I think at this point it's fair to say that holding high expectations for Donald Trump is the sign of a true optimist, and I say this as a Trump supporter.

But I'm curious what excuse people here would use for behavior that is little better - if you can't beat 'em, join em? What's good for the goose is good for the gander?

Not quite up to my personal standards, but at least that would be a valid and defensible position to hold imho. But who among us has the integrity and humility to explicitly admit to this behavior? I've made many silly mistakes in my life, and said many things in the past, and surely I will continue to do so into the future. But at least I'm trying to speak truthfully, and will admit without hesitation (or so I would like to believe) when I have been caught red-handed spreading mistruths.

I suspect most people here aren't big believers in God, and that's ok, but I believe there remains great value at this point in humanity's evolution to contemplate ideas from a frame of mind as if there was a (not "the") God. Done correctly, with sincere discipline, I believe one can bring significant psychological force to bear on one's mind, to put one's mind into a state where one may not be completely "free" from one's preconceived notions, biases, faith-based axioms (how many people are unaware that we all have them, even atheists), etc, but "free enough" to start to begin seeing reality more so for what it is.

Anyone who has studied Buddhism or related fields (psychology, neurology, etc) is well aware of the tricks one's mind can get up to. I rarely see resistance to these general ideas, even among non-practitioners.

But then close that tab and move to another one, where the topic of discussion is not directly about Buddhism or psychology, where people are no longer discussing these notions at the abstract level, but grappling with them first hand at the object level. I believe this is a fitting analogy (at least): those who have tried meditation are well aware how despite one focusing 100% of your conscious energy on one point of focus (typically one's breath), how long does it take before your mind is off on some sort of a wild goose chase? 60 seconds? 30? 10?

Now, in light of this fact, contemplate the nature of human thought (conceptualization of reality) and communication, processes several orders of magnitude more complicated than focusing on your breath (which most people are practically helpless with) - should we be surprised if occasionally our brain produces output whose accuracy or logic is less than perfect? And that's even when trying one's very hardest (see: bugs in code, making careless and hurtful remarks to friends or strangers, framing things so as to avoid something unpleasant "just this once"). Now imagine if you're not even trying to be disciplined, or correct, or honest, but rather "just kinda winging it". Going with the flow. Conforming to the the cultural norms (aka: "getting along" with others - "no rocking of the boat, please").

Man has grappled with (and written extensively on) such problems for as far back as we have records. But it almost seems like we've now broadly adopted the belief that we can now put the trivial ideas of ancient mankind behind us, relegate them to the trash bin of history with all the other "objectively incorrect" beliefs of yore. Who needs Gods and other such silly ways of thinking about the world, when we have become so powerful that we are nearing the realm of Gods ourselves?

Maybe. Maybe this is all correct. "Maybe it's me that's wrong." Maybe there is no wisdom or lessons from the past that have practical utility going forward. Maybe we really have become Gods.

Maybe. Or maybe not. I have a feeling we shall find out before my number is called.

Proof reading all this, and what a gigantic crock of delusional "woo woo" shit this is. The rantings of an obvious delusional schizophrenic. Move along, nothing to see here. And best make haste, there's a good chance this nut job might be dangerous.

Maybe I just need to sit on the couch for the rest of the day and immerse myself in some sitcoms and sports, maybe a little porn to add some spice. And tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and then maybe all these silly ideas will just go away, and I can get back to dreaming about important things like that new car I had my eye on a while back. Maybe.