We pride ourselves on being part of the reality-based community. Karl Rove's brand of slash and burn politics where truthinessTM and gut instinct are more important than facts, data, and reason, is collapsing. As Al Gore has so eloquently written about in his recent book "The Assault on Reason," appeals to fear in the mass media and our national discourse have coarsened the political climate. Here's hoping that this community continues to take pride in living in the reality-based community and does the hard work necessary to argue its case from the evidence at hand.
On the amazon.com page for "Assault on Reason," there is a message from Al Gore:
We are at a pivotal moment in American democracy. The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, has reached levels that were previously unimaginable. It's too easy and too partisan to simply place the blame on the policies of President George W. Bush. We are all responsible for the decisions our country makes.
Reasoned, focused discourse is vital to our democracy to ensure a well-informed citizenry. But this is difficult in an environment in which we are experiencing a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time--from the O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson trials to Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith.
Never has it been more vital for us to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from the climate crisis to the war in Iraq to the deficits and health and social welfare. Today, reason is under assault by forces using sophisticated techniques such as propaganda, psychology, and electronic mass media. Yet, democracy's advocates are beginning to use their own sophisticated techniques: the Internet, online organizing, blogs, and wikis. Although the challenges we face are great, I am more confident than ever before that democracy will prevail and that the American people are rising to the challenge of reinvigorating self-government. It is my great hope that those who read my book will choose to become part of a new movement to rekindle the true spirit of America.
One of the main sources of propoganda in today's media is FOX News. In case you didn't catch this bit of unintentional irony from Bill O'reilly regarding the relative abundance of propoganda vs. truth in journalism today, check out yesterday's excellent diary by dhonig
Bill O'reilly Defamed Me
Karl Rove and the right wing deal in simplistic memes to question the patriotism and sanity of liberals and democrats. Here is an example during an interview between Mitt Romney and Sean Hannity on FIXED News where a statement made by Barack Obama is twisted around and abused to perpetrate the meme that deomcrats don't support the troops. Kudos to the folks at www.talkingpointsmemo.com for this analysis:
And I'm sure by now most people have seen the footage of Dick Cheney in 1994 explaining why it was a bad idea to invade Iraq and topple that government in such a volatile part of the world. Of course, there was no room for doubt about that strategy 9 years later when we invaded and everyone who pointed out the potential for quagmire was labeled a traitor.
Why Did Cheney Hate America in 1994?
And finally, I'd like to discuss the broader war on reason in society beyond its use in politics. I don't know if the attack on reason is more prevalent today than at any time in the past, but it sure feels like it in my gut so I guess that means it's true. But seriously, it does seem like there is a turning away from reality by many people in our world today. From religious fundamentalists to new age woo woo like "The Secret" there is an awful lot of magical and wishful thinking going on. Richard Dawkins has created an interesting look at this phenomenon of credulity called "The Enemies of Reason." You can watch Part 1 in its entirety here:
Enemies of Reason - Part I
A clip that was of particular interest to me since I study astronomy is this one which focusses on peoples' belief in astrology and contrasts that to the majestic pursuit of the science of astronomy. Personally I find it troubling that so many cling to the non-evidence-based field of astrology speaks to so many people's need for a connection to the larger universe than the actual facts revealed by the science of astronomy which teaches us that we are connected to the stars in a very real way since the atoms in our bodies were cooked up inside a previous generation of stars! The fact that everyone knows their astrological sign and not this amazing, REAL, connection to the stars saddens me. Richard Dawkins makes an impassioned case for the beauty of astronomy at about the 7:30 mark of this clip:
At a larger level, we are all connected through the common ancestry of the big bang, generations of stars cooking up the atoms which fill up the periodic table, and finally evolution of life on Earth. Here's hoping that reason, our "candle in the dark" as Carl Sagan so eloquently put it, makes a comeback.