What are the facts? Again and again and again what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the “unguessable verdict of history” — what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future, facts are your single clue. Get the facts!
Lazarus Long
The Notebooks of Lazarus Long by Robert A. Heinlein pages 16 and 17.
[According to some the Brady Campaign may have a reality awareness moment when pursuing their lawsuit against the changed rule on carry of firearms in National Parks. I would like to think so but I have enough experience in court to know that facts and the truth only play a minor role in the proceedings. Still, the facts are what drive things like my Just One Question and I think it is the proper philosophical principle to demand our opposition adhere to. It is our ace in the hole. Even if they don’t play by the rules and cheat at every opportunity it is still our one of our greatest weapons against the forces of darkness and evil.–Joe]
And then invariably we are asked; “Who’s facts? Yours or mine?” The question implying that “facts” are malleable, subject to infinite interpretations and available from infinite sources, depending on the perception of the individual or clan. Hence there is no objective reality, so my wishes (or those of my gang) are the ones that matter.