Brain Atrophy

at·ro·phy

/ˈatrəfē/

1. gradually decline in effectiveness or vigor due to underuse or neglect.

"her artistic skills atrophied from lack of use"

2.

(of body tissue or an organ) waste away, especially as a result of the degeneration of cells 

"without exercise, the muscles will atrophy"

"Thinking" in this day and age seems to have gone out of favor. Use it or lose it rules apply. Much too often we simply accept what we hear in our bubbles, victims of the gaslighting. It is sadly common to rely solely on your favorite foghorn to tell you what you should be thinking. 

A scientist would say you cannot get to a factual conclusion or realize a creative idea without rigor. The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge through 1) careful observation 2) rigorous skepticism 3) hypothesis testing 4) Repeat. 

Well reasoned thinking takes time to allow your subconscious to weigh in and then, importantly, to verify, perhaps including a peer review. Outside the scientific community, such rigor is rare, very rare.

John Cleese is most noted for his role in the Monty Python franchise. If you are a member of my generation i.e. tending toward geriatric, you might be a warehouse of Python quotes:   

• "Tis only a flesh wound".
• “Brother Maynard – bring forth the holy hand grenade!”  
• “YES. WE’RE ALL INDIVIDUALS.” 
• "We’re destitute. I’ve got no option but to sell you all for scientific experiments.”
• “Jeez, The Inquisition. I didn't expect that."

What's your favourite?

But beyond his comedic talent, he’s also a thoughtful guy as evidenced by his talk at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

Cleese's talk makes the point that thinking requires discipline, patience and a mind open to truth free from, or at least acknowledging, your biases. Perhaps the biggest barrier to rigor is that it's hard and often leads us into the temptation of procrastination. Shop for that birthday present, those plants need watering,  … I've got too much to do, I need to sharpen my pencils and I'll do some thinking tomorrow. Yes, it is easier to do trivial things that are "urgent" rather than important things that are not urgent - like thinking.  And it's easier to do things we know we can do, rather than start on things that we're not so sure about. 

To reach a conclusion, gather facts from trusted sources (i.e. not social media). Weigh the evidence. Consider options. Decide in your mind what is true. Then .. review your conclusions and possible actions with someone you trust to be fair minded.

In these trying times, it is important not to leap to conclusions, rather take the difficult road of assessing, reassessing and verifying.  Don't let your brain be manipulated by misinformation. Think about it.

Homework. A thinking assignment.  Fact check the validity of the following statements. Choose only reputable sources of information. (You could take the lazy approach and ask ChatGPT or Gemini or Snopes.com)

1. Election fraud is rampant? 
2. He brandished a gun? 
3. The worst of the worst? 
4. Vaccines cause autism?  
5. Grocery prices are going down? 
6. Paper ballots are more accurate and are counted faster than voting machines? 
7. Foreign countries pay the tariffs? 
8. Prescription prices will be reduced by 2000%?  
9. Ukraine started the war? 
10. Epstein files are a hoax?  
11. Climate change is a "con job"? 
12. Minnesota pandemic fraud is the worst in the country?
13. Trump is exploiting the presidency for personal gain?

Appendix:  My answers to the homework questions.  Feel free to fact check these too.

1.  Where's the evidence?  Voting by non-citizens is illegal and extremely rare. You must be forced to believe that voting by undocumented immigrants is rampant to justify and accept proposed voter suppression actions. The way to stay in power is to define those who vote for the other party as illegitimate voters. see Brennan Center
2.  Where's the evidence?   Demonstrably false. Believe your eyes.  (I would include a video links, but I can't bear it and I'm positive you have seen them.)
3.  Where's the evidence?  ~5% of those arrested have been charged with violent offenses. 73% have NO convictions. Those arrested include citizens, amnesty seekers and green card holders scooped up without warrants.  see Cato Institute
4.  Where's the evidence?  Ask a pediatrician. Decades of research says no. It's an urban myth.  see Johns Hopkins 
5.  Where's the evidence?  Really? Believe your pocketbook.
6. Where's the evidence?   Proven false. Apply common sense.  see Brennan Center
7.  Where's the evidence?  Not. Bone up on your economics knowledge. You are the payer.
8.  Where's the evidence?  Evidence of untruth is embedded in the statement. I taught math - not possible. Prices could increase by 2000%, but 100% is a hard cap on decrease. Check you 2026 health insurance premiums.
9.  Where's the evidence?   Yet another gaslight.  Russia annexed Crimea in 2012 and invaded Ukraine in 2022. see BBC
10.  Where's the evidence?  Not worth a response. I'll let you research that one. You should be able to find data on this pretty easily.
11.  Where's the evidence?  Ask any scientist. (see NASA)  Of course, if you distrust all science, you are beyond the pale.
12. Where's the evidence?  It's in the public domain and it's not an excuse, and yes, fraud occurred in Minnesota during the pandemic food distribution programs (~$250 million). Prosecutors have charged 98 individuals in Minnesota with 65 convictions. Feeding our Future mastermind Aimee Bock and others were convicted in 2025 for stealing $47 million.  For the record, Minnesota is small potatoes compared to other states and the fraud claims are being used as pretext for the "Minnesota surge".  Sampling from around the country ...  Source: Fox News
1. New York - Medicare/Medicaid fraud to the tune of $10.6 billion
2. Arizona - $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud surrounding addiction treatment
3. Georgia - $463 million for submittal for unneeded lab tests
4. California - $490 million on false Covid-19 related billings
5. Illinois - $300 million in fraudulent Medicare/Medicaid billings
6. Unemployment insurance fraud. GAO says 11-15% of the $1 trillion (do the math) in unemployment claims were fraudulent. Compared to other states, Minnesota is a low outlier with an estimated 1% fraudulent claims. (see GAO data)
13. Where's the evidence?  "All told, Mr. Trump has profited from his return to the presidency by an amount of money equal to 16,822 times the median U.S. household income."  $1,408,500,000  as reported by NY Times (or CNN if you run into a paywall)

And that's not the half-of-it. Grifter in Chief.

$300M+ from seized Venezuelan oil tankers stashed in personal Qatar account; $400M Ballroom contributions; 

25% of Nvidia chip sales to China; 

 “Golden” share of US Steel; $1B participation fee to Board of Peace; $230M lawsuits agains DOJ; $500M crypto deals with UAE  (see Guardian) ...

It's hard to be optimistic these days.

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin