Critically Thinking About Our Health: IMO a key MENTAL component is too frequently overlooked

The physical health of Americans is simply atrocious. For example, over 75% of American adults have at least one chronic disease, and the rate of child illnesses continues to grow. Considering our knowledge, scientific advancements, financial resources, etc, this is unconscionable.

The good news is that many people and groups (like RFKjr, MAHA Action, etc.) are now aggressively chipping away at this huge elephant-sized issue. I am in full support of these efforts, and (despite being time-challenged) religiously watch MAHA Action’s 1-hour weekly meeting. It rarely disappoints. (You can join, for free, here.)

That said, I have one major beef.

No one is seriously addressing the underlying mental part of this health crisis. I don’t mean mental illnesses, but rather mental ability. We can provide citizens with boatloads of great information, but if they can’t properly process it, what good is it?

Yes, to truly fix this crisis we need many more citizens to be Critical Thinkers!

Interestingly, medical people (and other good souls) immersed in trying to solve parts of our health crisis repeatedly say things like “We need to change the public’s thinking!” yet they don’t get this connection…

Let’s do a layperson’s overview, starting from the beginning…

The human body is a collection of parts working together in various systems.

These unique elements range from relatively passive parts like a bone in your little finger to very active parts like your heart.

These complex systems range from the respiratory system to the circulatory system to the digestive system to the endocrine system.

The sophistication of these parts and systems is a major differentiation between animals and plants.

A key difference between humans and other animals is that humans have a much more advanced brain.

A human illness is a serious degradation of one or more parts or systems.

Critical Thinking is Instinctive!

The human brain is designed for thinking critically. For example, young children are naturally inquisitive, which is a clear indication that they are developing their critical thinking skill — which is rooted in asking questions.

K-12 schools should be focused on maturing this powerful skill, which is a cornerstone of what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Instead of making this a priority, almost all US K-12 schools actually infect children with a mental illness: lemmingitis. (See my earlier related commentary.) This disease occurs when the brain’s healthy and naturally occurring critical thinking is purposefully replaced by conformity.

The result? Such a brainwashed person now has herd mentality, which means that they are not much different from many animals. Thus, the term sheeple.

Surprisingly, much of psychology (and many other treatments of what we call mental illnesses, e.g., depression) can often be traced to a lack of critical thinking skills. This results in those victims making poor decisions (regarding diet, exercise, drugs, relationships, and much more).

So, when we talk of mental illness, lemmingitis should be at the top of our list.

Put another way, the number one thing to significantly reduce Americans’ chronic illnesses is to nurture their inherent Critical Thinking ability, starting when they are youngsters.

The Bottom Line:

We need to fix what goes into people’s minds before we can fix what goes in their mouths.

Put another way: until we make major inroads to restoring the critical thinking skills of Americans (e.g., starting in K-12), we have little hope to successfully restore the health of our nation.

©2025 John Droz, Jr. All rights reserved.

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