Coverage of the primary has me wondering if my thinking has been captured by the fairly narrow range of news and analysis sources I follow. I'm trying to expand it to less corporate youtube sources like Rising, but I sense that I have only a fraction of the sources I need to get a better picture of what's happening in the election and in the world. To mark where we are, Nevada is the next debate and caucus, and Bernie has a double digit lead in national polling. The billionaire Bloomberg has spent millions on ads to get himself to second place and will be in the debate tomorrow night. It could come down to a Bernie vs Bloomberg race for the nomination. My money is on Bernie.

The people I went to high school with back in Louisiana are still dumber than shit and racist as hell. My most frequent comment on their facebook posts is "You are afraid of all the wrong things." Krystal and Saagar of The Rising are telling me that I pay attention to all the wrong things. I need more diverse sources telling me what to look at.

Along with better thinking is better civil discourse. This Dennett quote about how to have a conversation with someone you disagree with was referenced in this morning's Brain Pickings.

1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way."
2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

The same post mentioned Susan Sontag's method of winning an argument which I suppose could not begin until you have completed the steps above.

The main techniques for refuting an argument:
Find the inconsistency
Find the counter-example
Find a wider context
Instance of (3): I am against censorship. In all forms. Not just for the right of masterpieces— high art— to be scandalous. But what about pornography (commercial)?
Find the wider context: notion of voluptuousness à la Bataille?
But what about children? Not even for them? Horror comics, etc.
Why forbid them comics when they can read worse things in the newspapers any day. Napalm bombing in Vietnam, etc. A just/ discriminating censorship is impossible.