Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America

by Scott Adams

MENTIONING IS NOT COMPARING Let me tell you about some of the things I enjoy in life. I love my girlfriend, good food, exercise, creative ideas, dogs, cats, and world peace. That list seems uncontroversial, doesn’t it? But if someone in a mental prison sees this list, they might write a snarky article or tweet claiming I “compared my girlfriend to a dog.” If you find yourself arguing that someone else has “compared” two things in a way you feel is offensive—but the so-called comparison is in the form of a list—you might be in a mental prison. Sometimes things are on the same list because they have something trivial in common. My grocery list has cheese and fabric softener on it, but that doesn’t mean I am comparing cheese to fabric softener. All they have in common is that they come from the same store. One is not being compared to the other. You might be thinking this “compared to” problem is rare. But if you watch political news, you see it all the time. It’s a form of gotcha commentary at worst and of stupidity at best. Let’s split the difference and call it loserthink, because it doesn’t make anything better for anyone.