When it comes to influencing others, creating feelings is easy. And lazy. Establishing truth is much more difficult.

Why Creating Feelings is So Easy

I learned this early on in blogging. And evoking negative feelings was even easier. All I had to do to build a quick audience was to evoke strong feelings with my posts. Controversy. Feigned grievances. Hate. Fortunately, I realized that I didn’t enjoy this method of increasing readership. I started to dislike QueerJoe. So, I pivoted. I worked on inspiring. Educating. Asking questions.

It was then that I started to gain an audience I really enjoyed.

Unfortunately, politicians are using this technique to great advantage. They understand that they can create an impression about an issue or a candidate much more easily than they can establish a fact. Or a truth. So voters are deciding candidates based on feelings. And most negative feelings…unfortunately. Aggrieved, angry and hateful, they head to the ballot box to cast their votes on an impression. I’m convinced that this is largely why Hillary lost. Despite volumes of amazing things she’d done, people just didn’t like her. It still amazes me.

I’m hopeful people will see the bad effects of emotion-voting and start to base their choices more on truth.

Current Crochet

Added the feet to Helmud.

He is wearing hand knit socks, of course.

I also finished one side of the faux button band and started the second.

The first side is finished off with the crab stitch.

It’s the first time I’ve ever used this technique. Hardly noticeable at this small

gauge. It doesn’t even really stop any of th minor curling, so it’s not an overly useful technique here. But I’ll repeat it on the second side just to be consistent.