The topic of today’s sermon is intellectual honesty. This was supposed to develop naturally out of the theory I proposed yesterday that our missing socks fall through an interdimensional vortex where they form the raw material for new universes. I came up with that theory and the connection to intellectual honesty while I was in the shower. Maybe I need to shower to recapture it. I know it starts with my sock theory being as plausible as any religion. That naturally led to my antipathy towards atheists that attack religious people as stupid or evil. I’m forced to confront that as I endeavor to be intellectually honest. If you live in the real world you’ll encounter plenty of very intelligent and very good people that are religious. They just believe in this one implausible thing. People are complicated and oversimplification is doomed to failure.
I’m not going to figure out this segue now, and I want to write so let’s just make believe that I did and move on.
When people think about honesty of politicians they focus on corruption. While there certainly is too much corruption, everyone most people agree that it’s wrong and it’s not as common as many people believe. They aren’t all crooks. The problem with too much money in politics is not that politicians are trying to enrich themselves, most could make more money doing something else, it’s that the need to fund campaigns forces them to factor in how their positions and statements will factor into the money flow. I’ve never been convinced by a political ad, but many people are.
The kind of dishonesty that is rampant is intellectual dishonesty and people don’t even realize that it’s wrong. I see it all the time, a politician promises a land flowing with milk and honey but then either gloss over the details or assume things they have no right to assume. The most popular thing to do is to take as a given that if their policy is enacted there will be huge growth that will pay for it. This has been the Republican line since Reagan cut taxes. No matter how many times it’s been shown to be false people can keep repeating it. It’s a lie they know they can get away with because they are telling people what they want to hear. The sad truth is that nobody knows how to increase productivity and growth and anyone who relies on projections outside the normal range to pay for what they want is lying. If a politician says, “We’ll have 4% growth if we do X;” They are lying, and it just as dangerous, if not more so, than saying, “He gave me that money as a gift to a friend.” This type of lying involves the entire economy, not one project. I’ve discussed this with people, and they said, “I don’t care.” Building a system of government on a foundation of lies is fine if they are promised what they want to hear.
Nobody is always intellectually honest. That includes me. That includes politicians that I love. But at least strive for it as a goal. Perfection can’t be reached but imperfection can always be lessened. As always start with the one person you have the most influence with, yourself. When you attack someone you don’t like or defend someone you do, first imagine if the positions had been reversed; how would you feel? When you find out that your facts were wrong do you just find totally different arguments to lead to the same conclusion?
I’ll be intellectually honest. This did not go nearly as well as I had planned. But I’ve found that I’m not a reliable judge of how my writing affects others. Maybe this is better than I thought. What I know for sure is that breakfast in beckoning me. I’m declaring victory and posting this.
Wise Madness 