Greg Shoemaker

Fan of sport and music. Go Chiefs! Go Royals!

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@VDHanson Harry Truman pushed my parents out of a snow drift one wintery morning on his way to his modest library.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@anne__rogers The game could have been played and over by 3:30pm. Anne, find out the real reason for the delay please.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

The Kansas City Royals are playing bad baseball. It has nothing to do with guys in slumps. That happens to every team. They are failing at crisp baseball and decision making. The best example is the base running mistakes that occur literally every game. I blame Q.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@markalfordkc I can point to the reasons we are so divided. Creating outrage rakes in the bucks. Simple as that. Politicians raise money, media grab eyeballs, and social media compounds the effect. So figure out how to monetize unity and there's the answer.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@one_samaritan @annamlulis Grok says there is no record of describing himself as an atheist.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

I have a question I'd like @anne__rogers to ask Salvy. Salvador Perez has been fantastic with his ABS challenges showing he has elite knowledge of the strike zone. What happens when he stands at the plate with a bat in his hand? (credit @Crangle)

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@grunny61 @Chiefs @kc_ambassadors Thanks Tim! My wife's parents spent their last few years at Kingswood. Terrific, caring people.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@CJScoobs Honestly, it was absolutely the most perfect way to end this season.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@acosta32_jp That's my take too, which also throws off the timing of the entire play and results in too many rushed and sketchy throws as the protection runs it's course.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The reason government programs are so inefficient is that, unlike a commercial company, the feedback loop for improvement is broken, because they have a state-mandated monopoly and can’t go out of business if customers are unhappy.

No matter how bad the service is at your DMV (sorry to pick on DMVs), you still have to use your DMV, because it’s a monopoly.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@TriciaWhitaker He's a Kansas City treasure.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@Twillhog75 It looks perfect.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@SavageSports_ You're wrong. The defender and Mahomes were both clearly in the field of play and one guy delivered the blow while the other didn't. It's how football is played.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@seanonolennon Especially love the doorway framed man.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@royalsclubhouse I'm going to throw in Q as also gone, with Ned taking over for the remainder of the year.

[Adam Carolla @adamcarolla]

Letterman should probably lay low for the next few weeks just to be safe.

[Kaizen D. Asiedu @thatsKAIZEN]

In college I worked at the Harvard Crimson - Harvard’s student newspaper.

I saw first-hand how bias infects media.

In the daily grind of news and editorial publishing, it was easy to have persistent blindspots and groupthink.

I was at a liberal college, in a profession that attracts liberals, trying to climb a ladder that rewards liberalism.

My status at the organization influenced my dating life and access to social events.

My post-grad career opportunities were influenced by my standing at the Crimson.

The financials of the paper were dependent on being aligned with the worldviews of advertisers and readers.

My morals were influenced by it too, especially as a malleable college student.

All groups have some shared morality.

You can deviate from that morality to a degree, but if you deviate too much, you become incompatible with the group and either removed or self-select out.

So the incentives to be biased were overwhelming - and all of this was before Trump appeared and polarization increased even more.

This isn’t particular to the Crimson (which to be clear, I enjoyed working at).

It’s not particular to leftist media. Right-wing media is biased too. It’s just not as dominant or cohesive because leftism is more collectivist.

It’s not particular to journalists.

It’s human nature.

Most journalists are not reporting narratives they know to be false.

Most do not have answers they are hiding.

Most are just not asking the right questions.

Because asking those questions when the answer might clash with your group is high stakes: personally, professionally, and socially.

It’s something I have to grapple with daily myself as this influencer/thought leadership role I’ve taken on becomes a bigger part of my life.

When I say things critical of Trump, they don’t go viral, I don’t get as much money, and I don’t get as many opportunities.

Most journalists are immersed in an ocean of bias, and don’t know it.

This is true of nearly all people, across the ideological spectrum.

This doesn’t mean they don’t have a responsibility to overcome their bias.

They do. That’s their job.

And not fulfilling that responsibility is incompetence.

But rarely is it malice.

At least, it’s not what I consider malice, which is saying things you know not to be true or omitting things you know to be true.

Yes, there are malicious people in media with outsized influence.

They are real, and they are rare.

Attributing most mainstream media bias to incompetence over malice doesn’t change the problem.

But it does change how you perceive the solution.

And part of the solution is to:

1. Vary your information diet.

2. Practice thinking critically. Writing helps. Taking a logic course helps too. We should teach this in schools - how to think critically.

3. Commit to a lifelong path of intentional growth and self-awareness.

4. Master your emotions.

5. Have the humility to realize the bias you see in the media exists in you too.

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@FanDuelSN I don’t understand why you flash up commercials during plays and then have no commercials running in between innings. What’s that all about? I pay for your App and you mess with the game?

[Greg Shoemaker @monteluna]

@Chiefs Two tight ends and a middle school sized WR out front blocking.