Facts matter.
I recently spent an evening going through my tax paperwork. I’ll pay a CPA to prepare my tax return. I want it to be right, because I don’t want the hassles that can result from doing it incorrectly. I don’t want to pay penalties and interest, or overlook a deduction or tax credit I’m entitled to.
That exercise got me thinking tonight about FACTS. Facts matter. Society spends enormous effort and resources on collecting facts. Corporate and university researchers, scientists, business managers, journalists and book authors, and professionals in a wide variety of fields work ceaselessly to get facts right.
Now I want to talk about two subjects related to facts, and getting them right: (1) types of facts, and (2) types of people.
1. Types of facts
I’ve identified three basic types of facts (there may be more): (1) True facts, (2) legal facts, and (3) political facts.
(1) True facts. This is self-explanatory, or should be. Some thing are true, and some are not. Truth exists outside your subjective belief system, and a fact is true or untrue regardless of what you believe about that fact. A maple tree is a maple tree, even if you think it’s an oak tree.
(2) Legal facts. This is more esoteric, but if you’ve ever been involved in court proceedings, you’ll know what I mean. Legal facts determine legal outcomes, but don’t have to be true; that’s just a fact of life. What lawyers say in court often bears little resemblance to what actually happened. Being in court can feel like being on another planet. Consider the standard of proof in civil cases: More probable than not. In civil trials, an error rate of 49.99% is perfectly acceptable. That’s why most cases get settled; parties and their insurers don’t want to gamble on what juries might do with the “legal facts” that emerge from a trial.
(3) Political facts. This doesn’t require much explanation. “Political facts” are used to justify political beliefs, agendas, legislation, etc., and attack opponents. I’m not saying “political facts” are always untrue, but I won’t try to estimate what percentage of them are bullshit. It’s pretty high. There are people who claim Hillary Clinton eats children; other propagandists lie about crime statistics, election results, or what the other side will do if elected, depending on what their objective is.
2. Types of people
(4) People who are careful with facts. This doesn’t mean they’ll always get facts right, but they care about getting facts right, work at it, and may go to great lengths to check and verify the accuracy of facts they’re relying on or feeding to you. An obvious example is a doctor who runs you through a bunch of tests, MRI scans, etc., to make sure he has an accurate picture of your physiology so he can prescribe a treatment that will work.
(5) Trusted sources. This category includes honest people who won’t lie to you, make reasonable exertions to get facts right, and genuinely care about not misleading others. This group includes lots of people and organizations, such as objective news media, many professional salespeople, and rating entities like Consumer Reports.
(6) People indifferent to factual accuracy. They don’t care very much if they’re lied to (at least, not until the shit hits the fan), and they don’t make much (if any) effort to be truthful and accurate. In short, they don’t give a damn whether what they read and hear is true, or what they say is true.
(7) Gullible fools. Some people will believe anything, including things that are patently unbelievable, simply because they want to believe it. (See, e.g., QAnon followers.) They often actively spurn people who are careful with facts, trusted sources, and science, education, and knowledge in general. They may join cults, be political “true believers,” and watch infomercials instead of reading books. These people are vulnerable to political demagoguery, dishonest salesmen, and crooked schemes. During the pandemic, a lot of them ended up dead, because they wouldn’t listen to the medical experts. The saying (often attributed to Mark Twain, but that’s factually questionable, see details here), “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so,” applies.
The implications
The world is full of liars and fools. Being one of them puts you at a disadvantage. Having to deal with them is a pain in the ass. But we live in an imperfect world populated with imperfect people, so we have to deal with the world’s imperfections. The more you know, and the more you get right, the better off you’ll be. Think of navigating through this life as being captain of your own ship. You want an accurate map, so you’ll get where you’re going; you want to know where the rocks are, so you won’t be shipwrecked.
The pandemic should’ve gotten you thinking about the consequences of believing bullshit and rejecting true facts. Facts matter. It pays to get them right; that’s why careful people work so hard at it. For example, Covid-19 is a killer virus, not a hoax; and vaccines work, while squirting bleach up your butt doesn’t (and can have unwanted complications). What you do with information is up to you. You can prosper with it, or let it drag you down, depending on how careful you are about getting good information and rejecting bad information. It’s not easy, and it takes work, but the effort is worth it.
Photo below: Another anti-vaxxer bites the dust
