Dr. Werrell, Although Joe is certainly capable of narrating this for himself, I will say that I do not thing Joe’s claim as a “mere assertion”. It accurately reflects the current vote count. Second, I don’t see anything in the courts that would be considering the total number of ballots, and I don’t think any court in the land would be in a position to determine the true number of votes. Third, I don’t think Joe was making any specific point other than commenting that huge numbers of people voted for both men, with a slight majority voting for Biden. Surely, that is as close to a social fact about the state of affairs as we will get in dealing with a hyperobject like an election. And all of these propositions are justifications. Best, Gregg From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Bradley H. Werrell, D.O. Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2020 1:15 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: TOK Excellent Essay by Nick Jankel CAUTION: This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ________________________________ Dr. Michalski, You said: "The undeniable facts are that, at this point, more than 77 million voted for Biden and more than 72 million voted for Trump." This is certainly an incorrect statement. This is not a "undeniable fact," but a mere assertion, a justification. This is currently being contended in the court system, as a matter of (true) fact. Bradley H. Werrell, D.O. - This email is private and copyrighted by the author. On Thursday, November 12, 2020, 10:06:33 AM MST, Joseph Michalski <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: CAUTION: This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ________________________________ Hi Deepak. Fully agreed: "Trump is a symptom, not the cause of what is happening to America." As to what exactly may be happening, I'll wager that nearly everyone on this list probably has given the matter at least causal consideration -- and likely has thought deeply about and perhaps studied these issues. Maybe some have even written blogs or articles or done podcasts, a la Gregg. A great many commentators and analysts from different fields are & have been writing thoughtful pieces on the degree of polarization in the U.S. The issues are too many to list, but some highlight: 1) regional differences; 2) demographic characteristics & how different group interests may align; 3) social media sources and forces; 4) the issues of the "isms" (e.g., "racism" and "classism"); 5) the "education gap"; 6) social mobility & the impact of globalization; 7) the issues of "confirmation bias," "echo chambers", and tribalism; and 8) personality types and who's more likely to support, for example, authoritarian leaders. That's just off the top of my head! The undeniable facts are that, at this point, more than 77 million voted for Biden and more than 72 million voted for Trump. For those who are interested in the demography of the election results, here's an interesting article from the Financial Times that breaks down voting % by a number of interesting characteristics. I'd imagine most informed people here could easily predict who was more likely to vote Trump or Biden, based on their demographic characteristics and based on the logic of JUST. https://www.ft.com/content/69f3206f-37a7-4561-bebf-5929e7df850d<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ft.com_content_69f3206f-2D37a7-2D4561-2Dbebf-2D5929e7df850d&d=DwMF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=PaZqr4a8UoiXkrPx1qAq9gZlmTp30wb0iWsiVwsUsbE&s=C-1pvytr7-FGtyEPFwluZetQ1xZzay63_Gb36XFtcrs&e=> Best regards, one and all, -Joe Dr. Joseph H. Michalski Professor King’s University College at Western University 266 Epworth Avenue, DL-201 London, Ontario, Canada N6A 2M3 Tel: (519) 433-3491 Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ______________________ eiπ + 1 = 0 ________________________________ From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Deepak Loomba <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2020 11:30 AM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: Re: TOK Excellent Essay by Nick Jankel CAUTION: This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ________________________________ Joe, Thanks. These are indeed trying times. But what leaves me confused is the fact that America chose him to power in 16 and almost chose him in 20. So its high time that intellectuals, thought leaders and psychologists think about what's the matter with almost half the population of US rather than analyzing Trump. Trump is a symptom, not the cause of what is happening to America. I am worried, because I love the country and its free spirit. TY DL On 11/12/2020 8:58 PM, Joseph Michalski wrote: CAUTION: This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ________________________________ Hi Deepak and TOK community members. First, please see Gregg's blog today for a TOK perspective. Second, I lived half my life in the U.S. and the 2nd half in Canada, and thus have both an "emic" and an "etic" perspective on the U.S. I would have said growing up that that would a "coup" would never be on the table in the U.S., having been taught that the U.S. represents the foremost beacon of democracy, etc., etc. But times have changed and, as per Gregg's article, we should be concerned if we're functioning politically at the level of a four-year-old. I'm not thinking a coup will happen, but I'll refrain from prognosticating and instead share a link with an excellent article from the New York Times that puts U.S. events in a bit of historical context. FYI: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/europe/trump-autocrats-dictators.html?searchResultPosition=3<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2020_11_11_world_europe_trump-2Dautocrats-2Ddictators.html-3FsearchResultPosition-3D3&d=DwMF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=seu1pAEKKqHMd1MUYKZ69woggbXJP2eaT77NB5pgH_k&s=B3dNc3jBoYrflpy-Vl54FCZ96DSUePdLPtu4fJP7ZIc&e=> [https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/11/11/world/11playbook1/merlin_179558994_aa445288-be6a-40e0-9ef4-1084e60fbb0f-facebookJumbo.jpg]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2020_11_11_world_europe_trump-2Dautocrats-2Ddictators.html-3FsearchResultPosition-3D3&d=DwMF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=seu1pAEKKqHMd1MUYKZ69woggbXJP2eaT77NB5pgH_k&s=B3dNc3jBoYrflpy-Vl54FCZ96DSUePdLPtu4fJP7ZIc&e=> Trump’s Post-Election Tactics Put Him in Unsavory Company<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2020_11_11_world_europe_trump-2Dautocrats-2Ddictators.html-3FsearchResultPosition-3D3&d=DwMF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=seu1pAEKKqHMd1MUYKZ69woggbXJP2eaT77NB5pgH_k&s=B3dNc3jBoYrflpy-Vl54FCZ96DSUePdLPtu4fJP7ZIc&e=> Denying defeat, claiming fraud and using government machinery to reverse election results are the time-honored tools of dictators. www.nytimes.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com&d=DwMD-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=320nI9VZWemwt4NEN4VLycWKFB2MPRnpZyeFEcmlioE&s=xmSRBmfwWAvIjlnTbS22liBPDn5cfdysYCTeuKro5rA&e=> All the best, -Joe Dr. Joseph H. Michalski Professor King’s University College at Western University 266 Epworth Avenue, DL-201 London, Ontario, Canada N6A 2M3 Tel: (519) 433-3491 Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ______________________ eiπ + 1 = 0 ________________________________ From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Deepak Loomba <[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2020 10:00 AM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: TOK Excellent Essay by Nick Jankel CAUTION: This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ________________________________ Since I am far from action - in India. Can't resist but ask an unpleasant question - Could Trump organize a coup? Especially with the dramatic last moment changes in Pentagon; I am afraid, now all of us everywhere are worried about the US. TY DL On 11/12/2020 8:27 PM, Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx wrote: ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:mailto:[log in to unmask]> or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 -- [cid:image001.png@01D6B8F7.3BAB8E20] ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:mailto:[log in to unmask]> or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:mailto:[log in to unmask]> or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:mailto:[log in to unmask]> or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1