Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

I just love this article, “What if We’ve All Been Primed?” written by Tom Nokkola and taken from his blog, tomnikkola.com.  It provides some really good insight on why we form cultural tribes and how the COVID-19 saga has put this process on steroids.  It also challenges us to break free from this by questioning some commonly accepted beliefs.

The main premise is something called behavioral priming, which leads us to think in specific ways that pit us against one another.  Behavioral priming, Nokkola says:

“is the ability to influence someone’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors without them knowing about it, through exposing them to a previous stimulus.  For example, repeating the phrase, “Stay home. Stay safe.” could be…

                                                      Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

I just love this article, “What if We’ve All Been Primed?” written by Tom Nokkola and taken from his blog, tomnikkola.com.  It provides some really good insight on why we form cultural tribes and how the COVID-19 saga has put this process on steroids.  It also challenges us to break free from this by questioning some commonly accepted beliefs.

The main premise is something called behavioral priming, which leads us to think in specific ways that pit us against one another.  Behavioral priming, Nokkola says:

“is the ability to influence someone’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors without them knowing about it, through exposing them to a previous stimulus.  For example, repeating the phrase, “Stay home. Stay safe.” could be…

The kind looking man with the gentle voice in the video is Dr. Robert Levin, Health Director for Ventura County, CA.  In it, the doctor explains the new “Test & Trace” program being implemented across the state and how it will work in Ventura County.

Here are some snippets from the kind looking man with the gentle voice  and the time mark where you can find them in the video:

3:49-“When we find someone who has a COVID infection,  those people are immediately isolated.”

4:52- “We will isolate every one of them and we will find every one of their contacts and we will make sure that they stay quarantined.”

5:20-“There are gonna be thousands of peopled hired who will be contact investigators across the state.”

6:12-“We’re not going to be able to keep that person in their home”

6:25-“We’ll be moving…

First it’s a worldwide pandemic. Now it’s Giant Murder Hornets. Zombies can’t be far behind. Actually, according to the World Health Organization, the five deadliest creatures (to humans) aren’t giant murder hornets, lions and tigers and bears, or even zombies. They are:

#5  Dogs – 61,000 deaths per year

#4  Snakes – 94,000 deaths per year

#3  Snails – 200,000 deaths per year

#2  Mosquitoes – 755,000 deaths per year

and finally… 

It has amazed me throughout this pandemic how loud the media has shouted and how quiet the church has remained.

It’s been eerily quiet, except for shouts, concerns and finger-points of who should do what, when and how.

It has amazed me how quickly the whole world has given up their freedom and personal rights, even here in America, under the guise of health, security and even “common decency.”

It has been eerily obvious, except for the shouts, concerns and warning signs thrown up by those who recognize this is not what the Constitution provides.

Maybe you’ve not read that part recently.

Let me refresh your memory…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among…