Objectivity?

Question

Regardless of what side of the political spectrum you are on, do you HONESTLY feel that you look at the facts before forming an opinion on any particular subject. Or do you dislike the opposition SO much that regardless of the facts you remain loyal to your side of the spectrum.

I asked this question becuase I often find that people's arguments are illogical and driven more by emotion than fact.

I try to be objective but realise it is hard to be 100% when discussing any social science.

Answer 1

Where one falls into the political spectrum is largely based on individual values and beliefs. The objectivity is built around these core beliefs. There is no escaping ones convictions. Once you know the facts your core beliefs will give you direction. Objectivity is limited to the evaluation of facts and data as they apply to your values and core beliefs.

The above will hold true unless you are a completely emotion driven individual which necessitates that you ignore facts and data anyway in order to validate you viewpoint.

Answer 2

Good question! There's actually some sociological studies (wish I could find again at this point) I saw a while back that show folks tend to not listen to fact that contadict their deep political feelings, even if they are undisputable.

I am a republican, but maybe an interesting one in my approach. I DISAGREE with the objective policy of several things in the party platform (take abortion for instance), but the policies they pass trying to approach those objectives I totally AGREE with. So, in the case of those issues I am objective because I don't agree with either party & seek an agenda based on my own beliefs rather than a platform of stated principles that I've signed on to.

The war is a little different being that I have some experience on the subject. In that case I'm better informed & know the policy objectives better than most of the public, and so support the President completely. I do however think he should either fire Rumsfeld or at least bring back a powerful counter-force like Powell to balance him. In any case, I have friends at risk & so am hyper objective about the details of policy as well as ultimate long term mission. The rest is meaningless.

I don't know besides that. I guess there would be some degree of truth to the studies I mentioned with me as well on certain issues, but it seems to me to be highly true of the general public.

Answer 3

I'm not even sure which side of the spectrum I'm on. Not one party has what I believe a fool proof system, but they all have some valid points. Most of the time I look at facts( well honest true unbiased facts are hard to come by) then form an opinion. And I do my best to keep an open mind about things.

Answer 4

Its interesting; I look forward to the other responses. I'm a die hard red neck conservative and thus vote Republican 90% of the time and libertarian the other 10%. That said I disagree with bush probably more then the Bush haters around here. He's too darn liberal and tries to hard to appease the left in this country. The mans party has both houses, the court and the white house and they get didley done with it.

Guess with all that you could say I approach things from one side of the agenda - I'm not affraid to say that. The only difference between me and the hard core leftist around here is that I don't hate them or their leaders. Man there is some serious hatred around here and most of its from the far left...but maybe I'm not seeing the conservative posts like I do theirs.

Answer 5

I am far from perfectly objective, but not beyond reason.

I am securely right of center and used to get very angry during a discussion, however I have come to a point where political discussion's are more mental than emotional. It isn't always easy, but I hope I am objective enough to realize where I am wrong. Why do you ask?

Answer 6

I usually stay pretty close to the democratic party, I do part ways occasionally, like on the illegal alien issue, I do think that they should be accountable for breaking the law and I think the employers are the place to start enforcing it. Many democrats are soft on them. I would not be and would not vote for any form of amnesty.

Answer 7

I assess [political] matters from the perspective of: is this pro/anti- individual rights. People would claim that makes me non-objective, b/c I'm applying criteria to the matter. This is nonsense, as the criteria I'm applying is demonstrably ground in reality. To be objective is to be reality oriented, not to toss your brain and integration of facts aside.