Facts and Opinions

Last updated on: February 11, 2015 at 10:28 am by Terry Drew Karanen

Facts and Opinions 2015-02-11T10:28:20-07:00 Terry Drew Karanen

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Have you ever been told you “need to get your facts straight?” I have. But in retrospect I have found that it wasn’t my facts that needed the examination. It was the opinion of the other person. And, in all fairness, I’ve definitely been on the other side of that conversation as well.

My friend, Judy, recently turned me on to a quote by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, not his own facts.” There’s a tremendous amount of power in those words.

The “facts” we hold dear are often colored by our sources. This is particularly true when the statements are in line with our own beliefs, worldviews and underlying (or overt) prejudices. Thanks to the Internet, information is more available now than ever before in human history and from an almost unlimited number of sources. That doesn’t mean that it is all factual.

Those many news outlets, treatise and blogs are not going to agree on certain subjects. Most will be slanted at best and bias at worst. We can expect individuals and organizations to be slanted in the direction of their own views, i.e. the NRA is going to be pro-guns and the families of the victims of mass shootings will not be. There’s nothing wrong with publishing those opposing points of view and the conversation is worth having.

Where we often go wrong is when we are biased. This is different from being slanted in one direction. A bias writing discounts, ignores or even distorts whatever information that disagrees with or disproves the position being put out there. For example, the non-partisan “fact tank,” Pew Research Center in Washington, DC, recently published a report on the accuracy of the major American news outlets. The report indicated that the news channel with the highest viewer numbers had their facts wrong an astounding sixty percent of the time. So whose “facts” do we believe?

I’ve become very aware in the past few months about I how have often reacted instead of responding to conflict. What I’ve discovered is that when I have to go in print to explain, justify or defend my actions I know one of two things is going on: (1) I feel the need to convince or coerce everyone to agree with me, or, (2) I know I’ve totally screwed up and just don’t have the balls to admit it.

I would challenge you to be brutally honest with yourself for just the next day. Instead of initially reacting to conflict or disagreement, take a very deep breath and instead respond with the intention of understanding the other person. Ask them why they feel the way they do – even if you have already have an arsenal of why they shouldn’t believe it! It is through articulating our beliefs that we stand the test of fire in being sure our convictions are worth having.

Oh, and just for the record, the world is round. That’s a fact! <grin>

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry

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