How Mark Zuckerberg Went to the Dark Side & Why Scientists and Medical Doctors Fear RFK Jr.--and Why We Should Too
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Some people think it’s more important that people think they’re good than actually being good.
The Crash-and-Burn of Mark Zuckerberg’s Humanity—and Why It’s Bad News for the Rest of Us: He symbolizes the emptiness of ambition without a purpose. American Psycho without the violent fantasies.
Why Everyone Who Knows Anything about Medicine or Science Fears RFK Jr.: Perfect example of Trump’s emphasis on mediocrity over meritocracy.
Kareem’s Video Break: This time-lapse video is both compelling and slightly creepy.
This Makes Me Smile: A small act of patriotism’: Canada’s anti-Maga hats go viral: New feature focused on insignificant but amusing news, like this one, where Canadians make fun of MAGA hats.
Kareem the Science Guy: Our Morals Change with the Seasons: A fascinating study that theorizes how some aspects of our moral beliefs change with the seasons.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: Have you ever seen a dog fly? This is pretty close.
Billie Holiday & Count Basie Sings “God Bless the Child”: This song that Holiday co-wrote has been a Black anthem for 85 years. Yet, the sentiment—and her exquisite voice—make it as powerful as ever.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
We always think ourselves better than we are, and are generally desirous that others should think us still better than we think ourselves.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English writer and creator of the influential Dictionary
I’m constantly assessing how much I practice what I preach. The only important challenge in life is to be a good person—and not try to convince yourself you are when you aren’t. I may sometimes falter in my actions, but I never falter in calling myself out when I fall short of my expectations. And then I try harder.
What concerns me is the extraordinary lengths people go through to prove to others how virtuous they are, even when the image of their virtue far outshines their actual virtue. They want everyone around them to know that they are a Good Person, even if they aren’t. The worst try to justify their immoral actions by proclaiming what wonderful parents they are. (Some Real Housewives do despicable things and then parade their children around in front of the camera as shields to their awful behavior, which makes them doubly despicable). Others publicly announce how much they give to charity as if doing the latter erases the former. That’s because they see everything as a balance sheet. If I do this much good, then I get to do this much bad because they balance each other out.
Which begs the question: Would it be more virtuous if they gave money to charities without announcing it? I once read an account of ancient Hebrews who had a room where every member of their temple would enter alone and leave as much or as little contribution as they chose. No one would ever know the amount, if any. The only guide was their conscience and their only reward was helping their community. I’ve always loved that idea. No hospital wings named after them, just the satisfaction of doing the right thing.
The “bonfire of the vanities” refers to a fire on February 7, 1497, started by supporters of Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola where they burned thousands of items that they thought fed people’s vanities, which included mirrors, cosmetics, works of art (paintings by Boccaccio), books, musical instruments, playing cards, wigs, poetry, dice, manuscripts of secular songs, and more. Afterward, Savonarola hosted many bonfires of the vanities with his supporters regularly throwing in anything that they deemed not virtuous. Those throwing items in were proclaiming their virtue to everyone else—all while doing something not virtuous. They were like Mafia members who diligently attended church on Sundays and committed crimes the rest of the week. (Pope Alexander VI had Savonarola convicted of heresy and he was hanged and his body burned. Even that was about politics and not virtue, which made the act immoral.)
What troubles me about the epidemic of “virtue signaling” in our society isn’t just that people are obsessed with looking virtuous rather than doing virtuous deeds, but that people try to prove their virtue by imposing their narrow ideas on others. They believe that because they are so weak of mind and will that other are also, and need to have their ideas, speech, and activities policed. Hence, all the restrictions of free speech on X, the abdication of responsibility by Meta (Facebook and Instagram) in fact-checking and stopping hate speech, the laws being passed nationwide against LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, and book banning.
Our very own bonfire of the vanities.
Except that is the ultimate vanity to force a set of rules of virtue on others without being able to support the reasons for those rules through logic and reason, not just your particular upbringing, which is somehow superior to all others because it’s yours.
That kind of thinking is the ultimate vanity.