What is Cartesian Skepticism? Remember the "Evil Genius" thought experiment that Rene Descartes performed?

For those who have never studied it, consider that everything in your life is not real. Consider, instead, that it is merely the work of an evil genius who tricks you into believing that what you see, and feel, and taste, and touch is real.

How would you know the difference?

You wouldn't. When I was a college freshman, way back in 1996, I was taught this crucial thought experiment my very first quarter in college in my introduction to ethics class.

The way it was put there is imagine you're just a brain in a vat. There are electrical connections to your brain, and with these connections, a group of evil scientists create all of your life experiences, every single one, simply by manipulating different electrical frequencies in different parts of your brain.

How do you know that what you see, or taste, or touch is real, in any meaningful sense?

You don't, and you can't. It is impossible to be sure that the world you know around you is real.

Here's the kicker, there really is an evil genius manipulating you. Rene Descartes was right. However, since we assume you aren't a brain in a vat, you can see the evil genius at work, if you know how to look.

Over the last few days, I've see so many hyper-reactive posts on this subreddit to the what happened at the capitol this week, and to the social media bans. Embrace your inner Cartesian skepticism and ask yourself: how do I know that what I am feeling right now is real?

I'll tell you the moment I first experienced this in my own life. This will be a dumb story, but bear with me. It was the summer of 2011. The NFL and it's player's union were trying to hammer out a new CBA and avoid canceling games. Two days before an agreement was reached, the players backed out and completely cut off negotiations.

I was furious. I made a very profanity laced post on a forum I used to post on about it, criticizing the players for backing out. The wisest man who I have ever know, and a friend I used to have epic arguments with, essentially told me: "the deal will get done. They are emotionally manipulating you and everyone. The owners probably leaked the player's backing out to increase public anger at the players, increase their own leverage and to get a better bargain. By being angry, publicly like this, you are giving them exactly what they want."

Two days later, the deal was done, and only game was canceled: the preseason hall of fame game.

I learned a lesson that day that I never forgot: always embrace Cartesian skepticism. There is no such thing as the news media, only propaganda designed to get an emotional response out of people.

The capital hill protests didn't cause the social media bans. That was always going to happen. Big tech didn't need a reason, only an excuse. They've always wanted to shut down a certain segment of the population, and they've been working at it for years.

Nothing fundamentally changed last week. If you were surprised by any of it, you haven't been paying attention. If you aren't surprised by it, then you shouldn't be outraged. You should have already changed your strategy to adapt to the reality that you knew was coming.

I will end this topic with a practical application. The media exists to mislead people, and to enrich the pockets of those who own the media. For the last six months, the mainstream financial press has been propagating a statistic: the stock market does best, on average, with a democratic president and a divided congress.

Investors have been getting this message for months now. If you pay attention to the financial press, you couldn't avoid it. When it looked like the democrats might sweep the Georgia elections on Monday morning (the elections were on Tuesday) the market collapsed, losing nearly 2% of it's total value. Panicked investors sold. The profitable government makeup that would lead to another great year was not going to happen.

Then democrats swept the elections, and the market roared upwards again. I bought in on Monday, while others sold, because I figured out long ago the long term is all that matters. I don't pay attention to day-to-day shifts in the market's mood. I was able to invest the entirety of my $6,000 ROTH Ira contribution at a discount. That investment on Monday saw immediate gains.

The reason the markets were up after the democrats won the election?

Here's the reason they gave: with democrats having a tiny majority, investors think they'll be able to pass more stimulus, including $2,000 checks and some moderate student loan forgiveness. The narrow margin the democrats have means that any radical proposals, like tax reform, are off the table.

That's bull shit. Here's the real reason: institutional investors, the people who were in the room in the lead-up to the 2020 election and who have insider knowledge, know EXACTLY what they have in Joe Biden. They have a puppet for all their interests. That's why things are up in the wake of the Georgia election: Biden now has a congress that can pass the institutional investor's dream check-list through congress.

Pay attention to what people do, not what they say. Always embrace Cartesian skepticism.