From Pinker's talk and your conversation with Rosalyn we see that people see a statistic (data) and form an opinion about the meaning of it, often providing confirmation of their existing worldview and conclude that their opinion is a fact. This is not unique to any worldview. We frequently see people arguing that their views are facts b…
From Pinker's talk and your conversation with Rosalyn we see that people see a statistic (data) and form an opinion about the meaning of it, often providing confirmation of their existing worldview and conclude that their opinion is a fact. This is not unique to any worldview. We frequently see people arguing that their views are facts based when they are actually opinions, and that occurs when the data is properly presented. It's worse when the opinion is drawn from incorrect data.
And there is a well-documented tendency of people with firm and wrong beliefs exposed to evidence they're wrong, hardening those beliefs instead of examining them.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
From Pinker's talk and your conversation with Rosalyn we see that people see a statistic (data) and form an opinion about the meaning of it, often providing confirmation of their existing worldview and conclude that their opinion is a fact. This is not unique to any worldview. We frequently see people arguing that their views are facts based when they are actually opinions, and that occurs when the data is properly presented. It's worse when the opinion is drawn from incorrect data.
And there is a well-documented tendency of people with firm and wrong beliefs exposed to evidence they're wrong, hardening those beliefs instead of examining them.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark