Article of the Week #7: "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race"

Let's start this week with a game. It's a guessing game. BEFORE reading any further, scroll to the bottom of this post and leave me a comment based on the following question.

"What's the worst mistake EVER?" I'm talking the worst mistake anyone has ever made, ever. Not just in your life, but ever! Seriously, EVER! 

GO! COMMENT! NOW!

Seriously, I bet you can't guess what it is. Business Insider cataloged its top 25 worst mistakes in history back in April of 2011 (click here to view the article, if you want), but even they didn't come close to coming up with the worst mistake ever. 

Now, I won't ask you to comment about this, but think about the worst mistake in your life. Just think about it for a moment. I've made some pretty bad ones, and I'm sure you have too. But, what makes something a BIG mistake? If you really sat and thought about it, you'd probably come to the conclusion that it's not really the decision itself that is bad, but the consequences of that decision. 

We judge our decisions based on their effects. Often we think about how they affect us. Sometimes we think about how they affect others. That's because although some of our decisions only impact us, some touch a much larger group of people, people we may not ever directly know. How you treated your ex-girlfriend may affect her future relationships, and, in turn her future boyfriends, and so on and so on. Sometimes our friends make decisions and don't consider how WE will be impacted by them. I used to think this was a childhood thing and eventually all of my friends would consider the feelings and reactions of others before doing things. Turns out that was, well, a mistake. 

I think you get it now, right? Mistakes, even if they seem like a good decision, or even have immediately gratifying and rewarding effects, have negative long-term consequences. The worst mistakes have negative consequences for those we love and sometimes people we don't even know.

A few hypothetical examples include kissing someone other than your significant other, cheating on a test you aren't ready for, or going on a beer run. You could theoretically do all of these things and not get caught. No sweat off your back, right? Think, though, about how others are affected by this.

• The girl you kissed who's not your girlfriend, but wants to be, but also knows she can't have you because you are just using her. There goes her self-esteem. 
• The knowledge you "pretended" to have on that test will catch up with you later in life. I promise. 
• Oh, and don't forget about the store owner who now has to pay for the beer you stole out of his own pocket, install more security cameras, and tell his wife that they may not go out to dinner on their anniversary because they don't have the money... yes, because you stole beer so you and your "homies" could go chill at a kick-back.

Now, I'll give you a few decisions from history that were not great, but still don't come close to the worst mistake ever. What we need to remember about these is WHY people made these (now seemingly) horrible decisions. What the heck were they smoking? Well, I often wonder the same thing about some of my students... just saying.

<---The election of this guy. Great job, Germany.

Now, in the midst of a crumbling economy, mounting national debt, eroding national pride and security, and the utter humiliation of everything your country ever stood for, it's not unimaginable (<---is that a double negative?) that the people would want someone who would provide them with HOPE and CHANGE... Oh, yeah...it only hurts if it's true.

Let's be clear, Hitler didn't put "Kill all the Jews" out there as his main campaign promise. Instead he promised to give jobs to the unemployed and to rebuild Germany's reputation in the wake of the humiliation that was the Treaty of Versailles. Guess what? HE DID IT! He succeeded! Germany pulled out of the Great Depression well before the USA did, and he created an industrial and military super power in less than 10 years. However, he then used his popularity in Germany to usurp all power within the government, take over other lands, defy the law, and engineer the "Final Solution." Overall, a horrible period in German and world history.

Having unprotected sex---->

It's not "having the baby" that was the bad choice, it was not using protection when you were "doing it" that was the bad decision. Whether it's fueled by raging teenage hormones or a bit to much of the sauce, it doesn't really matter. The baby is the effect of not really thinking about the situation. I have kids, and I love them (and making them). BUT, I love money, sleep, and sanity a lot too, so I'm not having any more. 

On a side note, the globe is overpopulated as it is. Let's all get it in check before the "China" policy becomes necessary everywhere.

<--- the hiring of a crapy "fact checker." Who could have known that a smart, enthusiastic intern would ever let these names get by them, and, as a result, blasted on air? READ those names aloud. Tell me there isn't something wrong. SUM TING WONG here indeed. I'm sure they didn't intend to have this happen, but it did, and it's their fault, and people (like me) will aim to never let them forget it.

Now, the article this week is about decisions and consequences. It's about the worst mistake ever made. It's also got some BIG FREAKIN' WORDS in it. The problem with the article, though, is that most people have never even considered this decision to be a mistake. We have come to think of it as being the best thing ever (without it there would be no sliced bread). So, not only will our biases be exposed and our beliefs challenged, but we will also look critically to see if what's being given as evidence is really believable. We are also going to look at what other authors say about the same event and see if their stories match, compliment, and  "corroborate." If they don't then we'll have to decide who we are going to believe. 

Because this weeks article might be a little more difficult than previous weeks, we've provided you with a graphic organizer to help you structure your argument. The organizer is called "Proposition and Support" and it looks a lot like this example, which uses student ID cards as the central question.

When you look at the organizer, consider the bottom boxes to be your "reasons" for wanting or not wanting to wear ID cards. Hopefully it's pretty straight forward. If it's not, then ask me a question. 

There are also some words that might go over your head. Really, though, you can get by without knowing all of them. If you want some oversimplified definition, click here.

When you are reading, keep in mind that the author is coming from a Revisionist perspective, and he attacks the Progressive view of humanity. When you become historians it will all make more sense, I promise. 

So, with that, I'll leave you. Go, tackle the article. Analyze the argument being made and decide if it is indeed a worthy and substantial one. Then, take this idea of what a mistake is, and think about how you can avoid making a lot of them.

Happy reading, thinking, responding, and writing. 

Sincerely,

A guy who writes best in the morning but can't say "no" when people ask him for favors and so he had to stay up way too late to write this because he just got done completing said favors.

Use this graphic organizer to help you answer the "after reading" questions/

Click here to access the form for ARTICLE OF THE WEEK #7

-Markstone