

Nobel-Prize Winning, MacArthur Genius Grant Near Recipient writing to you regularly about Fitness, Wealth, and Wisdom - How to be happy and how to be healthy. Oh, and rich.

23 thoughts on “Opinions. A Small Book Review. Bad Jokes.”

  1. On the bright side, thank to social media, we can identify the people with opinions we can safely ignore: they have a Ukrainian flag in the profile pic or are wearing a mask or some frame bragging about getting vaccinated or anything to do with bLM.

  2. I grew up just down the road from Dayton where the original Monkey Trial was held, visiting the famous Courthouse where it was held in fifth grade. It made a big impression on me. I wrote my own version of Inherit the Wind in eighth grade and performed it in Mrs. Glass’s science class. I played Clarence Darrow, the hero, of course. I wrote a great heart attack death scene for Bryant (the lead prosecutor who died while still in Dayton), written as only an eighth-grade boy could do. Reimagining this historical event as a future trans-centered trial is a brilliant concept. I’m gonna have to read this.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_trial

    1. I guarantee you will love the book. The characters are well written, the arguments are coherent (well, except for the Lefty Pro-Trans crowd), and it is an intriguing update that will capture the imagination of younger people.
      Let’s face it, the Bible-as-fact side is a very small part of Christianity. To ask kids to realize just how vital that argument was is just not possible.
      But Trans-ing vs. Actual Science! Boy, there is a match-up made in a PR person’s dreams!
      It also brings out the reality that so many women – even those who tend to agree with the concept of DNA-determined sex – are far more willing to compromise their beliefs to get along. Part of that is fear of not fitting into the majority. Part is unwillingness to fight for principles.
      Not ALL women, but the vast majority, will go along with the prevailing crowd sentiment.

  4. “In Pottsylvania The Party Line is the Thinking Man’s filter.” – Klaus Schwab

    OOPS!!! That was Fearless Leader, my bad.

  5. Spotted what is hopefully an error in the text:
    “like live in a country at the edge of civil and nuclear war with a dementia patient meth addicted son.”

  6. Opinions are a construct of the white male patriarchy.
    Your thoughts will be downloaded to your Obama phone as part of the New Civility.
    Shirkers against the Potemkin Benetton Magic Soil third world turd banana republic shopping bazaar will eventually be purged by any means necessary.
    There won’t be any vote on it, comrade.

  7. I attended one of Mr. Schanz’s panels on Electromagnetism at LibertyCon this past summer. The man is amazingly well informed and can both write and speak publicly, a trifecta rarely seen.

    1. You should find a young anime artist and get the free novels up on Arktoons as serial light novels.

  8. Bro… bit of politeness needed RE: Infantry
    We, (unlike toddlers) for the most part, walk upright, with only our knuckles dragging…
    We can also carry heavy loads over vast distances unassisted via walking only
    We also can communicate in relatively clear sentences, provided profanity is included
    We also are capable of killing and smashing all who would oppose us, or make fun of us into a fine, bloody paste
    Need I continue?
    Didn’t think so LOL

  9. Q: Why is Mr. Wilder salty about opening his mail?

    A: It’s all Dear John letters.

    Also Q: How does one find Mr. Wilder on X?

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