To Buy or Not to Buy; That IS the Question!

 

To Buy or Not to Buy;
 That IS the Question!
Establishing questions to verify what you are seeing or hearing!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, November 11, 2026

DISCLAIMER. In this Nugget I reference Charles Barkley, the retired National Basketball Association player and player for the Auburn University collegiate basketball team. I like Charles Barkley and this Nugget should not be considered as diminishing his character, something that people, including me, love him for. He is NOT doing anything that any celebrity is not doing if offered the opportunity to sell a product or service. This Nugget is about how to evaluate what you see or hear, to help you make an informed decision to buy or not to buy. 

Raphael Uzor in his book, Intellectual Outsourcing, writes about how people, certainly not you, take something as simple as an endorsement as being real and beneficial to them. Uzor explains HOW people oftentimes assume the endorsement or sales pitch is valid and repeats the pitch to others. This by inference indicates that YOU think it is valid and now so do the people you share it with because THEY trust YOU. You would not lie to them, right? That is precisely what Uzor means when he suggests that people oftentimes outsource incorrect information because they believed the sales pitch.

Charles Barkley has several television commercials promoting the weight loss drug RO. Zepbound or RO, is FDA-approved but requires a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider. 

Here is how it works:

1. You visit Ro's website and complete an online medical assessment.
2. A “healthcare provider” reviews your medical history and determines whether you qualify. Note: There are two words that should be a red flag to everyone! What is a “healthcare provider”?  Is that a doctor? If a “healthcare provider” is a “doctor”, why did it not say “doctor”?
3. If approved, you receive a prescription.
4. The medication can be provided through Ro's pharmacy services.

Why is this commercial for RO/Zepbound effective? I am referring to just the commercial being effective, not the advertised drug. Using Raphael Uzor’s “5 Important Questions” from his book, let us examine the commercials that vary in style, not in substance.

Question 1: Who is saying this, and what authority do they have? The spokesperson is Charles Barkley. He is NOT a physician; he is a retired basketball player. Therefore, the answer to this first question is that the spokesperson has no specific authority, nor does he claim to have any authority, to encourage people to take the drug. 

Question 2: What is the evidence? The only evidence provided is Barkley’s word that he lost the weight he claims to have lost. Is that a valid endorsement? It worked for him, but will it work for everyone that tries it? That question was not asked nor answered. The answer to the basic question is NO, there is no evidence provided. If there was evidence, it should have been referenced. What kind of evidence might have convinced you that the drug was SAFE and EFFECTIVE? Medical peer reviews and reports published by experts in the field of medicine and weight loss would be evidence, but none were given or referred to. 

Question 3: What is their motive? This is a simple question to answer – money and profits! Why does any company promote their products and/or services? To make money, earn a profit and continue in business by selling what they provide. In this case, the company that makes the product earns money as does Charles Barkley for promoting the product. I seriously doubt he does it free of any compensation. If he did, that might be considered as evidence that the product is SAFE and EFFECTIVE as he would have nothing to gain. 

Question 4: What part of this applies to my specific situation? If you did not consider yourself as being overweight, you would ignore the advertisement. This question should be an easy question to answer, it either applies to you, or it does not apply to you. 

Question 5: Whose voice is missing from this story? The answer to this question is not readily or easily available, you must think about it. It is NOT so much a person’s voice that is missing as much as valuable information is missing. Earlier in this Nugget I explained that YOU cannot walk into a pharmacy and buy RO/Zepbound. It requires a prescription from a “medical provider.” In my world, such a “medical provider” is a doctor authorized to write prescriptions for medications that require a doctor’s order. That information is missing from Barkley’s commercials. 

There should be a 6^th question and it would be: Who benefits from the sale of this product? Obviously, YOU would benefit if it worked as you hoped that it would. If it did not work, then you did not benefit from purchasing it. Charles Barkley does NOT benefit from your purchase unless his contract with the providing company includes a percentage of each sale of the product, which it may. Therefore, without the knowledge of his contract, that question remains unanswered. 

The company selling the product benefits from your purchase. 

There is also another party that benefits, the “medical provider” that you work with over the telephone. That means there would be a built-in incentive for the “medical provider” to approve you purchase of the product. If you do not purchase it, they do not make money. 

There is no guarantee that a local doctor providing you with a prescription for the product does not make money by writing the prescription for this product. The doctor may have an agreement with the company that makes the drug. The only requirement for the doctor would be to provide a copy of the prescription to collect a percentage from the sale. Not all doctors have this arrangement, but it is safe to assume that some do. Doctors and hospitals all made money based on the number of COVID vaccines administered, tests run, number of inpatients for COVID, the list is endless. 

There should be a 7^th question asked as well.  Are there any adverse reactions to taking the drug? None were mentioned in the commercials. What recourse would you have if you experienced an adverse reaction(s) to the drug? Nor were there any suggestions that you should contact your Primary Care Physician to notify the doctor that you are considering taking the drug to lose weight BEFORE you place your order for the drug. 

You may not be aware of a free Interaction Checker service provided on the website, www.webmd.com. The Checker service identifies how one drug may adversely affect the results of other drugs that you ARE taking. It is listed under the tab Drugs and Supplements. In the drop-down window, you select, Interaction Checker.  Add the drug Zepbound or Ro as if you were taking it. Then add all the drugs you ARE taking. Checker will provide an itemized list showing drugs that may become less effective and/or drugs that may cause an adverse reaction because of the various combinations. This service is priceless. It is a service that your doctor and/or your pharmacist should be conducting. My personal experience would suggest that they are not routinely performing this check. 

If you have read this far, I can assure you that you will never again watch a commercial the same way you have for most of your life. I have made impulse purchases because a commercial was so compelling, not because a celebrity promoted a product. The commercial addressed a problem I was experiencing at the time. Did the product(s) work as advertised? RARELY! As a result, I have purchased fewer items based solely on a commercial and I have asked my own series of questions but not as effective as the questions Uzor puts forth in his book! 

I have no way of knowing if RO works or not, I have not taken it. In fact, I do not think I can afford to lose much weight and remain healthy. It may work for you; it may not work for you. I am in no way suggesting that the product is defective. I am pointing out that all commercials leave it up to you to decide to buy or not buy. I AM suggesting that using Uzor’s 5 Important Questions may save you money by NOT buying a product that has yet to be sold to you because you verified the information and decided accordingly to buy or not buy.  As demonstrated above, you can add more questions to the 5 Important Questions. Questions trigger thoughts and thoughts trigger more questions. The more you know, the more you REALLY know! 

If this Nugget makes you think twice, then I have done my job. Always remember: 

YOU…can read for a CHANGE. Or you can READ…for a change. Choose Wisely! 

Gymbeaux

 

Intellectual Outsourcing, a book review

 

Intellectual Outsourcing
Book written by Raphael Uzor
Review by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, November 7, 2026

STOP RENTING MINDS; LEARN TO THINK FOR YOURSELF, 
VERIFY WHAT YOU HEAR OR READ!

I really like the writing style of Raphael Uzor. I have now read three of his books, and there is something about his approach to writing that I particularly appreciate. He does not simply explain what he believes to be true about a subject or situation; he backs up those principles with real-life stories illustrating how people have experienced what he is writing about, both positively and negatively. He connects the principles to actual experiences and provides resource links that allow you to do your own research.

Uzor's books provide real, practical, and usable life lessons. I believe it would be impossible to read Intellectual Outsourcing without learning something that could help you build a better life for yourself.

So, what is Intellectual Outsourcing all about?

It is about how people hear something and then repeat it, whether verbally, in their writing, or on social media platforms, without first verifying the source, the accuracy of the information, or the qualifications of the person making the statement. Uzor refers to this as "outsourcing" information, whether someone is passing it along to you or you are passing it along to someone else.

As I read this book, I sadly found myself on many of its pages. I am willing to bet you will find yourself there, too!

In the busy world of 2026, people see or hear something and immediately repeat it as though it were an established fact. What they often fail to consider is that the information may apply only to the person who originally made the statement. Even worse, that person may have simply heard or read it somewhere else and passed it along without ever verifying its accuracy.

In 2026, who has not done that? And who hasn't been the recipient of information that was either inaccurate or simply did not apply to them? More importantly, who has not experienced the embarrassment of confidently repeating something, only to have someone question its validity and discover that what you repeated was not true?

That is precisely the kind of behavior this book challenges us to recognize and correct.

The following passage from the book provides an excellent summary of the principles Uzor discusses:

“The borrowed life (taking the words of others as coming from an expert or someone who should know and assuming they are true) may be a comfortable life. By many external measures, even a successful one. What it can never quite be is yours. Taking your mind back means bringing to your beliefs, your relationships, and your communities the one thing that makes them genuinely yours: the honest examination of what they are built on, and the willingness to hold what that examination finds, even when what it finds is inconvenient, even when it differs from the consensus, even when the people around you are very confident that they already know.”

Who should read Intellectual Outsourcing?

It is difficult for me to think of anyone who would not benefit from reading this book. Life lessons apply to everyone, particularly anyone old enough to use social media. And that age is getting younger every month!

Would I read Intellectual Outsourcing again?

No, but not because I did not enjoy it or find it valuable. Quite the contrary! I would like to keep this book handy as a reference. It provides questions and practical guidance that you can revisit whenever you need to evaluate the expertise of an information source, verify the accuracy of what you are told, and determine whether the information applies to you.

Would I give Intellectual Outsourcing as a gift?

ABSOLUTELY! The life lessons contained within its pages are priceless!

One final thought: We live in a world where information is available at the touch of a button, but that does not mean the information is accurate, applicable, or worth repeating. One of the most valuable lessons this book teaches is that we should stop allowing others to do our thinking for us.

READ it...for a change. Or read it...for a CHANGE! Choose wisely!

Gymbeaux