It’s been too long since posting anything here. I kind of took the weekend off, and enjoyed some movies. I re-watched the ‘Matrix’ films, and I noticed some interesting things.

In the first movie, those of you familiar with the series, will remember the important red vs. blue pill moment. At this time, Morpheus tells Neo, “All I’m offering is the truth, nothing more.” Now, how do we define ‘The Truth’? That is the big question. It could be said that truth is subjective, and people will tell you that the ‘truth’ is, that chocolate ice cream tastes better than vanilla ice cream. What I want to discuss is truth that is Objective. What I mean by that is that it can be tested, and that test can be repeated. For instance, what is the truth about letting go of a rock that is 3 feet above a hard surface? We can do a test and do just that, let go of a rock that is 3 feet above a hard surface and observe that it falls down and hits that hard surface. As long as you are on Earth, and there aren’t any interfering forces, such as wind or magnetism, the same result will happen over and over again. The rock will hit the hard surface every time. In this article, I am referring to that context of Truth. Something that can be tested and observed to be true.

So, the movies start out talking about ‘Truth’, and as they go on, they are making decisions based on prophecies. Now, for a person to make a decision that affects them based on subjective ‘Facts’ is OK for personal decisions, but when it is important, it is best to use objective facts, when they can be obtained. Now, I know these are only movies, and they are only for entertainment, but I’ve started to see things like this in various media a lot lately. The issue I have with this is that something interesting happens when someone repeatedly hears the same thing over and over, from different sources, they start believing it, even without evidence.

Just take a look at this study done in 2009 that I’ll bet you never heard of. ‘New study puts final nail in the “saturated fat causes heart disease” coffin’. You can and should read the article, and it links to the actual study, but the short of it is this.

It pooled together data from 21 unique studies that included almost 350,000 people, about 11,000 of whom developed cardiovascular disease (CVD), tracked for an average of 14 years, and concluded that there is no relationship between the intake of saturated fat and the incidence of heart disease or stroke.”

How can this be? We’ve heard over and over again on TV and other places over the past 50+ years that saturated fats cause heart disease, and the research just doesn’t bear that out. Now, I’m not saying the case is completely closed, but based on current research and evidence, you shouldn’t be scared to use animal fats anymore. And make that pie crust with lard, it will taste awesome!!

So, what am I trying to get at here? I’ve kind of been all over the place. My main point is that in repeating unproven data, we can start to believe it. In this case it’s that of the movies always talking about doing what you ‘feel’ and not what the evidence is pointing to, and it can be dangerous. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes your gut feeling is all you have to go on, and you need to make important quick decisions based on that, but this happens way too often in movies. I’m curious how many people only go by their gut, and then they wonder why things so rarely turn out for them when it seems to work so well in movies! I get movies are an escape to many, and that is OK, just keep in mind that it is entertainment, and don’t take it to seriously! Also, remember that movies are fiction, and you shouldn’t base your life on them. But, if you are reading this, you probably already know that!