Resolve to avoid idle speculation

Dali's Three Sphinxes of Bikini

"...we are suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture and hypothesis. The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact -- of absolute undeniable fact -- from the embellishments of theorists and reporters." Sherlock Holmes (Silver Blaze)

I have posted about idle speculation in the past. My father introduced me to that concept (to steer clear of it) as a teen so that I could maintain a state of clarity amidst the fogginess of circumstances or when there is some semblance of human machination going on. I still succumb to it--it's almost instinctual. But the conscious effort of "early prevention and prompt treatment" seems to help. How? By allowing speculations to appear in the head followed by a mental picture of a giant eraser that abruptly and vigorously obliterates those speculations. Then a jaded state. Disengagement. Dusting off one's hands. Mission accomplished.