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: Our search for the truth.
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 (eg, Ancient). Hence, the use of a Base-60 system (eg, 60 seconds, 60 minutes, 360 degrees). Also see my 2016 blog: Numbers – mathematics, space, time, weights & measurements.
“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
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Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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