this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
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Showerthoughts
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“alternative facts”
Words have meaning. This irks me.
It feels like a lot of the new vocabulary and discourse that has developed in recent years has revolved around the insidious idea that reality is a matter of opinion. We focus on "optics" and bandy about "narratives", decry "fake news". We've ceased to get or even expect journalism from the news, and we aren't even surprised that flat earth screwballs still exist. We live in a world seemingly in retreat from the idea of objective truth as people talk about "my truth". Words have meaning. Objective truth exists. We forsake it at our peril.
Wrote this at 4 am so forgive the unhinged rant. Just finding the words for it now and it's been bothering me lately.
No no, you have a point and I agree. We admit too many viewpoints as potentially valid when these points do not agree with facts. For example, it’s ridiculous to consider the question of the existence of climate change as a topic of debate. Instead, it’s a scientific fact that human-caused climate change is having an impact on our world. To seriously consider points of view that ignore facts (outside of perhaps artistic merit) is not a productive use of our limited time.
I do think there is some flexibility in the interpretation of facts, but to discard objective truth entirely is to me a rejection of the scientific method, and that does not lead to a desirable future for humans. It is to discard the merits of human progress in general.
Now, lately a concerning portion of my fellow citizens have expressed that they do not fundamentally believe in improvement, but that’s another topic entirely.
That's the game, always will be - objective truth exists, but rarely can we be sure we have it. It's wrong to presume so, but the bigger issue is in giving up the chase.
Life is movement. We die when we stop moving.
I feel this is true with humans taken together too. It’s not about being absolutely correct. It’s about believing we can learn.
I hold out hope that there will be enough people who desire progress and knowledge that we can always keep growing and just maybe outpace greed.