One of my MBA professors told us on the first day of this semester "contrary to what you may believe, you are not entitled to your opinion; you are only entitled to what you can back-up with evidence." He admitted the line wasn't his and passed out an excellent article from a philosophy professor (here) explaining the point. I was incredulous. How could he tell us that we were not allowed to have our own opinion?! Throughout the semester, however, I have realized the wisdom in this statement and believe it to be wholeheartedly true. He has provided example after example of commonly held beliefs in society that are flat out wrong or are, at a minimum, highly misguided. Here is one example... Are there too many frivolous lawsuits out there? You probably said, YES and my proof is McDonalds and spilled Coffee. I would be willing to bet you don't know the whole story because the story has been manipulated and changed so many times... (the facts).
In another class, with the same professor, he said something else that was truly profound in my opinion. "Nowadays, people don't search for information, they search for validation." Think about it, the last time that you saw something online that was against your own beliefs, did you research the point to discredit it, prove it, or find real facts? I will admit that I default to the first and now I force myself to approach anything I don't like, or even things I completely agree, with a healthy skepticism and an open mind. How is it possible for a modern society to be so "right" all the time? It is impossible that most of my FB friends are experts in Foreign Policy, Race Relations, Economic Inequality AND Domestic Policies at the same time!
Then there comes the magical False Dichotomy or False Dilemma (discussion here) where individuals incorrectly state there are only two possible outcomes to the situation. Think about how pervasive this is in modern politics.
"You are either with us or against us."
"You are either for or against killing babies."
"You are pro-business or pro-working class."
"If you don't support the war you are against our troops."
How can we have so many situations where there is no gray area? Yes, there are definitely situations where the choice is either one outcome or the other, but most situations are more nuanced. By creating this type of rhetoric and polarization, the media, politicians and the general public unfortunately think they have to choose sides in arguments. Why can't we admit that most problems have multiple viewpoints, extenuating circumstance or outcomes? My answer... We are too lazy, stupid and don't care enough to actually research the whole situation. We also are so used to instant gratification today that waiting is seen as a weakness. I would love to see more politicians say "I don't have all the facts at this point and would like to withhold comment until I have done more research." But most people and journalists would hit that person with "how doesn't he/she know this? How are they in Congress and don't know (blank)?" Well the next time you say that, please remember you don't know everything, I don't know everything, and the public definitely doesn't know everything.
We should be ever mindful of the profound thought attributed to Socrates and Plato "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."
You will notice that at no point have I said anything about any one particular view point. I don't care the situation, if you are going to espouse an opinion then it better be backed by facts, research and a real dialogue and not just what you "believe." It is time to move the discussion forward and I hope to do my little part in that endeavor. In the meantime, I will be keeping clear of social media "discussions." You all don't want a legitimate dialogue, you just want to be right and shout louder than the rest. In the end, we all have one vote and most people don’t even use it, so please refrain from speaking unless you are able to back it up and you are willing to do something about it.
