Don't Be Stupid

I have a given set of beliefs. I don't mean beliefs that have an effect on my eternal soul, but rather beliefs about everyday items. For example, I believe beef is better than pork, chicken, fish, or turkey. I believe that it is better to be a little cold than a little hot. I believe that PC's are vastly superior to Macs. I would be happy to support any and all of these things, though I realize that the conclusions are negotiable and not really that important.

I also try to consider myself to be relatively objective. Clearly I have some subjectivity (I am human, after all), but I do my best. I think that the times where I lack objectivity is when what I see begins to show a stark contrast with these aforementioned beliefs. This can definitely become a real problem, so I try to remain objective.

Sometimes the petulance of children is quite the site to behold. Despite evidence to the contrary, they will stick with their initial thought. I notice this in my children from time to time. For example, Jacob desires to be frustrated at Emily. So, Julia takes something of his, and he blames Emily for not stopping her from doing so. In his case, it is likable and even kind of fun (well, maybe not for Emily).

When the offending party is me, it isn't nearly as endearing. Similarly, when I see another adult completely ignore logic, that adult, like I would, becomes a loathsome debater. This is largely mentionable because recently I have become a witness to someone who exercises such reality escapism with regularity. That man is Skip Bayless and the subject matter is LeBron James.

Now, this isn't yet supposed to be a defense of LeBron James, because unless you are Skip (and, who am I kidding, there is no way he'll read my material), you don't need any defense. Admittedly, he has shown up a little lacking a few times in the past. He, also, is not the best player in the last ten seconds of a game. He is the most scrutinized basketball player in the history of the NBA.

This is a man who came out of high school to immediately become an NBA team leader. From the age of 16, people have looked at everything he has done. He took an otherwise very poor team in Cleveland to both the NBA Finals and the NBA's best regular season record. But after giving everything he had from the age of 18-25, he decided he needed more help. Like it or not, he decided that winning a championship was more important than any individual stats (something we say we like). He made millions of dollars for charity in announcing he was going to Miami (while sacrificing millions he could have made elsewhere). But the nature of that announcement is considered stupid. But what is the statute of limitations on stupid?

Stupidity aside, he has been an incredible player. He has been the best player in the world. He is still human, but recently, he has had two different games against two different teams that have each only been duplicated one other time in the last 50 years! Yet, Skip continues to poo-poo his accomplishments. His continual efforts to twist the facts to take away from LeBron's greatness make him act more stupid than the man over 30 years his junior, whose only stupid act was to not change jobs well!

What this means to me is that despite my presuppositions, I need to allow myself to be open to changing my mind when facts get in the way of what my initial set of thoughts are. Though trust me, it will be difficult to get me to discuss it with you over a meat other than beef!