Like many of you, I have been musing about the importance of this new year for our younger generations. It led me to think about our tendency toward self-delusion as we kick possible solutions to today's problems down the road. Below are some ways in which I think we delude ourselves.



In this new year, humans are playing a high-stakes game for the world's future. In the current social and intellectual climate, Americans only hear promises of easy fixes from political, corporate, educational, religious, and scientific institutions. Unvarnished facts indicate that it is time to shed wishful thinking and embrace realism. See the myths below:



1. 2012 Will Change Earth Forever : Publishing and media industries made a fortune purveying baseless prophecies about the hazards of 2012. Believers will be distracted until December 31. Whatever the impact is on our planet from a galactic line crossing, it has gradually affected us for centuries as it approached and continues as it moves on.



2. Big Government is the Problem : The size of government, per se, is irrelevant. Size depends on the benefits (security, support, and regulation) desired by its citizens. In a self-established democracy, people assume government will benefit all fairly, but some who benefit most from its functions seek to avoid paying their fair share and, instead, call it "too big."





Cutting Government is the Answer

God Always Protects Our Planet

The Earth is Self-Adjusting

Individuals Can Succeed by Themselves

Drugs and Machines Give Health

The United States is an Exception

Military Dominance Guarantees Peace

Religions Save the World

Magical Thinking Creates Reality

eSkeptics Speak for Science