At Caprock Canyons State Park in north Texas on May 15th I saw a wildflower that seems
to be Oxytropis lambertii, known as purple locoweed and Lambert's locoweed.
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Some people believe yellow is prettier than blue. Their opinion isn't arguable, as it's a matter of taste, and different people have different tastes. In contrast, the claim that "Most people think yellow is prettier than blue" is arguable, because it's an assertion about how things actually are, and we can test that. First we'd have to get a clarification about what the person means by "most," and then we could interview a sufficiently large and representative sample of people to find out whether most folks really do think yellow is prettier than blue.
Now let's suppose that interviewing a sufficiently large and representative sample of people shows that most folks do not find yellow prettier than blue. So be it: I—and presumably you, too—have no stake in the outcome. But what are we to make of someone who, after having seen the results of the validly conducted survey, keeps insisting that most people think yellow is prettier than blue? The person seems not to understand the role of facts and data in determining the truth of a claim. Or perhaps the person understands that quite well but has an ulterior motive for pushing a false claim. Maybe he's a paint seller who's way overstocked on yellow paint but running out of blue, and he hopes to convince would-be buyers of blue paint to buy yellow instead.
Human nature being what it is, there's never been a shortage—nor will there ever be a shortage—of people pushing claims they know are false. Common motivators are money, power, fame, status, and ideology.
To be continued...
© 2024 Steven Schwartzman
