When I was student-teaching in a sixth grade class back in the 80’s, the supervising teacher asked me to teach a social studies class on Facts vs. Opinions. He thought the topic was valuable enough to film the class.
So I did my research, learning as I went along, and have never forgotten the importance of discerning facts from opinions. If you want to learn something, teach it!
There is an oft repeated quote from Senator Daniel Monihan: “You can have your own opinions but not your own facts.” Yes, he was speaking in another era, but it still holds true.
That is assuming, we know the difference between facts and opinions. Recently I have been wondering if we have lost interest in finding facts, favoring the subjectivity of opinions. The problem with that approach is that it erodes the common ground of objectivity. If we hold on to our opinions about facts, we lose sight of our shared reality. I have been thinking about the impact of finding facts in my personal life, knowing that the personal is the root of the social realm.
Before I started wearing a watch that tracks my steps, if I considered how many steps I walked in a day, I would have guessed more steps than I now know to be true. Tracking my actual number of steps has introduced facts to my fitness program overriding wishes, hopes and fantasies.
Knowing my daily number, the average number per day, and my goal has added an element of challenge, turning it into a game. At the end of the day, I wonder if I have reached my goal. Before I check the number of steps, I take a guess. How I feel is one criterion for guessing. Knowing my typical routes and the number of steps they entail is another way. Both are subjective; although informed by experience, they are not facts.
I have grown to enjoy comparing my opinions with facts. Initially, I questioned the number on my watch to check to see if it was working properly by bringing along my phone to compare facts from the two devices. In the meantime, I have grown to accept the number of steps shown on my watch as fact unless proven otherwise and gotten better at guessing the number.
As a practice, I have decided to find facts and let go of my opinions. It does not matter what I think happened or what I think about what happened, if I have information about what did happen. Starting with facts, I can formulate an opinion about what I know to be true. Do I feel more energized and sleep better when I reach my goal? I check in with my body to find out.
My opinion is not true for everyone; it is a personal reality. But the number of steps I walk a day is a fact that I can compare with anyone who also tracks their steps. We can have a conversation based on the common ground of facts. How many steps do you walk in a day? How does it impact health, based on measurable numbers? This is how research is done.
I have noticed that if I do not track something, I am less able to impact it. Fantasy instead of reality creates shaky ground for going forward. Instead, when I measure my steps, numbers in my business, or the amount of time it takes to do something, I stand on solid ground for bringing about change.
Knowing how something is, allows me to determine the relationship between where I am and where I want to be. This tension is what prompts growth. Grounded in reality, I can chart a course for improvement.
There is a place for facts and for opinions. Let’s remember the social studies lesson from middle school and the importance of discerning the difference between them.
If I don’t know what is, I cannot formulate what could be. Finding facts is a discipline, a practice that builds the capacity for objectivity.
When I see what is objectively, I can experience greater equanimity and get off the emotional roller coaster. Trusting that we live in a benevolent universe, I do my work to the best of my ability and let go of the rest. That’s an opinion I have chosen knowing that it keeps my mind and heart open and ready to receive.
Things will work out in the end. In spite of current unrest and volatile facts, we can choose to let go of opinions that cause stress. Choosing to see the universe as friendly is an opinion that reduces anxiety and increases the ability to find opportunity.
It begins with untangling facts and opinions. Accepting facts as what is. And choosing opinions that lead us to what could be.
