Issue 127
"Facts are stubborn things. They cannot be altered by our wishes, our inclinations, or thedictates of our passions."
Can we alter facts according to our wishes or inclinations? If by "facts" the speakermeans such phenomena as political, economic, social, or legal status quo, then Iconcede that we can alter facts. The reason for this is that such systems are abstractconstructs of our inclinations, wishes, and passions to begin with. Otherwise, I stronglyagree with the speaker that we cannot alter facts.
When it comes to certain aspect of our personal lives, and to historical events andscientific truths, no measure of desire or even passion can change external reality. On anindividual level, we all engage in futile attempts to alter facts--by pretending that certainthings are not the way they are because they are inconsistent with our wishes or personal
interests. Psychologists refer to this psychological defensive mechanism, which seems tobe part of human nature, as "denial." Consider curious pastimes such as mind-reading,psychic healing, rituals that purportedly impart immortality, and other such endeavors,which seems to transcend all cultures and periods of human history. Understandably, wewould all like to have the ability to alter the physical world, including ourselves, as we seefit, or even to live forever by means of the sheer force of our will. Yet, not one iota ofscientific evidence lends support to the claim that any human being has ever had anysuch ability.
Nor can we alter facts by virtue of our inclinations or passions when it comes to history.Admittedly, no person can truly know any particular past that the person did notexperience firsthand. In this sense history is a construct, created for us by reporters,archivists, and historians. Historical facts are therefore susceptible to interpretation,characterization, and of course errors in commission and omission. This is not to say,however, that historical facts can be altered by our inventing versions that suit ourinclinations or wishes. In short, an historical event is not rendered any less factual byeither our ignorance or characterization of it.
Similarly, when it comes to science our wishes and desires ultimately yield to thestubbornness of facts--by which I mean empirical scientific evidence and the laws andprinciples of the physical world. Admittedly, in many cases it is difficult to distinguishbetween scientific "fact" and mere "theory." History is replete with examples of what wereconsidered at one time to be facts, but later disproved as incorrect theories. Yet it istelling that many such obsolete theories were based on the subjective inclinations,desires, and wishes of theorists and of the societies in which the theorists lived. Forexample, the notions of an Earth-centered universe and of linear time and space wereboth influenced by religious notions--that is, by human wishes and passions. As ourfactual knowledge increased, such theories ultimately give way.
In sum, I agree that facts are indeed "stubborn things." Understandably, all humans areguilty of ignoring, overlooking, and misunderstanding facts--at least to some extent. Afterall, human passion, desire, and individual bias and perspective are powerful influenceswhen it comes to what we believe to be true and factual. Moreover, the statement carriesdeep epistemological implications regarding the nature of knowledge and truth, which Icannot begin to adequately address here. Nevertheless, on a less abstract level the
speaker is correct that neither inclination, desire, nor passion, no matter how fervent, canalter that which is past or beyond our physical control.
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