Do This Experiment, Right Now

I am interested in politics, but I don't like how seemingly everything has become political. By that I mean people seem to want to take simple concepts and use them to demonize others.

Here's an example: the idea of doing an experiment. This is giving something a try because you have a prediction of how it might turn out. We do it with recipes and restaurants, hoping the experience will be tasty. We do it when we take a new route to work, believing it might be faster or feel safer. This idea--the idea of doing an experiment--is a perfectly normal activity.

But now I'm going to suggest you do an experiment, on your own. It's going to feel political, because everything has become political.

I want you to open your mouth and cough on the back of your hand. Notice what it feels like. And then I want you to grab one of those face masks that we've all been carrying around for the last year, put it on, and repeat the experiment.

I am not going to tell you what will happen. But I will say that the results of this experiment will tell you something. The question is: are you focused on what occurred, or on how it was politicized?

Try it for yourself. And then decide for yourself what that means.