Do you adjust your views according to the facts, or do you seek out the facts that will support your view?

Question

What means more to you? To be 'seen' as right? Or to actually be right?

Answer 1

The former.

Being 'right' is pretty far down on my list (it's a VERY low form of behavior, I think); I'm just interested in knowing what's really going on.

The good news is (and it's contrary to the beliefs of many of the denizens of this forum) that with a bit of time and effort, one can be reasonably well-informed about the issues of the day by reading and listening to different and FACT-BASED points of view.

In my own case this has played itself out regarding the Iraq war by my reading (so far) 14 books by journalists (not reporters!) and former military personnel and following the reporting offered up by Jim Lehrer's News Hour on PBS - the ONLY TV news show I've found with intelligent and multiple points of view on the day's news.

So, what have I learned about Iraq (and Afghanistan)? The gist of it is that the mismanagement of both is principally an organizational problem. This isn't particularly surprising if you've ever spent time in a very large organization during a time of intense stress from external sources.

The way this mismanagement has manifested itself in the field is that the operational units are being micromanaged by a surfeit of colonels and generals needing "something to do" as well as by Washington-based politicians (including the administration) who are doing their darndest to influence every little thing going on in theater. Unfortunately, in both cases, the ability of these characters to make meaningful contributions is often much less than their ability to make a worse mess than already exists.

Anyway, I've gotten pretty far off the track so I'll give it up now.

P.S. Good question!

Answer 2

Actually both sound okay. But I think you should seek out the facts first, that will support your view, like don't jump to conclusions and you want to make sure you have the correct information so you don't look like a fool. But adjusting my views according to the facts is basically the same thing I guess.

Answer 3

I would pursue the facts first. I would get more than one opinion, because if you listen at some people, they will tell you to do anything and could cause your life to shift into a negative course. The answer you got from "Chenney", discard it. That is the kind of answer that get people in trouble. You never know what a person goes through, it doesn't matter. "The truth is the light",
"The Truth will make you free". But too, a lie can't hurt just as bad, sometimes worse. Give a person a chance. Whoever they may be, they deserve a chance with so many negative, unforgiving, degrading, busy-body, hard-hearted people speaking or writing things that are uninspiring.

Answer 4

While I *do* love finding facts that support my views, I also try to get a broad input of sources and adjust my views to match the facts. It's more important to actually be correct, because the joy of being "right" would otherwise be short lived.

To quote a favorite TV show of mine (Firefly): "It may have been the losing side. I'm still not sure it was the wrong one."

Answer 5

How does one know if any "facts" are actually the truth & not just some humans biased opinion? Anyone who looks for the "facts" to prove that he/she is right or not, is putting their trust in someone else and because that someone else is human & can make mistakes or be biased their "facts" can in fact be just opinions or lies. Being right or finding the truth is really determined by how many people believe what you say even if you are wrong. As long as people believe what you are saying is the "right" or as you said "seen as right" then for the most part it is right until somebody can prove to all the people that believe you that you are wrong. Bush does this all the time, he trys to get the majority to think he is right even though he is lying to their faces but because so many believe in him they make what he is saying the truth.

Answer 6

As long as you have done your research to the "facts" and aren't using the term "lie" liberally (e.g. equating false pretense and lie), then I would be more willing to hear what you have decided to be "right" in your absoluteness. So my views have, do, and will adjust according to the information that unfolds over time, yes. I don't, however, pretend to think I know it all - so, it doesn't matter if i'm seen as right or actually right, just that I'm on the journey to understanding.

Answer 7

Great question!!

I don't much care what other people think, so being "seen" as right doesn't really mean anything to me. I would prefer to actually be right, but no one is *always* right.

I try to find the facts on an issue before I take a stance. Sadly, our media is so twisted and biased, it's very hard to find actual facts these days...

Answer 8

Personally I offer my opinion in discussion and that would be based on what I know to be fact. However, my known fact' sometimes gets extended because the facts as I believe have sometimes been interpreted by myself as basic knowledge and therefore I often change my opinion for or against what the discussion was about. I am more knowledgeable for speaking about an issue sometimes, of what I know little about. Ending with facts that indeed support my opinion.

Answer 9

I prefer to be right, so I adjust my views according the facts.

Answer 10

I'd like to support my views with 'fact' and be right. I never could see uninformed ramblings. You know the kind I mean...those that just read the first paragraph of a news headlined paragraph and think they have all the answers.