Looking Downstream, Looking Upstream

Question:

I read somewhere that dogs naturally sleep 18 hours a day. Is it cause for concern if your dog sleeps a lot but is energetic when she’s awake?

Answer:

THIMKING caps on.

1. I can give you my opinion.
2. I can table my opinion, read through the existing answers, and look for patterns or trends.
3. I can develop a new opinion of my own based on what I read in 2.
4. I can realize that my old opinion in 1 or my new opinion in 2 are just as valuable as all the answers I read in 2.
5. Stepping back and looking at what I’m writing right now from 35,000 feet, I notice some owners are telling me about their dog’s behaviors, but others are telling me about what they found on the web. Sources of data—if you want to call it that—come from anecdotal observations *OR* disconnected, non-anecdotal internet searches. There are multiple data streams, different sources of evidence.
6. I can summarize my observations about my two dog’s behaviors and note their sleep patterns. How accurate is my summary? That introduces its own line in the sand that hijacks the original thread. Hijacking the thread isn’t following protocol.

A New Approach

I’ve started copying-and-pasting group answers into ChatGPT and asking for analysis and summaries, and in 100% of these kind of questions, ChatGPT’s analysis of the group’s answers point out the lack of agreement in those answers.

We tend to only look downstream and don’t really care about what others are saying. It’s what I call “looking downstream.” Our blinders are on to only our own opinions. We care only about what we’re thinking and saying and believing.

Using ChatGPT and copying and pasting and analyzing everyone’s answers, the opposite happens. Writers start “looking upstream,” and they start comparing their answers to everyone else’s answers. They begin to see how different everyone’s opinions are.

Curiously, when there’s little or no difference in opinion, that’s when truths appear.

Answer the Question, Claire!

There’s a way to answer your question, but not in the current context. I can answer it using a different paradigm that’s a lot clearer and a lot less opinionated, but that answer is beyond the scope of this question.

Yes, there’s a way to get to the bottom of your dog’s sleeping question, but it’ll have to wait for a different thread and a change in the public’s consciousness. Or, you can DM me or call me.

Respectfully submitted.

The DOuGTrainer.com