Does it Validate?

[In the Beginning – II]

If you want to lose a friend, remind them that their physical pain is in their head. Tell them that the mind is powerful—more powerful than the injury they believe they have.

If you want to frustrate a teacher, offer to them that homeschool, no-school, and wild-school kids regularly test higher on standardized tests. Inform them that real learning happens spontaneously, rarely in classes, and best when self-directed.

If you want to really tick a doctor off, quote statistics about the effects of placebos. Tell them all about studies you’ve read online that find placebos have more influence on real outcomes than pharmaceuticals.

Is any of that true?
It doesn’t matter.

When facts (or made-up statistics) are used to dismiss and hurt, all truth is lost.

When information (or made-up garbage) is used as a weapon, the truth doesn’t matter.

More important than "Is it true?” is “Does it validate?” Pre-validating a person is always “more true” than so-called facts.

(If your mind immediately goes to thinking of all the reasons you can’t pre-validate someone, you’ve likely hurt a lot of people all the way.)