Facts vs. Opinions: Where The Truth Lies
I have been struggling to decide how to handle the ever dangerous task of talking about politics, or political topics, without completely alienating people of one side or the other. I remember a long time ago when giving an opinion and being open to debate was common. Now that politics has reached a level of religious ferver, there seems to be little debate and acknowledgement that opinions are not facts.
I usually try not to stir up trouble, but feel that I would like this blog to be able to touch on all subjects, with care and insight. I welcome debate and alternative opinions. I may agree with them, I may not, but that doesn’t make them any more or less important. When all we do is talk at each other and never really listen to each other, we risk losing any opportunity to come together and solve common issues. That’s what makes humanity great; the ability to have differing opinions and beliefs, but still work together.
I read a book recently called “Everything is F*cked, A Book About Hope” by Mark Manson that delved into the idea of the Feeling Brain and the Thinking Brain. In our society today, we seem to have a real problem using both brains together. We all want to believe we are using our logical, Thinking Brain, but often we are using our emotional Feeling Brains instead. Why? Because we are motivated by emotion far more effectively than by logic and reason. If a politician actually told the electorate the truth, a majority of them wouldn’t vote for them. Especially when there is a candidate that hits them in the emotion zone! The Truth might be that in order to have the services we rely on and balance the budget, there needs to be cuts or taxes need to go up. Reasonable. Logical. BORING! Another candidate stands up and says “LADIES and GENTLEMEN! I am here to tell you I alone know how to cut your taxes, keep all your services, and make it so you can stay at home more!” Everything your Feeling Brain wants with no downsides? Sign me up! Your slower moving Thinking Brain is like”wait a minute. How is that possible? We should probably look deeper into that and see how that is being done”. Too late! Flags are waving, buttons are fastened, crowds are cheering. More and more outrageous promises are made. Ride the wave!
It’s all harmless right? So what if there is no possible way to actually make most of the promises happen. You won the election! Can’t balance the budget? It was those darn other guys who messed everything up. They did such a bad job we can’t do our job. But we will perservere!
Politicians long ago figured out appealing to people at a truth level was political suicide. It’s all about emotion! Get people riled up! See you as the only way forward. See the other guys as the enemy to your bright future! But no matter how much hype you put on the emotion, the truth doesn’t change or go away. Eventually the circus leaves town and you’re left with the clean up.
So what is the point I’m trying to make? Good question. When I find myself getting emotionally engaged with a political policy, I stop and ask my thinking brain “so how far is this from the truth?”. We’ve stopped looking into things. We rely on social media that reads our inputs and watches the posts we read and feeds us a steady diet of what we already believe. It’s getting harder and harder to find unbiased sources of information because it isn’t so much about truth, its about what makes money. Money is taken by emotion. The actual hard work is done by the those left to handle the truth.
So let me know what you believe. What you think. Where you are at emotionally with the political landscape. I’m not here to change your mind or suggest that you are wrong. Or right, for that matter. I am here to make you think. Thinking is what gets us to see the truth. Whether a person embraces it or rejects it, is up to them. Sooner or later, we all will face the truth. Because it doesn’t change or go away. It’s better to get there together than all alone.
