Thomas Gallezot

Postcard from Guelph No 1: running along the Speed river.

Neuroscience confirms the findings of moral psychologists: reasoning is not involved in the processing of fake news. It doesn't matter how well educated we are, we all respond to fake news in a way that is determined by our brain's cognitive modules that deal with emotions, conflict resolution, moral accountability, and, once we arrived at a conclusion that makes us emotionally comfortable, by our reward and pleasure system. That's why education is not how we'll get the rid o...Continue reading

Many people wonder why we are not teaching our kids critical thinking and the ability to distinguish facts from fiction. The truth is we are trying. Hard. Take a look at Ontario's curriculum and you'll find that most of it is meant to encourage students to question what they are being taught. Unfortunately education can't beat our most basic instincts. Homo Sapiens are wired to believe what they heard from different sources, no matter how reliable these sources are. With the ...bombardment of fake news on social media it's almost impossible to properly assess them. How many smart progressive people believe that GMOs are bad for their health or that vaccines are dangerous? Often these are the same ones who don't understand how it is possible to deny climate change or to believe the US election was fraudulent. The fact is we prefer to believe in false narratives that match our confort zone rather than to face uncomfortable truth. See more

I know nobody cares anymore, but Didier Raoult, the "doctor" who promoted hydroxychloroquine now admits it doesn't work against covid. I am sure all the trolls who mocked me for trusting the scientific consensus and refusing to believe there was a global conspiracy to silence a "genius" in order to help "big pharma" -when it was not Bill Gates- will now humbly apologize and admit they were wrong. Obviously I'm joking: they are too busy promoting the latest alt right or neo socialist conspiracy theories...

According to this poll, a majority of Canadian are opposed to the monarchy. Well I have been born and raised in a republic and I am feeling way better in a monarchy. In a nation, people have to rally around something. It can be a historical identity, like in France, it can be a constitution written centuries ago, like in the USA or it could be a human being that evolves with the society, is compassionate and has the ability to communicate with people. Guess which model is t...he best? On a side note, I'd like to meet the 23% supporters of the Bloc Québécois who support our monarchy. Maybe Abacus Data should ask themselves if online polling of 1500 people means anything. God Save the Queen!

Star Trek has offered an intelligent, socially conscious approach to science fiction since it debuted in 1966. While the intergalactic adventures of characters boldly going where no one has gone before may seem like pure imagination, often, they have a lot more in common with the real world than you might think.

This article was written after the Charlie Hebdo attacks. I am sure the author was vilified by French intelligentsia in the same way that sociologists, journalists and politicians who dare to criticise France's "laicité" are being treated today. Yet it's spot on and what happened in France in the last five years show that the "anglo-american" media seem to understand France better than French themselves. Obviously, nationalist pride binds and blinds, but it's unfortunate tha...Continue reading

"This is an attack not just on Paris. It's an attack not just on the people of France. But this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share." President Obama. Friday, November 13th, 2015.

I was already amazed by Joe Biden's and Kamala Harris' stellar behavior during the long hours before their victory, by their pitch-perfect victory speeches last weekend, and then I saw the victory video that their campaign released hours just after CNN and other networks declared Joe Biden the president-elect. It’s a gorgeous rendition of America the Beautiful by Ray Charles and images, none of which show Biden or Harris. They cede the frame and the moment entirely to ALL A...mericans and to the landscapes in the lyrics of the song. Biden ran one of the humblest presidential campaigns ever and he claimed victory in the presidential race last weekend with the same radical humility. His sweepingly ambitious goals include a major expansion of health care, a titanic effort to combat climate change, yet another change in the tax code and much, much more. But he’s wisely fashioning all of that as a public, not a personal, quest, and he’s casting himself as servant, not lord. The best way to ask for the moon is modestly. It’s often said that people aren’t capable of big change when they’re older. But Biden has changed, in ways as poignant as they are prudent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJc_SRsbGS0

Hi! As some of you already know, I am considering putting my name on the ballot to become the Ontario Liberal Party candidate in my riding of University Rosedale. I haven't made any commitment yet. First I need to make sure it's OK with my family because running as a candidate takes lots of long hours and time away from home. I am also seeking substantial support from my riding association, because I believe in government of the people, by the people, for the people and I d...on't want to be one of these candidates who believe their personal interest trumps the needs of the grassroots members. The reason I want to run is because, as an education specialist and the father of a two years old, I believe we need to make our schools more safe, inclusive and prepared to overcome the unprecedented challenges that we are about to face and that the Liberals are by far the best equipped to achieve that. For those of you who don't know me yet, I am a former engineer and patent attorney from France. Upon arriving in Canada I had to start at the bottom and have steadily worked my way up professionally. I have worked with leading edge organizations such as Theatre francais de Toronto, The Canadian Race Relations Foundation, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Royal Ontario Museum and The Ontario Science Centre, serving very diverse communities always connected in one way or another to education. More recently, after obtaining a Master of Public Service degree from the University of Waterloo, I became a program manager at the Ontario Justice Education Network where I am in charge of major legal education initiatives such as the Charter Challenge, Lawyers in the Classroom and the development of francophone legal education. My core values are honesty, empathy, audacity, care, and respect. If you like what I am standing for and would consider supporting me if I run, please like my page: https://www.facebook.com/Thomas.Gallezot Take care and stay safe!

Two years ago, right after the US midterm elections, I predicted that Joe Biden would be the next US President. At the time, only a few people believed he would run. I knew he would because he couldn't let his beloved country remain in the hand of a disgusting ignoramus who is at best a tragic clown, if not a fascist sociopath. Not only Biden was the Democrats' only hope to beat Trump (and the results of the elections, even if New York and California, show what a nonsense the... idea of a socialist revolution was) but he is also the only one who has what it takes to heal America and to make it again a beacon of hope, optimism and progress. But it's not going to be easy. In fact it might not even be feasible. Make no mistake, Trump is not an anomaly -spatial or temporal- but the sign of terrible times to come if we all remain obsessed with our self serving ideologies and refuse to cooperate with our political opponents to build a society that works for everyone. As my friend Brian Topp was musing this morning, middle class North Americans talk about the weird political cults that have supported Trump in the same terms middle class Roman pagans talked about early Christianity, spreading among their slaves and womenfolk. People who support Trump, except for a small minority of white supremacists, are not the "deplorables" that Hillary Clinton was refering to (although I certainly don't blame her for saying that, given how she was treated by them, I would have said way worst). But the truth is that, for the most part, Trump Nation is made of the dispossessed, the exhausted and the hopeless, looking for something they can cling to. It makes it worth some soul-searching by defenders of the status quo. I believe that Joe Biden, because of his empathy, because of his age, because of his background and because of his behaviour as a Vice President and during his Presidential campaign, is in the ideal position to challenge this status quo and help the losers without endangering the winners. It might even be easier with a pale blue House, a purple Senate and a red Supreme Court. Politics is not a zero sum game. Thank God, Joe Biden understands that. He has now done the easiest part. The real work begins. I believe he can do it, especially if all Americans understand that he is their only hope and that it's time to end the cultural wars that are destroying them. God Bless America!