Former United States senator Daniel Moynihan famously said, “You are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
He was distinguishing between subjective opinions and objective facts. Though everyone is free to form their own opinions, facts are universal truths that cannot be altered or ignored based on personal beliefs or preferences.
We should be lovers of facts—things that are known or proven to be true; a truth known by actual experience or observation; something that can be proven to be true or false through objective evidence.
Some people seem to be allergic to them.
First, identify facts. With the rampant and intentional spread of disinformation and misinformation, it’s often challenging just to know fact from fiction. Some facts are indisputable: π will always be 3.14159; World War 2 happened. Other facts are harder to confirm.
Then there’s the challenge of interpreting facts. Sometimes even very smart people can come to different conclusions though they’re considering the same facts. For instance, some Noble-prize winning economists recommend austerity as the cure for a weak economy, other Noble-prize winning economist recommend stimulus.
Often facts are presented out of context, or we’re told part of the truth but not all if it. We often cherry-pick our information, accepting only that which confirms our bias.
It’s challenging, isn’t it. Let’s just try the best we can to value and pursue facts. They are our friend.