Do facts matter? That question – common during recent months – reflects the pessimism
and skepticism of many people in the U.S. who wonder if our leaders care about objective
information. Why the troubled mood?
Consider the following:
- Oxford Dictionary selected “post-truth” as their
word of the year. In the opinion of the editors, the word (though not new) captures
the “ethos, mood, or preoccupations” of the year.
- Since Inauguration Day, squabbles have abounded
between our current president and others regarding “factual” statements – e.g.,
the number of people who attended the inauguration, or the extent of illegal votes
cast in the last election.
- Neither our current president nor his
predecessor rate 100% with respect to veracity. Politifact, a nonpartisan
assessor of the truthfulness of statements made by politicians, found both Trump and Obama to make many statements deemed “mostly false” or “false.”
- Social media is a first, and sometimes only, source of news for many people whose “filter bubbles” have great power to sway thinking through circulation of “information” with little or no grounding in context, and no exposure to challenging questions or counter-opinions. By the time fact checking, even retraction, occurs, the damage cannot be undone.
Amidst all the expressed questions and concerns, I would
contend that facts have never had more importance. Moreover, the role of Wilder
Research has never been more essential for enabling our communities to maintain
and improve their quality of life.
Public officials, other community leaders, and the public at
large need a reliable, nonpartisan resource that enables them to apply the best
possible knowledge to their decisions, to use data effectively, to learn from
experience, and to continually grow in their ability to govern wisely. We prize
the strategy we pursue – seeking to provide compelling rationales and evidence
for public decision making that benefits everyone.
Knowledge empowers.
We hope to empower individuals and communities by making information freely
available, through the many reports we distribute at no charge on our website,
or through Minnesota Compass for example. No special training is required for
someone to obtain information to support themselves in democratic participation
and decision making.
No single person or
entity owns the “truth.” The truth emerges and evolves through the
collective efforts of people with disparate vantage points – we strive to
discover it, we approach it, we never fully know it. The best researchers never
cease the search. They continually challenge the beliefs which they themselves
and others hold, in order to increase understanding of social issues, human
biology and health, the environment, or whatever their focus of study. We move
forward with determination – hoping that we know more now than we did
previously, and recognizing that we know less now than we will know in the
future.
