Facts, Truth and Authority

Last time we talked about Knowing something – in particular, being confident that a fact we had in our mind is True.

This brings up an interesting point about Facts.  Facts are generally seen as statements which are verifiably True.  Another way to say this is that a Fact – if not obviously True – can be shown to be True.  It can be demonstrated.

How is that demonstration done?  Again, for purpose of example and explanation, let’s go back to that simple equation: “1 + 1 = 2.” 

Though it appears to be obviously True, when we examine it, Knowing the validity of the equation is really an exercise of reason.  We start with a few definitions – again, what concepts are represented by “1,” “2,” “+,” and “=”–  and we apply those definitions and our logic to recognize its Truth.

So, one way we can Know a fact is True is to be able to use Reason to arrive at its Truth. 

But not all Facts are truly Reason based – or at least, for some Facts, Reason is not the straightest path to Knowing them.  For example, it’s difficult to imagine that “The capital of Florida is Tallahassee” is often arrived at by Reason.  No, for some Facts, the method of supporting their Truth is something else. 

What is it?  What is the means by which we claim some fact is True if it is not True by Reason?

To my way of thinking, there are three other justifications for claiming Truth for a fact, outside of Reason.  Those three justifications are Experience, Faith and Authority.  (And here is a point, dear reader, where I wish I had written this entire series before publishing any of it.  Because I have a feeling I will wish to amend this list once I have finished building out my thoughts.  Ah well.)

We’ll discuss Faith another time, and I’ll touch on Experience, but today, let’s focus on Authority.  It’s a big topic.  We can only scratch the surface here, but let’s look at that trivial example of the capital of Florida.

As I said above, it’s not likely that we Know the capital of Florida is Tallahassee by using Reason.  We could: we could know that capitals are the places where legislatures meet, governors live, and state Supreme Courts hold session.  By finding facts which put those activities in Tallahassee, we might reason that Tallahassee is the capital of Florida.

Similarly, you might have had reason to visit Tallahassee – you walked into its Capitol building, took a tour of the state house, and you Experienced the fact that this city is the capital.

But let’s be realistic.  For most of us, how did we learn the state capitals?  We memorized them in school.  And what basis did we have for memorizing them?  A book (or maybe these days a website – watch out!) with the further support of a teacher.  We committed facts to memory, believing them to be true, because we trusted the Authority of someone else.

My friends, if you haven’t ever stopped to think about this, do so now.  How much of what you Know has been cemented in your mind as Knowledge because you personally experienced or reasoned it?  And, in comparison, how much of what you Know is there because you took it on the Authority of someone else?

If we are honest with ourselves, we must recognize that most of our Knowledge is based on facts which are supported by Authority.

What we learned in math classes might have become facts by Reason.  (It’s one of the most attractive features of advanced math, for me.)  But for some things, and for many people, much of what they learned in math was rote – by Authority of the teacher.  The same is true for most of science in school, though the good science curricula out there allows for a large amount of experiential experimentation.  Still, I doubt many people have seen all of the planets, let alone calculated their motion, let alone used that motion to derive the math which describes gravity.

And when it comes to other subjects of Knowledge in school, they are primarily Authority based.  Who was around to experience the ancient Greek culture, or even the American Revolution?  None of us, that’s for sure.  What we Know about those topics has been given to us by Authority. Note, I am still speaking of facts, because I am not trying to deal with meaning or interpretation yet.  

So, a large portion of “fact Knowledge” comes from Authority.   

Question: Is that a problem?  Ahh, this is yet another long discussion.  But to net it out, it is absolutely not a problem.  Human beings have the ability to learn from one another in complex and long-lasting ways, and this ability – more than any other, perhaps – has been fundamental in creating humanity as it exists today.  The learning of facts is a significant part of that skill of learning.

No, Authority is necessary for useful Knowledge.  But it is also dangerous.

The same two sentences are true for Faith, by the way.  And we’ll begin to cover that next time.