Thomas Sowell says that there are too many organizations — even those that are supposed to be depending on facts — that won’t let the facts get in the way of a good story:
People who have made up their minds and don’t want to be confused by the facts are a danger to the whole society. Since the votes of such people count just as much as the votes of people who know what they are talking about, politicians have every incentive to pass laws and create policies that pander to ignorant notions, if those notions are widespread.
Even institutions that are set up to pass on facts — the media, schools, academia — too often treat facts as expendable and use their strategic positions to filter out facts which go against their own preconceptions.
This is true whether you are discussing the war, intelligent design, or the merits of Barry Bonds. (The fact that there is overwhelming evidence that Barry Bonds took steroids isn’t reason enough for an investigation — clearly the investigation is either based on dislike for him or, more likely, racism. Nevermind the fact that the guy baseball is trying to protect by investigating Bonds is, if I recall correctly, black — Henry Aaron.)
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