Why write a blog about this? Two reasons: first, a blog it CLEARLY the best format for complaining about people expressing their opinions online. Imagine some clever one-liner here regarding fighting fire with fire or some other bullshit old line used as a shortcut to thinking. Second: in a battle of facts vs opinion, facts should always win just as rock always beats scissors, but for some screwed up reason my fellow Americans seem to continually want to yell that scissors wins when they're the ones who throw scissors - as if volume matters.
i'm going to try and break this down for the lowest common denominator since those who understand facts don't really need to learn this lesson. Imagine you're at some big family dinner. All the extended fam is there, cousins you've never seen before, and some weird family "friends" that you're not sure which family member they're actually friends with. The whole tables pushed up against tables with a card table thrown in the mix scenario, full to the brim.
You're Aunt, who let's face it probably came over drunk, has been pulling out wine corks all meal and now as dessert rolls out she holds up her dessert fork as asks "how many prongs does this have?"
Everyone at the table pronounces that there are four prongs, except for that weird uncle who used to chew the lead based paint off the windowsills before he was dropped on his head several times by your grandma. He yells "FIVE!"
In this scenario the bar is pretty low in terms of level of knowledge needed to be a contributing participant. Pretty much you just need to be able to count. You can do that without even being able to see, you can feel how many there are. Language and culture are not determining factors as even someone who has no idea what you do with a fork can still tell you "four" in their own native tongue.
There are four prongs. The fact that your uncle with two brain cells that are fighting has a differing opinion is of no consequence. He can't count so he opinion does not matter. He doesn't deserve equal air time on your local news station, the First Amendment doesn't mean that his opinion deserves to be respected, and he is not allowed to be used as a reputable source indicating that there is a debate to be had.
Things like favorite color, best ice cream flavor, most beautiful hair color are all things that are personal preferences and things that you, by all means, can have an opinion on. Facts are not things that you can have an opinion on. If you think so, you are just wrong - and that is a fact. Freedom means that people can think all kinds of weird shit and believe all kinds of fuck up stuff. That's just some of the messy nature of freedom. The problem is when you start having people acting on those incorrect premises.
The beauty of science is not only the underlying respect of facts and truths but also the idea that decisions should be made by those most knowledgeable in the given field. Biologists and astrophysicists may be consulted about the probability of life on a given planet but no one cares what a meteorologist thinks in this case. No one is going to ask a geologist for rocket propulsion advise and who cares what an evolutionary biologist has to say during the construction of a supercollider. Those in the best position to make an informed and educated decision are yielded to by other scientists. Scientists also tend to look to other scientists in varying field when seeking answers to desired questions. When i have a DNA question i ask my biologist friends. Want to know how deep a canyon in from a bridge? Drop a rock with a physicist and they'll be able to tell you by timing the fall and simple calculations in their head.
So why are there far too few a situation in our world in which facts and those in the best position to make informed decisions seems to be the basis of policy and action? When scientists tell you that climate change is happening, it's happening. Almost all decisions in America are made by elected officials with law degrees. Parents are choosing to not have their kids vaccinated because of what some surgically altered centerfold tells them. Girls don't have smaller brains. If someone has a different skin, hair, or eye color than you it's just because of pigments, nothing else is different.
If you cannot support your opinion with actual facts and truths than your opinion is wrong. The only correct thing to do in these cases is to sit back and let the most knowledgeable group of people on the given subject figure shit out. Then, do what they recommend! This would make the world a better place indeed.
