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​​Putting Our Critical Thinking Skills to Good Use
Some of our own informative and insightful research surrounding current key topics can be found below.


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Research

Utilizing First Principles Thinking

It is in our human nature to ask "Why?", and we all started asking this question at an early age. Fundamentally speaking, we learn by asking "Why?", and many of us asked "Why?" so much in our early years that we were inevitably met with the answer "because I said so" from a annoyed parent, an irritated teacher, or possibly even an agitated coach.

First-principles thinking harkens back to Aristotle and can be described as the process of breaking complicated problems into basic elements. First-principles thinking, also referred to as first-principles reasoning, is at the root of why we ask "Why?" Some of us (maybe even most of us) are very accepting of the rules that govern our daily lives, whether they be laws of nature or commonly held beliefs. First-principles reasoning cuts through dogma and removes the blinders. We can see the world as it is and see what is possible. When it comes down to it, everything that is not a law of nature is just a shared belief. Money and borders are great examples of shared beliefs.

First-principles thinking is what makes us skeptical, especially when what we're told doesn't align with what we believe. It's important to ask "Why?" in this situation, and it's important to apply first-principles reasoning when we decide to do our own research. I've linked a very informative and insightful blog post on this topic below.
Understanding first-principles thinking is key to unlocking our potential for performing our own research. By establishing a firm foundation on which to support additional knowledge, or utilizing that which we've already established, we can have the confidence to evaluate problems for ourselves and to come to our own conclusions on issues that invoke our innate skepticisms. We should never stop asking "Why?"
“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” — Carl Sagan

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” — Abigail Adams

“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” — Richard Feynman

“I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.“ — Abraham Lincoln

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." — John F. Kennedy
Excess Deaths and Life Years Lost

Now having a full year of data to evaluate, I've come to 2 major conclusions:

1) The Pandemic resulted in tragic losses.
          -AND-
2) The Overreaction & Overreach imposed on ourselves (in the name of safety/control) were 100% CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!

​Let's dive into the evidence.


​Non-COVID Excess Deaths are a conglomerate of suicides, overdoses, deaths from alcoholism, & deaths due to a lack of treatment on life threatening conditions like cardiovascular disease and cancer. All a direct result of the Fear & Panic induced by the MSM & World Leadership!
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​Life Years Lost from COVID and from Excess Deaths (or deaths above average) is the best metric we have to illustrate the cost of life. Here's a chart I put together showing just the cost of life of Child Suicides vs COVID deaths for an entire SC county to help put these tragic young deaths into context. It illustrates how a very small # of child deaths can exceed a much larger # of deaths closer to average age mortality.
In my investigation of CDC data, I was able to determine Average Age of Death from COVID. Also, because we now have 1 full year of data I was also able to back out the Average Age of Death from Non-COVID Excess Deaths by incorporating the 1.0 drop in Life Expectancy from 2019 to 2020.
In the end, for the entire US over the past year, the Life Years Lost are staggering from not only COVID Deaths at 6.1 Million, but also from Non-COVID Excess Deaths, coming in at 2.4 Million! I believe there is a very clear and strong case to be made for a Twin Pandemic.
My in depth research into Excess Deaths was prompted by my initial questioning attitude that led me to Nobel Laureate Dr. Michael Levitt who was looking at deaths in terms of excess mortality. As a continuation of this discussion, I've embedded a more recent interview of Dr. Michael Levitt by Ivor Cummins (a fellow critical thinking engineer with a data driven approach) on the topic of pandemic mortality realities.
This particular interview even gets into a discussion on Flu vs COVID and explains that COVID killed the majority of the people that would've been susceptible to and eventually died from Flu, which is why Flu has appeared to have gone away. Simply put, COVID has outcompeted Flu. Interesting point indeed!
— Brent Jeffcoat
Psychology of Conformity

In 1 year's time how many have reached (and acclimated to) the 3rd and final stage of conformity, which is "Internalization" and is akin to adopting or converting to a new religion? Can we reverse this? If so, how?

compliance
​(stage 1)

Identification
​(Stage 2)

Internalization
​(stage 3)
References:
  1. Academy of Ideas - The Psychology of Conformity
  2. SocialPsychology - What is Conformity?
  3. ​Social Science, Libre Texts - 7.2B Conformity and Obedience
Excerpt from Reference 1:
"Just like any religion, the religion of one's society becomes easier to believe in, the greater the number of people to whom worship it. And this is why the nonconformists are so feared by the masses, the unique individuals plant seeds of doubt into the minds of the conformists regarding the significance of their social roles, and thus the significance of their very existence. Therefore, the masses actively discourage the cultivation of one's uniqueness, ridicule and ostracize them back to conformity - something they must do given that their existential significance is on the line."
Excerpt from Reference 2:
"Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure). The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification)."
Excerpt from Reference 3:
"Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman identified three major types of conformity:
  1. Compliance
  2. Identification
  3. Internalization
Compliance is public conformity, while possibly keeping one’s own original beliefs independent. It is motivated by the need for approval and the fear of being rejected.
Identification is conforming to someone who is liked and respected, such as a celebrity or a favorite uncle. This can be motivated by the attractiveness of the source, and this is a deeper type of conformism than compliance.
Internalization is accepting the belief or behavior and conforming both publicly and privately. It is the deepest influence on people, and it will affect them for a long time."