getState(stateToMerge = this.state) {
    return getState(stateToMerge, this.props)
  }
Gets the state based on internal state or props
If a state value is passed via props, then that
is the value given, otherwise it's retrieved from
stateToMerge

@param {Object} stateToMerge defaults to this.state
@return {Object} the state