On Context and Critical Thinking

AN ARTICLE BY MATTY

I’m noticing recently a bit more animosity on the Internet. Perhaps it’s always been there,
perhaps it’s simply a byproduct of more programmed robots we call young adults starting to
enter the sphere of influence. Remember, the public education system is designed to produce
wage slaves and nothing more. One thing that’s been blatantly obvious to me, though, is that
there’s a clear lack of critical thinking in the social media landscape. So much of what we take in
is either read out of context or taken immediately at face value. Perhaps it’s because I live in a
country where every single news media outlet spews nonsense and cannot be trusted, but I’ve
trained myself to think critically about every situation. What angle or spin is the author
attempting to exploit here with how it’s worded? Has the user read the whole thing or just taken a
snippet and run with it? Did the user actually think critically about what they read, or did they
simply commit a few things to memory, as we are trained to do in school like the circus monkeys
the elites desire us to be, and vomit word salad all over the page and hit “submit”? The point of
this article? To point out how easily we can be deceived by the media and our own minds, train
ourselves to try and see the whole picture, and overall promote higher level thinking. To use
common sense and logic, to think before we post, rather than post an emotional reaction before
we have properly sorted ourselves out.

The inspiration for this article comes mainly from a discovery I’ve made, namely that
politics in America is one giant rat race. The right and left, the Trump worshippers and the gay
drag queens, have never been more polarized. One side is fed fuel by Fox News, the other side is
fed by CNN. Of course, none of these news companies actually care about reporting the news.
That’d lead to boring ratings! Instead, it’s propaganda cleverly packaged in a way that Goebbels
would be proud of. Relating this to football, there’s two clear sides, as there always is, that have
emerged during this Liverpool season. One side can’t help but shout from the rooftops “Slot’s
ruining everything that Klopp built, he needs to be fired, and the people in charge of the club are
running it into the ground”. The article I wrote demeaning Slot earlier in the season was written
largely out of emotion, and I feel foolish for parroting that line of thought before attempting to
dive deeper into the problems of the team. The other side of the Liverpool aisle believes that
everything is fine, this season is a blip, and Slot’s still golden. I find most often that when you
look at both arguments, examine the place of origin they’re coming from, and then hold up that
examination to your own common sense and logic, as well as your moral compass, both sides
have truth to them but they refuse to see the full picture. The issue is that most cannot detach
emotion from reality. Their emotions are like a powder keg, waiting to blow up and start a fight.
This comes from the education system and mental programming

I keep going back to the failure of the education system and the programming of social
media because, like it or not, we are exposed to it every time we interact in the public space.
Eventually, because of the repetitive nature of interactions with the public, we adopt some of
their action unconsciously, not too dissimilar to muscle memory. “Monkey see, monkey do” type
of logic. This shows up more in a world where people are not taught to critically think, but
instead taught to simply react. We’re not taught to ponder on things, to explore through the
medium of contemplation, but instead taught to commit things to memory so we get good grades
on frequent tests. Our focus is no longer to intimately know the material, but simply do enough
to get by. This leaves us susceptible to being trained like pets into adopting certain behaviors. On
social media, this is exactly what happens. We watch Mark Goldbridge crash out like a petulant
child for years on YouTube. We laugh at it, but unknowingly in watching the material, we tell our
brains that it’s OK to react emotionally. We haven’t been taught in school that we need to think
before we act, nor have we been taught to do anything but memorize whatever content we’re
viewing. So we commit to memory that it’s ok to act like a petulant child because sports are
involved. We’re allowed to wail and gnash our teeth about because it’s just sports, after all. If
we’re told a player sucks, so he must. If we’re told a player simply has to go, he must. After all,
why think about what is being said when we can just tap into our emotional receptors and react
faster. We even see this on the BBC, with Jamie Carragher in particular. Changing his opinions
constantly to suit the desires of the rabid animals known as modern-day sports fans. Social media
further degrades the mind through short-form material. Instant pleasure, instant reactions, hot
takes and bold statements. People hunt for the dopamine hit now more than ever, especially in a
world where joy is more rare than ever. Your job’s being taken by AI, your degree is worth
nothing because 100,000 people are vying for the same job and are given preference based on
race and gender, housing and grocery costs continue to skyrocket while the wages stay the same,
women your age don’t accept a man making less than six figures, or a man less than 6 feet tall.
So why not destroy your brain and get addicted to dopamine?

The problem that emerges with that line of thinking is that your brain, in hunting for
dopamine, becomes addicted. You become addicted to the short term high that comes from
reactionary content, the content sparks your emotions, and you end up acting like the base animal
that you’ve been programmed to become. I choose not to live this way. I don’t watch the news,
instead getting various updates from my friends or family members, people I trust, on the state of
the world. I place my faith and hope in Jesus Christ. We can debate whether or not that helps
things, but abiding by the moral structure of my faith and continuing to pursue greater virtue, it
keeps me focused on being the best person I can be, day after day. I develop my intellect through
contemplation, critical thought, and deep discussions among friends and family. I’ve detached
myself as much as I can from the rat race, from the influencers, from the people that attempt to
force me to act as they act, do as they do. I know how I should act, I know I fail at that
sometimes, but I hold myself accountable and I push forward. I’m currently dating someone new,
someone who’s quite different from the others I’ve chased before. Instead of conforming to their
values, I desired to stand strong by my own values, and instead find someone who had similar
values. I didn’t think it would be easy, but someone did just fall into my lap one day, and it
progressed from there. Know your values, stand by your values, and let your values dictate what
you see. Never believe things of this world blindly, for they all have fault.

Finally, back to Liverpool FC. Looking at this season, I see two main issues. Firstly, the
health and form of players has definitely played a role in this season. I don’t want to discount
how the loss of Diogo Jota has affected the mentality of these players. Nor do I want to discount
that Mac Allister really wants to win another World Cup and might be saving himself for it, or
that Konate’s mentality was surely somewhat compromised by the declining health and eventual
death of his father. Especially in this day and age, it’s important to remember that these players
are human beings as well. Paid very well to play a game, sure, but that’s no reason to demean
them, hate or resent them. Players have been in and out of the lineup all season. Alexander Isak
looked like he was finally starting to find his form, only to break his leg. Mac Allister has been
nursing an injury for a long time now and his form was surely affected. Salah’s form has fallen
off a cliff, whether age related or tactically related or mentally off, who are we to know. Konate’s
form fell off a cliff. Bradley’s form suffered due to constant injury. Frimpong hasn’t stayed
healthy. Gomez and Chiesa are told not to play more than once a week to preserve their health
and they still end up hurt. A bunch of new players from different leagues tossed into a team
without any time to get acclimated, then realize the game has dramatically shifted and is even
more physical than before. Those are all factors, and that’s not even all of them. The second main
issue lies with Slot and club management, namely Hughes and Edwards. They took risks in
building the squad. We were short on wingers and defensive depth. That still rings even more
true now. Slot has proven inflexible with his rotation and tactics, a clear identity of how he wants
his team to play has not yet been created. Partly because of the integration of new players, I’m
sure, as any good manager will develop his system both on identity and the skills of his players.
However, given his track record, he’s probably as good a bet as anyone to get us out of this mess.
He’s being given some of the best young talent in the world to work with. Things are simply in
progress at the moment when the world wants immediate results.

When the manager says he prefers style over trophies, how are we to react? With
immediate indignation, or a second look? I believe Slot’s full quote was that, long term, people
remember the style just as much if not more than the silverware. If all of you want to look back
at the Klopp years, what stands out the most? The trophies, or the memory of our club being
restored to its former glory? The 2-0 final against Tottenham that won us the Champions League,
or the 4-0 comeback it took to reach it? Lifting the Premier League trophy, or the statistic that
showed us winning 26 of our first 27 games that season? Slot understands sport is meant to be
entertainment. Winning is fun, but winning in style? That’s more memorable than just winning.
Winning is the only thing, of that we can agree. But style points matter, and Slot, through that
quote, was wanting to emphasize how much he wants the fans to be entertained. He wants us to
enjoy ourselves along the ride. Isn’t that what we all want?

In conclusion, think before you act. Detach yourself from letting your emotion control the
moment. Look through the propaganda nonsense and act sensibly, think why someone wants you
to act that way. Everyone’s just seeking attention and a reaction anyways. Be better, think more,
and understand context. For example, Micky van den Ven. Is he injury-prone? Sure, he’s been
injured at times, but is it a long-term problem? Seeing as many players suffered the same injury
under previous management, and now he’s not injured nearly as much under new management, I
tend to think perhaps his previous injuries were simply poor management in addition to adjusting
to a new league. Feel free to disagree, that’s why forums exist. But do your own research before
making claims. Try and find a reason for something rather than just say something exists. But
that’s just me. Until next time.