Those of us who grew up in privilege and SPECIFICALLY those of us who limited our studies to STEM fields, it’s especially important that we take a step back and do some DIVERSE readings on historical and sociological perspectives because too often I see...

WELL EDUCATED people (and I being blunt here, largely Indo-Trini Men) oversimplifying complex social issues and I tying it to STEM purely because STEM (at least to the A Levels) focuses on breaking down complex problems into many tiny simple problems and I’d argue that...

This approach CANNOT be applied to these complex sociopolitical / economic issues spanning centuries. I’ve noticed something I like to call the Shapiro Syndrome (after Ben Shapiro the popular debater with peanuts for brains). By this I mean, the tendency to take...

selective statistics, fragments of history, and half assed arguments (all without context) and eloquently wrap it in pretty English and call that fact. That’s well, exactly what Mr Shapiro does and I’ve noticed he gains traction among the aforementioned groups.

It plays to the upbringing that isolated, sheltered privilege *tends* to provide and it fits in neatly with the manner in which STEM fields are taught in the Trinidadian education system (at least til CAPE).

This way of thinking however, is clearly flawed because it fails to consider the vast array of perspectives that are relevant to the topic at hand.

Essentially what I’m saying here is... not everything is formulaic and can be boiled down to simple one level cause and effect, it’s a multitude of things and when we can’t understand the fine details of it, it’s IMPORTANT that we...

1. Hush unless it’s to ask a question from someone better educated on the topic than us who has the time and energy to provide guidance

2. Do our own reading, check the sources, look for a variety of perspectives ESPECIALLY those that challenge our preconceived notions, do further reading, listen to testimonials.

And before anyone jump at me for ruffling their feathers, I too had Shapiro Syndrome until I decided to push my reading further to try to better understand the world around me, particularly the humanities.
also I fit the profile described above too so don’t take it personal.

And if this tweet does ruffle your feathers, GOOD. I hope you decide to take a smidgen of my advice and seek a wider understanding of the issues that may not directly affect us but affect humanity collectively.

Anyhow das my hot take. Usual disclaimers apply.