"I deal very little in facts, facts can obscure the truth, you can tell so many facts you never get to the truth, you can tell the places where, the people who, the times when, the reasons why, and never get to the human truth which is love and pain and loss and triumph."
Maya Angelou.
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“Facts are stubborn things”
John Adams (also attributed to several others)
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
(Often attributed to Mark Twain but ultimately of unknown origin)
I wrote in an earlier post that the line between hard news and opinion has been blurred and, in some cases, obliterated. Outside the context of journalism, there is definitely a blurring of facts and opinions. We experience this most prominently on social media. There is also a proliferation of distortion and misinformation (which originates from both the far left and far right political and ideological extremes).
Even when facts are being deployed, they are done so selectively. I can use the same set of facts to tell multiple different stories depending on which facts I choose to share and in what context I choose to share them.
So, where does that leave those of us who want to be well-informed and engage in intentional, productive conversations?
We seek opinions across a broad spectrum, making sure to focus on opinions that might be in conflict with our own. We do our very best to collect as many facts as possible (even if they do not fit our pre-determined narrative).
As we learn, through analysis and observation, we gain knowledge. Through knowledge, we can begin to draw conclusions. Wisdom guides us in how to act on (respond don't react!) the knowledge we have gained and the conclusions we have made.
Ultimately, what we are seeking is the truth. The challenge is that truth can be elusive.
“’So you are a king?!’ Pilate said.
Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Whoever accepts the truth listens to my voice.’
‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked.”
John 18:37-38
(note - this is a very brief post on a very complex concept. The very definition of "truth" is disputed by scholars who are much smarter than I! This is my first attempt at discovering a process that might help us as we seek to recognize our common ground.)