Just the Facts II

"How empty is theory in the presence of fact!" -Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Common sense is extremely uncommon.  Most of us carry with us a strange mixture of fact and fiction.  Some things we believe to be true are just theories.  Some of our basic foundational understandings are nothing but pure speculation.

Ask any religious person—Muslim, Jew, Christian—if God exists.  Almost unanimously, the believer will say “Absolutely.”  In fact, many will take offense that you asked, but God’s existence is a theory.  God cannot fit inside a test tube or be confined to a scientific study.  There is powerful evidence of intelligent design in our universe, but no hard, undeniable facts.  Therefore, the believer has faith, and faith is a marvelous thing.

I remember my Mom and my Aunt Lois always said, “Put your coat on.  I don’t want you to catch a cold.”  They believed, and I came to believe that overexposure to the cold would make me sick.  We were all wrong.  It’s the exposure to disease and the lowering of my body’s defenses that do the damage.  If we repeat a lie long enough, we believe it is true.

In the political arena I hear dozens of theories about getting our national house in order.  Everybody agrees that the national debt is a nation killer.  Everybody wants economic growth.  How do we do it?  How can we separate fact from fiction when the budget is in the trillions of dollars and is published in a fat book with hundreds of pages.  It boggles the mind.

Does the Congress of the United States pass laws on theory or fact?  Do government officials govern with common sense?  Do our representatives even read the bills they vote into law?  Sorry, too many rhetorical questions for one blog.  After all, Mark Twain said, “Congress is the only permanent criminal class we have in this country.”

Just think of all the hard issues we face today.  It is amazing and terrifying to consider how ignorant we are of the facts.  We bring a boatload of our prejudices, misinformation, pet theories, vague feelings, and fears to the table.  We use almost no factual information as we make decisions about crime and punishment, American education reform, health care legislation, saving Social Security, energy independence, and social justice.  And that’s a fact.

   ...if you are going to find out the facts of a thing, what's the sense in guessing out what ain't the facts and wasting ammunition? I didn't lose no sleep.  - Mark Twain,Tom Sawyer, Detective