Episode 2866 CWSA 06/12/25 — Scott Adams Philosophy

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MainContent Politics as Persuasion

Back to episode — Episode 2866 CWSA 06/12/25

Context —

cians? What do you think? A TikTok video. Could it be influential in changing how you see a politician? Yes. Again, it's Eric Dolan and PsyPost. Yes, obviously. But apparently they did a study and they found out that not only can you change how people see politicians, you know, their favorability, but it's especially strong for Donald Trump. So Trump is right that TikTok works in his favor. Visual…

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ent down and killed many of the 242 on board. Now, the reason it wasn't all of them is they had just taken off. But let me give you some advice about that story which is I saw a warning that the video is especially hard to look at and I said to myself how hard can it be? And I watched the video. Let me give you some advice. Don't watch the videos. There were lots of videos of people who got to the crash site when it was fresh. Do not watch them. Do not. It will not make your day better. Do not watch them.

All right. Trump and Melania went to the Kennedy Center and they watched Les Misérables. That's my French. Excuse my French. And they had a good time. Apparently it's the president's favorite play or musical or whatever.

Now it reminded me of the balance that the president is trying to find between austerity because we don't have infinite money and making sure that America doesn't just rot basically. So I don't love it when he wants to spend extra on Air Force One, but I understand that it's a symbol of the country and you want to keep the president safe and it makes sense. I didn't love it when Trump said he was going to build a ballroom at the White House because again we've got these big deficits. But on the other hand it is a symbol of the country's health. It's like the beating heart of the country. So making sure the beating heart of the country is not only working but it's extra. You know, it's got a ballroom. I can say it's good for the mind of the country.

And he's going to put some money into fixing up the Kennedy Center. And I thought to myself, I'll never go

Context —

to the Kennedy Center. Why do I care? And then I thought, oh, okay, it's a high visibility kind of a situation. And yeah, and I definitely don't like the idea of a military parade. I just don't like anything about that. It's spending money, it's probably damaging the streets. It just doesn't look right. But on the other hand it does make the country look like it's powerful and nobody should mess w…

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Wisdom from this episode

"I saw a warning that the video is especially hard to look at and I said to myself how hard can it be? And I watched the video. Let me give you some advice. Don't watch the videos. It will not make your day better."

Even when you think you're capable of handling graphic disaster footage, don't watch it—doing so won't improve your day or provide any benefit.

"The balance that the president is trying to find between austerity because we don't have infinite money and making sure that America doesn't just rot basically... it is a symbol of the country's health. It's like the beating heart of the country... it's good for the mind of the country."

Leaders must balance fiscal limits with maintaining national symbols like the White House or Kennedy Center, as these represent the country's vitality and support its collective mindset.