I heard a very interesting lecture the other day, which has some implications that I think we should all take to heart.

You ever notice one of the first things people say when they argue with each other? "Show me the facts."

This is what we believe will settle the question. People like to say this about Science. "Absolute facts," they call it. Of course, new theories are conceived of, while old ones are knocked down.

So I'd say we all have our positions, our beliefs. And they are all completely verified and advocated by the facts. The facts we know about, anyway.

And that is a very tiny piece of data.

One of the most depressing things I find in public dialogue these days is the every day habit of demonization. That is, if someone disagrees with me, they must be evil, ignorant, stupid, cruel, heartless, despicable, and locked up for the good of society. They possibility that they may be subscribing to a different set of facts than the ones I use to set up my life doesn't attract consideration. Maybe their fact rebutt mine. Maybe they ignore mine. Maybe they pretend to answer mine, but do not.

But classifying other people as evil? Why is this so predominant in our discourse?

I'm tempted to go into examples, but that would likely betray my own biases, and I'm not ready for that yet. Perhaps I lack the courage, or the arrogance, to beat my own drum and demand people follow my ideas, else I'll call them ignorant and wicked Ben-phobes.

Or maybe, I should wise up and stop exposing myself to Facebook.