We know people hate being wrong. Especially if they’ve spent a lot of time and energy and maybe even money staying stuck to a stubborn belief that ultimately has been a lie, or led to them being abused or exploited, or has been one-sided etc. We get it. It’s the sunk-cost fallacy. You can’t just walk away, maybe ever, because walking away would be an admission that you’ve made some kind of error in judgment; that you were wrong. And, again, we all hate being wrong. Beliefs are stubborn things; unfortunately, facts are even more stubborn.

Also, there’s a tendency by people who want to seem or sound intelligent to adopt a contrarian viewpoint no matter what — even though said viewpoint might already have been  been proven incorrect, false, wrong, a lie — because they get hypnotized and seduced by some plausible-sounding string of words that are superficially sophisticated but that are, in reality, just so much mumbo-jumbo, blah-blah-blah.

You might have experienced this phenomenon (not in yourself, of course, but in others): the earth is flat, the moon landing was staged, the universe is 6,000 years old, school shootings are fake, people are crisis actors, the Holocaust never happened, U.S. presidential candidates were born in Kenya. You get the idea. 

Now, that’s not to say the contrarian view is always proved wrong. Thank goodness for Galileo, Darwin, Semmelweis, and countless other MEN OF SCIENCE whose theories, scoffed at in their time, were ultimately proven true. We emphasize the words MEN OF SCIENCE because it is an important and healthy distinction to make. MEN OF SCIENCE.

Let’s get back to the contrarians who like to appear more intelligent than they actually are. They think that by adopting some contrarian position, a contrarian position without one scintilla of scientific proof, that they already are ahead of the game, that they have proved themselves smarter than the SHEEPLE. It’s as though common sense and simple truths are not enough for them; they have to be different, especially from the SHEEPLE. ‘Hey, you SHEEPLE!’ they say. ‘I’m gonna be contrary, because I’m smarter than you and I can rattle off all these reasons why.’

However, these wannabe know-it-alls and the misguided souls who buy their spiel are NOT MEN OF SCIENCE. They do not hypothesize, observe, test, reformulate the hypothesis, research, etc. They are quite prone to believing in fables and fantastical tales, possibly because their upbringing centered on reading and reciting a lot of make-believe religion-based stories and other assorted myths, folklore and legend.

Also, there is a locus of control in stories that is not as accessible in proven formulas and principles. You don’t need much intelligence to grok or even make up a story; you do need knowledge, experience and intelligence, in vast quantities, to understand top-level science, math, physics, medicine, nevermind make new discoveries in those areas. 

So when you encounter these people who dismiss the sheeple and are fiercely contrarian just to be contrarian, be wary. Unless they are actual men of science who truly do their own research and are not just repeating the latest conspiratorial talking-points, you likely can dismiss anything that comes out of their fat, drooling mouths. They’re bluffers.

And as bluffers, they live by their time-honored charter: If you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance, baffle ’em with bullspit. Bullspit.

BestLine Racing Society Recap: 

Today it was Saratoga & Woodbine. 

The third at Saratoga was won by #2 Wudda U Think Now (.223 Win Prob / 3.48-1 Fair Odds / 5.28-1 Premium Odds) at $15.40. As well, the winning daily double on Races 2 & 3, with Race 2 won by 4-5 fave #2 Run Up the Score (.426 / 1.35 / 1.82) paid $38.40; its premium price was $35.41.

In Race 8, #1 Bankit (.278 / 2.60 / 3.32) and #7 Sea Foam (.292 / 2.42 / 3.11) combined for a $36.40 exacta whose premium price was $27.29.

Over at Woodbine, Race 5 found #8 Dissectologist (.263 / 2.80 / 3.56) paying $16.70 in an overlayed win. 

Del Mar just firing up; all races outstanding.

BestLine Racing Society Nightcap: 

Practicing at Emerald before their big Sunday there. 

Strongshots

Race 2
#5 Cody’s Choice (.411 / 1.43 / 1.92)

Race 3

1 Confidence Builder (.335 / 1.99 / 2.58)

Longshots

Race 4
#6 First Time Player (.288 / 2.47 / 3.17)
#1 Coastal Queen (.244 / 3.10 / 4.74)
#5 Mia Casa (.196 / 4.10 / 6.14)

Race 7
#7 J C Express (.249 / 3.02 / 3.82)
#4 Lago de Oro (.198 / 4.05 / 5.06)
#1 Charlie the Gent (.185 / 4.41 / 6.57)
#3 Balius (.132 / 6.58 / 9.61)