Opinion or Fact?

Do you know when somebody is giving you an opinion or is stating a fact? Here’s a hint. Most of what you here is an opinion and probably only has a grain of fact about it. We humans are really good at twisting the truth into knots to suit our own agendas or beliefs. That includes me, so don’t take my word for it, check it out. A healthy skepticism is invaluable.

Here’s a good example. There’s been a lot of buzz about a mosque to be built near ground zero. I heard one guy say, “yards away.” Actually it’s two blocks away. I don’t know how many yards that is, but I’m pretty sure he was trying to spin that bit of ‘almost the facts.’ This imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is behind the project, has been described as a terrorist and worst. Well, that’s an opinion, not a fact. He was actually sent twice to the Middle East by the Bush administration to foster better relations with the people of those regions. Doesn’t sound like a terrorist to me, but check it out. And when you do don’t just look at information from sources you always check. The reason is because we tend to search out people and information we already agree with-even if we’re wrong. A key to this is to consider the source. Who is it and what agenda are they advancing? You can always find someone to substantiate anything no matter how wrong.

Keep in mind that there are huge corporations spending millions to get their agenda in front of you and quite often the organizations they create to do this have very comforting names like ‘Americans for America’. I made that name up, but maybe there is one. Check it out.

The point is we are all being jerked around all the time and the only way to fight back is to get the facts and flush the opinions. A good test is that if we always agree with our sources, then there is either something wrong with them or us.

Are you Paying Attention?

More people in the United States believe in flying saucers than in evolution, 18 % of Americans think the president is a Muslum, a growing number here do not believe in climate change, I could go on, but why bother.

A long time ago the tobacco industry realized that they didn't have to prove cigarette smoking is safe, just confuse enough people about the research to make them doubt the data saying it isn't. Now big business, big religion and political parties use this technique to convince us to doubt what should be as plain as the noses on our faces. They point out that a few scientists disagree with the majority so the theory must be wrong, whether it be climate change or evolution.

Science does not know what causes gravity, but I'll bet the farm nobody would step off a ten story building because of that.