This bizarre Trump tweet caught my eye: Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal! Psychiatrists and Psychologists have a measure of a persons ability to perceive and allow for subtle differences and complex relationships in their reasoning. They refer to this as "cognitive complexity." A person with high cognitive complexity could be said to have a complex cognitive structure; a person with a less complex cognitive structure for a particular task could be said to have a lower cognitive complexity. It is common for a person with a cognitive complexity deficit to oversimplify relationships, or fail to recognize them at all. As a consequence they may utter illogical or self-contradictory statements and too easily arrive at overly simple or illogical conclusions. Trump, I am sorry to say, has repeatedly exhibited what is almost certainly a relatively low cognitive complexity. This characteristic in a person with great authority is extremely dangerous. In the example Trump Tweet above, Trump has confused two related but mutually exclusive concepts: that of "illegal immigrant" and that of "legal immigrant". Even though Trump would understand the difference, he is unable to use these concepts correctly in reasoning out a complex relationship involving differences in the Australian and U.S. immigrant, vetting processes. If you want to test your own cognitive complexity, stop reading here. Read the Trump tweet carefully and determine, using your own reasoning, whether Trumps tweet and conclusion is logical. Then read the paragraph below. A person with moderately high cognitive complexity for this particular kind of task will fairly quickly recognize that if either Australia or the U.S. accepts immigrants, after vetting them according to their own standards, those immigrants, by definition, can not be "illegal immigrants". Nor will potential immigrants to Australia or the U.S. that fail to satisfy Australia's or the U.S. vetting requirements, or both, be illegal immigrants. The Trump tweet, "The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia...," is illogical if it refers to the refugee agreement between the U.S. and Australia. Otherwise it is a simple misstatement of fact, and at worst it could be an intentional lie.. In the latter case, Trump's tweet would not be evidence of low cognitive complexity, but much, much worse. It would be reprehensible! Trump's promise of future action, "I will study this dumb deal!," confirms that he is indeed referring to the refugee agreement between the U.S. and Australia, but it too is illogical, or a lie. If he is going to study the "deal" further, the conclusion that the "deal" is "dumb" is premature If he has already studied the "deal", concluded that it is "dumb" and doesn't intend to study it further, then saying he does is a lie. Another possibility is that Trump has little knowledge of the "deal", has concluded without basis the deal is "dumb," and now plans to study the "deal." In this latter case, his final remark would be evidence of both deception and incompetence, although not necessarily evidence of low cognitive complexity. Were this Trump tweet not characteristic, but rather an isolated example, it could be dismissed as not particularly important. As it is, there is now quite a convincing body of evidence that our President, and possibly some of his close advisors too, have low cognitive complexity for the kinds of tasks needed to govern a large, complex, and highly developed country. This is, in my opinion, a warning that our country rests somewhere between serious government disarray and grave danger.
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-po...n-our-security-guarantee-20170202-gu47hc.html Members of the Australian Special Operations Task Group disembark a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster at a base in Afghanistan. Photo: Supplied Australian soldiers have supported the US in every major war this century, and is the only nation to do so. Commander of our Iraq commitment, Colonel Gavin Keating, with the US Major General Gary J.Volesky, on ANZAC Day 2016. Photo: Gary Ramage
February 2 2017 Here's some reality for Donald Trump: the US needs Australia, not just the other way around David Wroe http://www.theage.com.au/federal-po...ust-the-other-way-around-20170202-gu4ay7.html Thousands of US marines are based in Darwin as part of Australia's generous contribution to America's interests in the region. Photo: Daniel Acker
The US Military Presence in Australia. The “Asia-Pacific Pivot” and “Global NATO” Asymmetrical Alliance and its Alternatives By Richard Tanter Global Research, November 11, 2013 http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-us...he-asia-pacific-pivot-and-global-nato/5357653 Pine Gap’s second role since 2000 is as a remote ground station for US thermal imaging satellites, after it took over much of the work of the US base at Nurrungar in South Australia – detecting missile launches, jet fighters using afterburners, and even major explosions in war zones like Afghanistan. These satellites provide the US with early warning of missile attack, but they also provide the US with nuclear targeting data. Moreover, these thermal imaging satellites provide US and Japanese missile defence systems with crucial “cueing” information on the trajectories of incoming missiles, without which missile defence would be impossible.
I thought we are talking about 1200 refugees, not severing relations with Australia. Bit over the top. They knew very well Trump would not be bound by an Obama agreement. Trump had a simple question: "What's in it for us?" Apparently the aussies were stumped, other than they were good blokes, so what was the problem? Trump has just caused a furor by blocking other refugees, but he is supposed to take these? That wouldn't be fair.
did you write that? Anyone who reads that will suffer permanent IQ loss. its the most contrived, deceitful piece you could imagine. here is some truth to go with your fake news, fake story, fake analysis, fake intelligence test. they were and are illegal because they arrived by boat. Austrailia says it does not take aliens who arrive by boat. making them illegal. What the hell has gone wrong with the left. Even they smart ones have los their ability to tell the truth? https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/does-trump-exhibit-low-cognitive-complexity.306483/ The deal relates to 1,250 refugees held in Australia’s offshore detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island, including many from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Iraq. The refugees, some of whom are stateless, have spent years languishing in the offshore detention camps, which the United Nations has repeatedly criticised as cruel and illegal. The refugees are unable to go home, but cannot come to Australia – even when their right to protection as refugees is confirmed – because they travelled to Australia by boat.
Are you denying that all of these people are illegal immigrants to Australia. They were being stored on Islands in the middle of the ocean because they tried to enter Australia illegally. Suddenly when you trans-ship them to the U.S. they are magically "legal". I think not... at least to any reasonable person.
Yes of course. That is the point. A point which escapes Trump. The agreement has to do with Australia sending Refugees to the U.S. that can meet the U.S. vetting requirements as they stood at the time of the agreement. Australia has different requirements than does the U.S. to achieve legal refugee status as a legal immigrant in Australia or a temporary refugee. This is a fine point that apparently Trump was not even aware of. He apparently did not prepare for his phone conversation. But that is only a minor problem. The real problem is that he is apparently incapable of understanding the effect of these nuances in vetting requirements. A competent President would turn this situation over to experts that have a full understanding of the agreement made between the U.S. and Australia and the different vetting requirements of the two nations.