Some people have never cared about the facts. Extremists on the right and the left. Fiercely partisan segments of the Democrat, Republican, and other parties. People with a vested interest in a specific cause, belief, or technology. When I began my career, it usually seemed that perhaps 20 percent of the population, at most, fell into the “don’t bother me with the truth” category. Four out of five people would accept valid information from reliable sources.
Those four out of five might dislike what they observed. They might, very appropriately, apply their values-based or political lens to interpreting the numbers. The numbers might motivate them to resolve to change the status quo, seeking to take things in a different direction. But they would accept the research and move forward. They would also often seek compromise with individuals holding different viewpoints.
Half a century after beginning my career in research, the slice of the population willing to accept the facts seems to have narrowed. And sadly, it seems that a greater proportion of people define those with different views as noxious “others” – groups not to trust and not to collaborate with on improving community well-being.
I admit that I become maddeningly frustrated with the deniers of the 2020 presidential election result. More than sixty court cases, including many presided over by Republican judges, have not found any evidence of significant fraud. Donald Trump’s attorney general, assistant attorney general, and campaign manager all said that fraud did not influence the election outcome. The temptation becomes great to become irate, berate the election deniers, and buttress the fences to avoid interacting with them.
But I also have great sympathy for the misinformed, given the homogenous cultural, social, and political silos in which most of us live, as well as the ways that some traditional media and some social media have restricted distribution of the facts and/or intensified false information.
Out of curiosity, on the evening of the most recent hearings of the January 6th Committee, I looked at several major news websites. At about 6:15 p.m. The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and WCBS in New York all had major stories posted about the hearings. In contrast, Fox News – the most watched news channel – had absolutely nothing about the hearings. I looked up, down. I clicked various links on the site. Prominent, top-of-site stories covered the topics of Uvalde, Bill Cosby, the PGA, and the Navy’s program to teach sailors about pronouns. But no story on Fox at that particular hour revealed information from the January 6th Committee’s hearings.
The hearings constitute important news. The hearings have information that debunks the lies about election fraud. The American public deserves to see that information. People might disagree on what the witnesses’ testimony means. They might dislike the testimony. But they deserve to learn about it.
At the other end of the political spectrum, those on the extreme left do not remain innocent of demanding unquestioning allegiance to a single worldview, even if that means covering up facts or suppressing debate about complex issues. President Obama recognized and addressed this problem in his exhortation to young people to avoid “cancel culture”. In a recent essay in The New York Times, Pamela Paul contends that the “fringe left” has resorted to “bullying, threats of violence, public shaming, and other scare tactics” when women assert their right to equality. The result, in her opinion is to “curtail discussion of women’s issues in the public sphere”.
While living in Northern Ireland, I observed the various ploys that residents would use to determine the “community” membership of someone they just met. After making that determination, they could pigeonhole that person based on learned stereotypes, decide whether to interact with or avoid that person, and in rare cases, decide whether they wanted to kill that person. During the past couple of weeks, we have witnessed similar maneuvers – making our judgements about one another based upon where we stand regarding the recent Supreme Court decisions.
Whether we should or should not form judgements that way is a separate question. I don’t intend to make a political statement. My concern is that, as we rigidly filter perceptions and judge our neighbors as friend or foe, we narrow even further the segment of the population willing to seek the truth and pay attention to the facts.
On this Independence Day, I encourage liberation – freedom to think and act differently. Take the step to have a sincere conversation with someone who holds a different point of view (maybe not while watching a parade or while eating at a picnic, but sometime during the next month or two). Do you share any common ground in your visions for the future, in your concern for humanity, in your desires for the well-being of all people? Can you appreciate the sincerity of the other person’s convictions, even if you consider their conclusions misguided? Might you and your conversation partner eventually have the ability to work from common ground to address threats to our world such as climate disasters, racism, food shortages, inequities of wealth, and others?
I hope so.
In establishing common ground, can we accept science and accept valid research? Can we start with the facts as a base, and then apply our values and opinions – rather than starting with our predispositions and only accepting information that conforms to them? Realistically, we can probably never expect that the segments of our population dedicated to extreme views will acknowledge truths that they dislike. But most of us do have the ability to maintain our values while accepting the facts.
As the civil rights visionary Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said:
“Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part…. When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.”
For the sake of science, for the sake of democracy, and for the sake of the future of the world, I hope we can all walk with the wind and do our part.
Happy Independence Day.
