It’s a spooky time to be living in the United States. There are divisions everywhere, and with so many radical elements popping up, it’s extremely difficult to keep track of them all. Only in the past month did I start researching Antifa, SDS, BLM, the alt-right, Social Justice Warriors, Breitbart, Acorn and Media Matters. Mainstream news has become extremely agenda-driven, and most of these organizations work only to create more anger, fear, and fact distortion.

It is a fact that anger and fear cause us to think in the reptilian area of our brains instead of our more evolved nibic or neocortex parts. In the reptilian brain, the world appears very black and white: good vs evil, us vs them.

The majority of news stories and advertisements appeal to the reptilian part of the brain, because by invoking fear or anger, we keep watching. The media likes this because reptiles watch more TV and purchase less discriminately. It’s time we lift back the curtain and see the wizards who are at work trying to make us their pawns.

On the campus of the University of Utah this month, I witnessed an incredible football program driven by a coach who keeps his student athletes focused on achievement beyond football (using the most evolved parts of their brains). Then I witnessed a protest driven by the work of organizations to invoke fear and hatred for a person who has nothing to do with the things they are fighting against. (Most protesters on both sides were using their reptilian brains.)

Let’s stop being reptiles, take a step back and listen, observe and educate ourselves to facts, civil debate and discourse. In other words, things appear a lot less spooky if you turn off the news and talk to people who might not agree with you on everything.