I Used to Like You Until... (How Binary Thinking Divides Us) By: Kat Timpf
In this whip-smart follow-up to the “ruthlessly honest exploration of comedy and cancellation” (Dr. Drew) You Can’t Joke About That, New York Times bestselling author Kat Timpf examines the dangers of binary thinking, and how it threatens to take over our institutions, relationships, and even our freedoms.
For some reason, when it comes to complex issues, we’ve largely limited ourselves to just two options, resulting in a society of non-thinkers. After all, once you’ve picked a side, all the thinking has already been done for you. As an independent, libertarian voter who has spent the last ten years at Fox News, Kat has faced this issue too many times to count. She’s learned that surprising things can happen when you refuse to choose a team, especially when you work at a place some people call an existential threat to America.
Binary thinking is much more than just the enemy of critical thinking, it’s also an immediate danger to our political discourse, our institutions, our way of consuming news, our relationships, our creativity, and even to our freedoms. All too often, we will let a single difference in viewpoint, an assumption, or an association be enough to write off another person entirely, even if we know nothing else about them. We miss out on opportunities to connect or even collaborate, all while the people in power over us benefit from our division.
Through humorous examples from her own life and insight only someone in her bizarre position can possess, Kat reminds us that the world doesn’t have to be so black and white. In her signature witty voice, Kat inspires us to lean into thoughtful consideration, genuine conversation, vulnerability, and only hating people when they really deserve it.
I've seen Kat Timpf on TV since way back when she was on The Greg Gutfeld Show. And now I watch Gutfeld!. I really enjoyed her first book You Can't Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We're All in This Together and put this on hold at the library as soon as it was available.
She writes about many topics: party tribalism, the First and Second Amendments, taxes, veterans, mental health, using children to write vague bills, biology, and religion.
I don't agree with everything she says but she often makes excellent points and she is able to stand in the middle and see through how each political side will manipulate the people and pit them against each other to either maintain their power or gain more of it. Instead of restoring to such vicious tribalism we can be the solution.
I had a lot of favorite quotes. I made 7 pages of notes, front and back. I'll leave a couple here. One is something to remember and use often. The other is more personal.
Page 78 - In general, whenever I hear language from the government that's clearly meant to evoke fear, I ask myself two questions: Who or what does the government want me to be afraid of? And what do they gain if they succeed?
Page 29 - Put another way: I don't know what's going to happen on Election Day, other than the fact that the election won't be the only thing I'm thinking about- as November 5, 2024, also marks the ten-year anniversary of the death of my mother: a milestone so striking, it seems impossible to me even as I write it. And guess what? I won't be the only person in this country with something else on my mind that day, either.
Last year my dad was in hospice and seeing that things were taking a turn, on November 5, 2023 I told my dad that it was ok to go. He then passed away on November 6th. Being the one year anniversary that will be a melancholy week for me and my family.
I really liked the parts where Kat opened up about the more personal parts of her life. Her books are marketed as "Political Science" but they are also memoirs.
And to the people sending her nasty letters - you need to stop. Look at your life and your choices. Stop throwing stones.
4 out of 5 Kind Letters.