LH: People put forth the facts they believe to be true in an effort to refute the facts that they believe to be untrue.

Do you say that is wrong?


(smile)   Okay, Sawzaw, first of all....

There is no such thing as an "untrue fact"! Think about it.



;-)











There are often incorrect interpretations of a situation, however, built upon collecting only certain facts, ignoring other facts, misunderstanding the relationship between a variety of different facts, getting your facts in the wrong order, etc, and thereby coming to a faulty conclusion.

I'll give you a very simple example of this:

1. A great many people wear blue jeans. Fact!
2. Crimes are often committed by people wearing blue jeans. Fact!
3. Erroneous Conclusion based on above facts: Wearing blue jeans causes people to become criminals.

Wrong! ;-) You see? Two completely irrefutable facts followed by a completely idiotic and incorrect conclusion, driven by lazy and faulty thinking.

This, in a somewhat less blatantly obvious way, is how we see politicians and ordinary people of all kinds using facts to back up completely erroneous conclusions and various silly opinions they have.

You cannot be sure of something until:

1. You have ALL the relevant facts about it.
2. You interpret them in a completely correct fashion.

People usually have a whole set of prior prejudices that deeply color and affect the way they sift through, select, reject, and interpret a huge variety of facts that are all around them. They usually MAKE the facts serve their prejudices rather than being truly objective about the situation.

I don't think I have ever yet encountered a completely unbiased person...nor have I ever encountered anyone who really had ALL the facts (about anything).

Therefore, I am well aware of how questionable most people's opinions are...and how feeble is their mastery of the available facts.

It's downright funny, as a matter of fact, how seriously most people take their opinions, considering how deeply lacking they are in both genuine objectivity or fairness, how utterly prejudiced they are right from the start, and how pitifully inadequate is their knowledge of all the relevant facts involved.

It's hilarious. That's why I gain a great deal of amusement by reading threads like this one or any other political thread. On the one hand, it's pretty serious stuff...and it can get you down. On the other hand, it never ceases to be darkly humorous at the same time how people who really know so little about the whole situation in front of them can take themselves so goddamn seeeeeriously!

Obama doesn't give a shit what anyone on this thread thinks. This thread will change nothing. It's just an exercise in people blowing off steam and I know it. But I read it, because it's funny.

Carry on.