“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“The function of a democracy is to spend as much money as we can to influence people to vote for us, so we can consolidate wealth and power, without any consideration of the truth or the manifest and latent effects of duplicity for the purpose of individual gain.”
-Unknown
Remember the brief philosophical treatise “On Bullshit” by Harry Frankfurt? Well get it out as the ocean of BS continues to expand. Frankfurt states: “that Bullshit is speech intended to persuade without regard for truth. The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the Bullshitter doesn’t care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether their listener is persuaded.” He sees this as a major threat to our democracy. And we have a whole lot of BS going on of epic proportions. It’s not the kind of BS that occurs when a bunch of us OWG’s (Old White Guys) are sitting around reminiscing about the “glory days”, talking about the giant fish that got away because our pole broke, or our Frat days. This is pretty much harmless chatter.
But what we are dealing with are massive untruths that have and continue to kill thousands. Whether it is the old tobacco companies insisting there is no correlation between smoking and cancer, Monsanto (re-branded to Bayer) saying Roundup is perfectly safe, or Herman Cain refusing to wear a mask during the COVID 19 pandemic these untruths, motivated by economic and sometimes political gain, have caused immense suffering. In relation to Cain his refusal to wear a mask cost him his life as he succumbed to COVID 19. The damage caused by the example “leaders” like him set by not wearing one is hard to quantify. I hope his death helps to wake up those who remain reluctant to accept the science behind the decision, by the experts in infectious diseases, directing us to wear masks, practice social distancing, wash our hands, avoid touching our face, and not congregate in large groups.
My question is where are we failing in teaching critical thinking skills? Why is the average person so reluctant to accept evidence that is incongruent with their particular ideology? Why do we resist considering the best available evidence to make decisions that, at the very least, are in our best interests? Part of the problem is it is very difficult to eliminate bias but it is possible to do so by applying critical thinking. Two of the most powerful critical thinkers I have encountered, through their writings, are Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. They did not just accept a premise they evaluated the sources and varying perspectives. Gandhi studied others before him who practiced nonviolence. He was influenced by Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, and Buddhism. Tolstoy, Emerson, Thoreau, and Rustin also factored into his thinking. He once stated: “Oh, I don’t reject Christ. I love Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ. Religious ideology was not a barrier for him. His interest was in the truth. I recommend you read “The Story of My Experiments with the Truth.” It is an amazing example of critical thinking. King studied Gandhi who influenced him greatly. Martin Luther King also did not allow religion to become a barrier. He saw the truth and power in Gandhi’s work. He also met with Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist Monk, and was influenced by him to the point where he nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. All had an amazing capacity to consider new perspectives and integrate them into their existing knowledge base. They were flexible and extremely skilled at converting theory into practice.
Ideology did not inhibit these people from appreciating the perspective of others and accepting the validity of what they had to offer. What they all shared was a commitment to the truth and the pursuit of a more just, equitable, and peaceful world with a foundation of equal rights for all. It is time to make truth the basic ethic that we all embrace. Now that might sound like too philosophical of a basis from which to proceed after all isn’t truth based on one’s perception? Well, that is likely the type or argument you will encounter in an attempt to dodge the issue. So let’s look at some truths. When I drop my pen it falls due to the effects of gravity. You can say it really is demons that pull it to the ground, we’ll get into that one at a later time, but you would be wrong. You could say obesity does not lead to higher rates of diabetes. You would be wrong about that too. But you can argue that it does not apply to everyone and you would be right. However that was not the point of the initial statement. So using Grandpa as an example, who smoked two packs of cigarettes and ate a pound of bacon daily, never exercised, and lived to 95 is just an attempt at BS. You are sewing doubt by using an extreme example and somehow making it sound like the norm.
So when you hear something that is targeted to activate your ideology and close off your mind and heart, remember Cambridge Analytica https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/22/cambridge-analytica-scandal-the-biggest-revelations-so-far, try to be aware of it. Stop for a moment and consider the source. What is motivating them? Are they acting in your best interest? Go do some research. Go to the fact check sites. Read some peer reviewed literature. Listen to BBC news or some other stations from around the world and get their perspectives. Try NPR if you like, but they are said to have a liberal bias. And what does that mean? How do you define a liberal or a conservative? When you say gun control what do you mean? Do you actually know what Planned Parenthood does? 97% of what they do is health care not abortions. At least that is one perspective. Try searching this statistic and you will find a tremendous amount of conflicting information much of it BS driven by political agendas. But it makes for a great exercise in critical thinking. What is a Christian (there are 32,000 plus variations and counting)? Are you a Quaker, Baptist, Protestant, or part of the Westboro Baptist Church? There are major differences. When you inquire do so with the express intent of understanding what the other person has to say. You don’t have to agree with it. You just have to make the space to allow for an open exchange of ideas. I guarantee you will learn something. And that something may actually improve or even save your life of the life of someone dear to you.