[Neurons] 2021 Neurons #70 CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT FACTS

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

2021 Neurons #70

October 25, 2021

 

CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT FACTS

 

After writing about Media Ethics (#69) last week and writing about "facts,"
I decided that I would do some critical thinking about facts.  As I got into
the process, I discovered that it is a lot harder than I suspected.  Like
most people, I start from the false premise that a fact is empirical data.
Even the dictionary makes this confusion: "Fact: Information presented as
objectively real; something having real, demonstratable existence; a thing
that has been done."  From Latin facere "to do."

 

Now facts are funny things.   Not funny as in "ha ha" or in laughing
out-loud, but funny in a strange, weird, and amazing way.  They are funny in
that we think of them as so real and solid, yet that is just not the case.
Thinking critically about facts, in fact, takes us into a realm where there
is a lot of room for wonderment and curiosity.

 

Facts are funny in that we think of them as so solid, staid, and real but
when it comes to a fact-  you cannot see, hear, feel, smell, or taste a
fact.  Try it if you like.  What does a fact look like, sound like, smell
like?  Strange enough, the word fact does not refer to anything empirical
even though that's precisely how we think we are using the word!  Here's the
first funny fact about a fact, a fact is a category or classification.  It
is into that category that we put certain statements that we consider facts.
This means a fact is a statement that makes some assertion.

It is a fact that there are three birds in the yard.
Observational fact, sensory-based

                                                         It is a fact that
there are 24 hours in a day.         Definition fact, fact by social
agreement

                                                         It is a fact that
there are 12 inches in a foot.       Definition fact

                                                         It is a fact that
my name is Michael.                     Personal and social fact.

 

Now because facts are products of our semantic constructions (the categories
that we invent), they are fallible human products and they can suffer from
every sort of illusion (visual, auditory, etc.).  The next funny thing about
facts is that they are dependent on context.

It's a fact that roses are red.                    This fact is dependent on
light, eyes, and language.

                             That chair is made of wood.       Depends on
what person means by wood.

                             That car is going too fast.            Depends
on speed limit, conditions, etc. 

 

Facts that occur in a first level category about empirical, public, and
testable.  "Red" as a socially shared concept can be tested by looking and
seeing if the color matches what is generally considered red.  The
statement, "I worked out for one hour at the gym" can be tested by checking
with the gym or workout partners.  There are facts that are inherent in the
definition of the concept.  "There are 60 minutes in an hour."  Mathematical
facts are inherent to the definition.  So also, "A circle is round."

 

Facts as statements assert things.  Some facts assert that something exists,
"There is a dog."  Some facts assert that there is a process, "They are
running a race."  Some assert causation, "His angry thoughts is making his
face red."  Some causation 'facts' are false facts, "She makes me angry."
[That's mind-reading, a Meta-Model violation and cognitive distortion.] 

 

Some facts assert a conclusion from a field of study.  "The experience of
phobia involves imagining being inside a fearful experience."  That
psychological fact is not empirical or public and it cannot be directly
tested.  It is a fact that someone concluded from a lot of other facts,
"each person who demonstrated a phobia reported thinking about the frightful
experience as if being inside it and not outside observing."   Secondary
'facts' are conclusions drawn from first level 'facts.'

 

When we generate conclusion facts, we are dealing with second level
constructs (or third, fourth, etc.).  This is the case with all facts in
every field (psychology, economics, sociology, etc.).  These constructed
statements as conclusions from facts are the next level of facts, meta-facts
and further removed from reality.  Freud started with id, ego, and superego
as facts about the person. Adler invented other facts- the individualist
drive, the social drive, importance of first memories, Maslow started with
the fact of deficiency needs and abundance needs.  And so it goes.

 

This past week President Biden at a townhall meeting made some statements as
if they were facts.  1) "I've been to the border; 2) I know all about it."
3) "I haven't had a hell of a lot of time to go there."  Doing some fact
checking, it turns out that he has never been to the border, not as
President, not as Vice-President, not as Senator.  So that is factually
incorrect.  The second statement is an over-generalization ("I know all
about it") - that is a belief, not a fact.  And the third one is an excuse,
he left the townhall and went to Delaware for another holiday!  He has the
time, he just does not want to go there.

 

Ah, facts!  Because they are not as simple as we assume, they require
critical thinking to handle them properly.  In past weeks Biden has claimed
that the new 3.5 trillion dollar bill in congress will cost nothing, "zero."
Strange.  Then why are the democrats of his own party fighting and
negotiating about the cost?  Ah yes, it's probably not a fact at all, just a
manipulative selling point.

 

              

 

 

 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director 

Neuro-Semantics 

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

               1 970-523-7877 

 

 

132607 NeuroSemantics Executive Learning Front Cover

 

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