Can it be done?
Lately I’ve been homing in on a difference in understanding what a fact is.
This comes from several conservatives or pseudo-conservatives (democrats/independents with knee jerk conservative reactions much of the time).
A fact.
By my rough estimation, half of us think that a fact is determined by one’s point of view.
I suppose that is the “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound” theory.
Yes, it makes a sound.
Wikipedia says:
A fact is a pragmatic truth, a statement that can, at least in theory, be checked and confirmed. Facts are often contrasted with opinions and beliefs, statements which are held to be true, but are not amenable to pragmatic confirmation.
Dictionary.reference.com says:
something that actually exists; reality; truth:
A fact is not in the eye of the beholder.
An example:
If a liberal is trying to convince you about the realities of global warming, and they present data showing measurements of Co2, that data is fact (given that data was collected correctly).
Many times conclusions from factual data are false, and perhaps that is where the confusion lies.
Combining the conclusions based on fact and judging the data collectively with the conclusion.
But a measurement is not influenced by the wants of the data collector.
I might want water to boil, but until I get off my butt and throw it in the microwave, the water isn’t going to boil.
When is a correctly collected measurement ever subject to the whims of the person taking the measurement?
Update
10/29/2009
Someone on my political forum recently told me:
“That does not mean that people always see eye to eye or that certain facts mean the exact same thing to everyone”
Really.
A fact does not mean the same thing to everyone.
Allow me to explain how stupid that is.
Stupid people don’t understand facts.
Smart people understand facts.
A misunderstanding is not the fault of the facts.
Its the fault of stupid people.