What's Common About Common Sense? You Could Be Wrong! Refine Your Thinking. | Episode 167

Jack Valerio, welcome to the Bookaholic podcast. Thank you so much. I've been waiting on you. Ha, ha, ha! All right. So, yes, I believe you approached me maybe back here this summer about your book. And, you know. You were like, I've got a lot of great things to say. So let's just go ahead and dive into it. First of all, I love the title. And I have the title across the screen. Uncommon Sense, How to Think Clearly When the World Has Lost Its Mind. And I will say in my... Opinion, the world has lost its mind. It has spiraled off the axis. It is floating around in the galaxy. We'll see. So with your book, I want to end at how we... can survive these times that we're living in right now, but that'll be our last thing. But let's get to the first thing of why you wrote this book. Why did you feel compelled to write this? I feel it is the same way you do. I mean, I'm concerned about the world. I'm not an individual. I'm a citizen of the world, and I have to be concerned about my fellow man. It's why I went into education. It's what motivates me all of the time. Doesn't mean I'm not selfish like everybody else. I love me. But I am willing to put myself out for others very, very frequently. And I spent a lifetime doing that. I'm an educator. Forty two years. Wow. I I taught for several years. Then I became assistant principal and taught while I was assistant principal as well. So staying in the classroom was important to me, even when I was in charge of discipline as an assistant principal. I was teaching parents. I was teaching teachers how to. Be disciplinarians in the classroom at the same time that they were teaching, because if there's no discipline, ain't no teaching. And of course, teaching young people how to think their way into being properly behaved in a school and other environment. So I did spend a lifetime as a process observer. I've watched people make decisions and think things out. Whether they were teachers, whether they were parents, whether they were kids. And I've had that unique perspective and now it's my chance to give back. Wow. Wow. Absolutely. Absolutely. So a couple of things. First of all, where were you doing your education career? New York? You noticed my accent. What a surprise. Absolutely. Absolutely. Don't run. The Bronx, and I was going to narrow it down to the Bronx, because you know why? I'm married to a person from the Bronx. I didn't know we were going to hear all about your hardship, but go ahead. It is. I'll get you the school after this interview. I love you. I'll be delighted, yes. Oh, wow. Yes, yes, yes. I definitely noticed your accent. Yes, absolutely. Now, you brought up something that you were. I'm a process observer, and it goes back, it makes me go back to where my mother, she really taught me a lot of things when I was very young. And one of the things, and I can't remember the conversation all the way, but I remember my mother telling me about having common sense. And it wasn't in... Um. A disciplinary way to where she was saying maybe something like, you got to use your common sense. But she actually was telling me about common sense and, you know, and giving me the examples of all of that. And I think back way, way back in the day when she was growing up, maybe they called it here with sense, something like that. So, but anyway. Anyway, um... She taught me those things, and I have gone about through life thinking that with common sense, at least that's something that we all have in common, but I'm finding that a lot of people don't know what common sense is, and a lot of people, our versions of common sense are very different. What do you think about what I just said? That's it, that's it. I've been thinking a lot since you've been talking, and it's true. Even though I'm probably a generation ahead of you, I heard it in my generation, you heard it in yours. We've both heard it all throughout our lives. People say so much about common sense as if common sense is the gold standard, which, by the way, It may be tin or platinum, but it's not gold. It's useful. It's useful some of the time. But I'm sorry to tell you that common sense is sometimes not accurate, sometimes misguided, and sometimes flat out wrong. Absolutely. And that's why I'm a proponent of uncommon sense. Because I follow common sense when common sense is productive, but I don't follow common sense when it doesn't provide me with all the solutions that I need. That's when I move on to uncommon sense. And when people say common sense is too uncommon. I don't agree with them because it's not common enough. No, if it's wrong, I don't want it to be common. Absolutely. Now, let me tell you another scenario that I've been through. So I am a big Facebooker. And on my personal Facebook page, I have been in some embattlements concerning what's going on today with the U.S. government. And one of my high school friends said, I've got more common sense in my big toe than blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, not than me. But, you know, she was just referencing. She had more common sense in her big toe. Now, let me leave that with you. Then let me go on to give you this scenario. Let's take a subject that matters to us all right now. And that's been a hot button. climate change. And, you know, there were people that believe in climate change because we, you know, know about science and are trusting the science when it comes to climate change. And then there's others that'll say, oh, it rained. Well, yeah, it's going to rain or yeah, it's going to snow. They just don't believe in climate change. I'm not giving a good example of what I've heard But they don't believe in climate change. So then you get into people's educational background. This particular high school friend, she finished high school. She did not go on to higher learning, whereas I went on to higher learning. Then you get into people like. Well, just because you went to college doesn't mean you're really necessarily smarter than I am and all this stuff. And don't call me stupid because I didn't go to college. We've got all that going on, you know, and then you've got a section. It's not had a name on it, but there's a lot of people that have gone around in the past 10 to 15 years really vilifying college and trying to knock that out and people attacking universities of merit and worth in the U.S. So I've given you all of that. So that might sound discombobulated, but I want to get your feedback on some of the things that I just said in relationship to your book. You filled my plate. Yes, there are a lot of nasty comments happening between and among people, but let's be very straightforward. Okay. We shouldn't be judging an argument by who's making it. We should be judging an argument by whether it stands or falls on its own merit. And if there was a time when people asked me to accept climate change and I did not, then it went further and I accepted climate change, but I didn't accept that man was the primary mover of the climate change. And then it evolved to the point to which I have come to the conclusion that, indeed, man is a major player. Now, I wasn't stupid. I just had an open mind, and you had to convince me. Right. Initially, the data was very convincing that it existed. So I said, naturally, yes, it exists. Uncommon sense told me. If there's enough data to show that it exists, then you have to acknowledge its existence. So I changed my tune. But I didn't have to take the next step until the climatologists made the conclusion that was inescapable, by the way, that we have contributed to it massively. And so I've yet changed my tune again. That's what uncommon sense tells you to do. It says, don't just accept common sense because it's common. Look at it. If it stands up to criticism, great. Then move on and accept it. Right. Right. Well, you know, unlike yourself. The battle that I was embroiled in was the fact that this person did not want to look at the data, did not want to acknowledge the data. And, you know, somehow some people have, I don't know why it's coming about an uprising right now, but they don't want to recognize science. And I'm not sure where that's coming from. I think I am. Listen, I just gave you an example where I had a point of view and evidence helped me to change that point of view. Yes. Then again, evidence made me change my point of view another time. The message here is Jack Valerio may be many things, whether you like them or not, but one thing for sure, he's willing to examine his beliefs when information to the contrary exists and is presented to him. Unfortunately, we have a lot of people in this society who do not want their beliefs challenged. And so that's right. They feel as though they're backed into a corner. So if science is proving them wrong, they have to discredit science. So when you say things like fake news. Unless you're willing to show how the news is fake, you're just using that term in order to exclude the factual information that's being provided. Absolutely. It's childish feedback, in my opinion. It's childish feedback that you would say when you're five years old, you know, that type of thing, without knowing and recognizing different authorities that might have the facts. Absolutely true. Now, software, your book, and you correct me if I'm wrong, is only 98 pages. Why did you put the word only? Well, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But, you know, with the subject of, you must have a great way of explaining. All of your details about uncommon sense in a very short matter. Sometimes people can write really thick books, and it's just really repetitiveness on and on and on, and fillers. I'm thinking you're getting straight to the point in a book that has a lot of... I'm a dichotomy. A friend of mine once called me the world's only living oxymoron. I tend to be on two sides of so many things and while I am verbose at times and go on too much and pontificate, the fact is that I tend to cut through the mustard and get to the point. And I am an educator. So you have to remember that a book is an education to the reader. And therefore, in a sense, forgive me, I don't mean this to be patting on the back, but I'm eminently qualified to write a book that teaches people things. And this is a book that teaches people how to think clearly. And rather than be solely academic about it and tell people with my title, I believe this, and then go out to try to prove it. My book does things the opposite. The first thing is the titles of every chapter. You scratch your head and say, what is he talking about? I don't get this. This looks contradictory. And then you start reading, and you find out I'm telling you stories. And you're saying, wait a minute, is this a novel or something or a life story? But the stories start to make sense. And I allow the reader to conclude. I put the reader through the experience rather than trying to write an essay to convince. And so at the end of each of my chapters, the reader has the option whether the reader wishes to accept. In fact, I have a YouTube channel. And, you know, a lot has happened since we first talked. And I launched the YouTube channel because I can reach many more people through YouTube than I can through a book. Absolutely. Absolutely. In 16 days, I've already had over 700 or 800. Views. So and there are six videos going and there's one to be produced every Monday. And the way I the way I close in every one of the YouTube videos is. That's my common sense for today. Take it or leave it. I'm fine either way. Just keep thinking clearly because I want people to understand I'm not a guru. I'm just a person with an opinion, with factual information to support it. And if you want to buy it, that's great. And if you don't, I understand. Right. Absolutely. I love that. I love that. So give us just one chapter heading name, chapter name, and just tell us a little bit about that chapter. I'm going to tell you a couple of names and then I'll pick one. Here's an example. You'll see how this screwy mind works a little bit. The toll booth at the edge of average. I don't know what that is. Read tomorrow's newspaper today. How do you read a newspaper that hasn't been printed yet? Yeah. Don't let the rain blind you. When everyone nods in agreement, don't learn from the best. What do you mean don't learn from the best? You choose. Oh, wow. Wow. Um, When everybody nods their head in agreement. This is one of the dangers of common sense, if common sense happens to be wrong. Because if common sense is wrong and everybody's going like this, common sense just proliferates and the wrong thing proliferates and gets greater and greater and more and more people believe nonsense. So what is the example of that? My daughter had just had a baby and she's holding the baby and she's standing in front of the microwave oven and I walk between her, the baby and the microwave. Dad, look out! Microwaves are harmful! I said, Jasmine, what are you talking about? Oh, you don't know. My doctor told me that I shouldn't do this, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm not going to challenge Jasmine because I know who she is and she's going to get pissed if I don't have all of the facts at my fingertips. And I said, Jack, you better be sure. So my uncommon sense told me, go back and check common sense. And when I did, I started to sweat. Because almost every article I found supported what Jasmine was saying. But Uncommon Sense kicked in. I said, wait a minute. Why am I hearing the same exact words? Why are they all pointing to the same two guys? And then I started researching the guys. And guess what? They were both from some religious organization that I could find absolutely nothing about. Neither one of them could have been a scientist because nowhere were they listed. They had no other works anywhere on the internet. They're just two guys. And every article was simply repeating because they were nodding in agreement and people didn't bother to check it out. Uncommon sense says, check out common sense. See if common sense is right, because guess what? Yes. Not always right. And it was very wrong. There is nothing wrong with walking past Yes, you are, you are. Microwave oven, unless it's actually leaking. But if it's in good condition, there's just no reason. And microwaves don't do what many of these people claim they did. One of the things that they kept referring to was a study from 1958. But the study was done in communist Russia. It was done in the Soviet Union. And it was never repeated. Well, if you don't repeat studies, there's a reason why. This is nonsense. And who's going to trust the Soviet Union in 1958? You've got to be kidding. And as I looked into it more and more and got legitimate authorities on microwaves and how they work, so much of this turned out to be absolute nonsense. And so I protected myself from that. Wow. I have always been a believer in standing with the microwave thing, and wow, you just dispelled that. Listen, folks, bookaholics, check out the screen. I've got Jack's book up there on the screen so that you can recognize it. I also have a QR code for you to buy his book. If you scan that QR code, it'll take you directly to Amazon where you can purchase that book. I do earn a very small commission, but it is no additional cost to you. I'll leave that up for the entirety of the remaining entirety of the interview. This is a very good book. I think this would also make a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. So put this on your Christmas list. And it's definitely needed today. Let's also go back, Jack, to one of the other. You told me to pick one. Do a quick refresher. I want one more example. How about you're not stuck. You're just thinking like everybody else. Yes, let's do that. Okay. This is a funny story, and I enjoy it. Thank you very much. The secretaries in the school district decided to honor the administrators in the schools and they have an organization that meets once a month and they decided they were going to have us all and honor us but they figured they'd get a kick out of it because they were going to have us dress in western garb so you know Jack Valerio of the Bronx. cowboy. So I couldn't come. Uncommon sense told me, you can't show up looking like a cowboy like everybody else. So I got a black hat and a black shop tie, bolo tie and a black shirt and black pants and black boots. And I came as the New York cowboy. And my colleague, Al, he had a 10 gallon hat. All day long, he had that hat, but he left it in the registrar's office. Nobody has the key to the registrar's office except the registrar and the custodian. And this was at night. So there was no way to get in there. And I said, Jack, we can't even get in there. I said, come on, let's go look at it. No common sense. We went to check it out. And we found out it had a steel door that was locked. The windows were locked. The front door, the front had a Lexan window. with a hole in it where you talk to somebody as you would yeah the movie theater yeah yeah yeah and we he said jack you see you can't get in well he was right i couldn't get in so i told him you're right of course i lied i was busy thinking no this is not going to stop me and so i had that new york boy challenge and we're riding on we're riding on a cart and We suddenly pass a building that's being retrofitted and whatever and it has big glass windows in the front and I see long steel rods lying on the floor and I scream stop and I get up and I run in there and I pick up an 18 foot steel rod. These are rods that are used to install a A hanging ceiling. And so I pick one up and I'm holding it like a sword because you have to balance it. It's 18 feet long. And I look, you know, a little bit like, you know, a swordsman. And so we drive back and I already have the idea because Uncommon Sense told me, don't stop just because everybody has stopped. That doesn't mean you have to stop. You have to think differently. So, we get in there. My police officer is sitting there, a school resource officer, having a meeting. He's right in front of the registrar's office. He sees me come in all dressed in black. I have this long sword in my hand and I stick it through the little hole in the window, 18 feet. I push it to the window on the side of the registrar's office and I pick the lock. I run out. I go outside, I open the window, I go inside, I get the hat, I come out, Al gets his hat, and we leave. And the next day, my resource officer tells the whole school, Mr. Valerio burglarized the registrar's office looking like Antonio Banderas from Zorro. But the point was, you don't let people stop you because they all think the same way. If everybody thinks the same way, okay, big deal. Think differently, think differently, think differently. I'm listening to an audio book of the witch is called the witch. It's by Frida McFadden and it goes back and forth in time and it takes place in Massachusetts, not Salem, but during the witch trials where every other woman was accused of being a witch. And so. You can take that time frame, which I'm sort of aligning it with now a little bit, and everybody thinking the same, well, she's a witch, with no proven evidence that a person is a witch. And people have literally died, been burned at the stake. been hanged, other types of executions because everybody's thinking alike and thinking that it's common sense and that it's okay. What do you think about that? I think you gave a nice example and it was common sense. If they did X, Y, and Z, then they were a witch. It was a conclusion and it was just spread from person to person. Everybody nodded in agreement. And, yes, people lost their lives, their way of earning a living, their families, friends. It's horrible. Yeah, absolutely. Common sense needs to be questioned. So that story, along with mine, really says if everybody's nodding in agreement, look out. Absolutely. Absolutely. And say to yourself. Does this common sense actually make sense? Because if people would have stopped for a few minutes and looked at it, many of them would have recognized they didn't have the evidence to support the assertion. And that's what uncommon sense says. Stop, look around, listen, question, even common sense, especially when everybody nods in agreement. Absolutely. One more hiccup that I'm bringing up. Religion and beliefs, I am a religious person. I'm of the Christian faith. But. And I'm a believer, but we all know that people throughout the ages have weaponized God's word to get other people are in alignment with their evil, evil schemes, such as slavery. They, those who started slavery and perpetuated slavery, let the Bible found verses in the Bible that was saying. Yes, slavery's okay, okay? All right, and the same with the witches. That was a very highly religious time, so if you were a witch, you were a tool of the devil, and your religion said, you know. So when religion is used in the incorrect way that the divine one intended it to be, what do you say about that? Well, I think you know that. That may be religion, but that's not being true to your religion. Using your religion to justify things is not the same as looking at the religion and saying, what does the religion expect of me? You know, I'm not a member of a formal religion, but I am somebody who believes that That I have to do the right thing. And if I believe in some of the things that the Christian religion or the Judeo-Christian or Muslim or any of the religions purport to support, if I believe in that, then my obligation is to act that way. It's a responsibility on my shoulders. Having religious words come out of your mouth, but your actions don't correspond to that, that's false religion. And that is very prevalent in the world today, as I can see. Absolutely. Absolutely. False prophecies of false prophets are running rampant. So as I started this interview, I said, let's conclude with the fact that your book in relationship to what's going on today, let's answer that for the people. Tell me how we can use that book to try to figure out. what's going on? Well, as you know from the subtitle, the beginning of it, how to think clearly. If you learn how to think more clearly, you're going to do the right thing for you more often. You're going to do the right thing for others more often. You're going to be a more productive citizen of the world. And if you spread what you've learned to others, so are they. And as an educator, it was very nice when I was in the classroom with 30 people. It was even nicer when I was assistant principal and I was outside every day and I dealt with 1,500 or 1,800 or 2,000 kids, depending on the school I was in. But now my school is the world. I don't mean that I'm the know-it-all. I mean... I need to share what I've learned with the world. And that's why I've moved to my book. And now I supported that with my YouTube channel, because it's my intention to continue teaching forever. And fortunately, with both the book and the YouTube channel, that will last in perpetuity long after I'm gone from this world. And you know, you did mention my book. I'm very appreciative. I was very fortunate. It did win the 2026 New York City Book Award. It was not the overall winner, but it was one of the winners in its category. And I'm very appreciative because it's not about me. It's not about me. It's about What my book has to say, and if I can get it in the hands of more people, that's my objective. And being a retiree who is very fortunate to have several pensions that are lifetime, worrying about money is not an issue for me. I'm not interested in making money from my book or from my YouTube channel. I'm just interested in perpetuating clear thinking. Jack. That was absolutely wonderful. I really appreciate what you just said, more than you know. And folks, if you want to get a grip on how to think clearly, please scan the QR code. It'll lead you to Jack's book. It's available on Amazon and any other places where you may buy books. We'll have Jack's information in the podcast show notes, as well as the YouTube description box. Jack Valerio, thank you so much for joining us today. Oh, you are worth waiting for. Thank you so much. And I don't mean the few minutes I waited here, but we actually talked months ago and I've been dying to do this. Yes. Well, thank you so much.