Recently, I’ve had a few conversations in which the other party no longer believed in scientific studies. A few weeks ago, it became public knowledge that the Dutch Minister of Health is being accused of having “fact-free delusions” – and by his own peers (FD, NOS).
These incidents fit in a much larger trend of “fact-free opinions”. To a large extent, a “fact-free opinion” is similar to a subjective truth – or a belief. A fact is generally an undisputed and thus objective truth. Today, it seems that everything is being disputed. Hence, everything is becoming a subjective truth. Hence, the rise in fact-free opinions.
Fact-free opinions are not new. The flat-Earth movement dates back to the 1950’s. Heliocentrism (ie, the Sun orbits Earth) was popular for centuries, despite long-held evidence of geocentrism (ie, the Earth orbits the Sun). The ancient Sumerian civilization already showed a 10th planet in our galaxy. NASA has long disputed this Planet X, until they started looking for it (eg, CNET).
The rise in fact-free opinions is related to these 2016 quotes from Psychology Today:
- “The culture of science and the culture of journalism are supposed to foster truthful statements, but many reputable journals and newspapers have published false information.”
- “Facts are opinions held by the right people.”
- “Everything we refer to as a fact is only a statement about reality.”
Reality, however, often changes in time and in space. What is true here, may not be true in a different place and/or at a different time (eg, solar eclipse). Hence, Karl Popper – “one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers of science” – concluded that the absolute truth may not exist and if it exists then humans are unlikely to be able to prove it. Also see my 2019 blog.
At this point, you may start wondering why facts are important. Psychology Today, 2016: “A system of facts is useful to the extent that, like a map and its features, it helps us get around reality without too many bumps and bruises.” Examples: calendar, clocks, maps, metric system, navigation, time and time zones. Just suppose these were fact-free.
Today, everything that relates to space and time is (still) undisputed. Nevertheless, our current concepts of time and space are human – and Sumerian – inventions (Ancient). Hence, the use of a Base-60 system (eg, 60 seconds, 60 minutes, 360 degrees). Also see my 2016 blog.
“You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into.” A quote by Ben Goldacre (b. 1974), “a British physician, academic, and science writer”.
Time – Clock of the Heart (1982) by Culture Club
artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
0 Comments