The classic\u00a0Zen koan\u00a0goes:\u00a0“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”<\/p>\n
Today I ask: “If there exists\u00a0a fact\u00a0but no one believes it, is it true?”<\/p>\n
Science seeks to uncover\u00a0objective truths \u2014 facts that exist independently of any given person’s beliefs. But scientists are still human, and humans make mistakes (logical and otherwise), so you can never be absolutely certain about any given scientific truth, no matter how many experiments we run. (As a scientist or science-minded person, it’s easy to overlook this depressing\u00a0fact.)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, if someone believes something, then\u00a0the fact<\/em> that they believe it is, in and of itself, true. This is why journalists report on what people believe, even if there may be\u00a0compelling evidence that the belief is faulty.\u00a0As Simon Sinek<\/a> puts it in his classic TED talk: “People will do the things that prove what they believe.”\u00a0If you believe that global warming is a hoax, or that immigrants are responsible for\u00a0economic decline, you will vote for a candidate who appears\u00a0consistent with those beliefs. So in determining the outcome of the\u00a0election, the belief<\/em> carries far more weight than what happens to be\u00a0objectively\u00a0true (which no one can be absolutely certain about\u00a0anyway).<\/p>\n A belief is our own subjective experience of what is true. It’s what’s\u00a0real<\/em> to us. It’s internally certain.\u00a0And as such it often carries far more power than what may or may not be externally factual.<\/p>\n In this sense, you could argue that beliefs are\u00a0more<\/em> true than facts. Beliefs are the truest thing there is for the person that believes them. Moreover,\u00a0if you are interested in taking action\u00a0in the world, and inspiring others to act, then knowing what people believe is usually at least as\u00a0important as\u00a0knowing the facts.<\/p>\n So if\u00a0there exists\u00a0a fact\u00a0but no one believes it, is it true?<\/p>\n And if it’s true, does it matter?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The classic\u00a0Zen koan\u00a0goes:\u00a0“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Today I ask: “If there exists\u00a0a fact\u00a0but no one believes it, is it true?” Science seeks to uncover\u00a0objective truths \u2014 facts that exist independently of any given person’s beliefs. But scientists are still … <\/p>\n