I was at a workshop shortly after the release of the movie A Beautiful Mind. I had read the book, had not seen the movie. Time and again throughout the workshop, people mentioned their perception as if it were reality. I came to the conclusion that perception is reality in some sense, and used the example of John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. His perception was his reality. Doesn’t mean it was shared reality, but it was his reality.

I like reality checks, because I realize that I am not infallible. I love e.g. EmptyWheel because she (mostly) bases her analysis on evidence. She notices the underlying reality even when others are trying to spin an alternate fantasy as reality.

But people don’t understand why she’s satyed in the campaign. It’s her right to stay in, but people wonder why she’s stayed in. She’s not a quitter. Sometimes that characteristic is admirable (e.g. football games) sometimes it isn’t.

She understands this is an historic campaign. Maybe she believes that if she drops out, it reflects badly on her.