PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote a thoughtful piece this week questioning whether the old standard of being a FACT mattered anymore.

His proposition? No.

Pitts related a story from his past when a reader wouldn’t believe the facts he wrote, then added this about his own perceptions: “That was when I first fully understood that we had entered a new era wherein facts – those things that once settled arguments conclusively – carried all the weight of goose down. These days, you may prove your point to a fare-thee-well, use The New York Times, a study from Harvard, federal statistics, but the skeptical reader will still brush it all aside like a blurry Polaroid of Bigfoot.”

Pitts says he is not sure “truth is something all of us value.”

He points to such examples of so-called truth as these:

• Michelle Obama is a transvestite? Sure.
• The military plans to conquer Texas? Okey-dokey.
• Vaccines cause autism? Well, all righty, then.
• Hillary Clinton is running a child molestation ring? OK. Out of a pizza joint? Why not?

“That’s just a sampling of the crazy that has gained purchase in American minds. So while it’s fine to engage today’s news consumers, I think our long-term salvation lies in their kids, in teaching them the lost art of critical thinking. That should be a priority in our schools. Because the status quo — facts-free ignorance — is unsustainable.

“Yes, there is always room for improvement in how news media do their jobs. But it is important to understand that the disconnect media face does not stem from failure to report the facts. Rather, it stems from some people’s failure to want them.”

In all of this, I believe one of culprits is social media, for all of its potential benefits. When social media posts pervade society, as they now do, many consumers believe what they read, such as the crazy examples above.

They don’t exhibit the critical thinking to work to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Beyond Pitts’ point about educating kids in the art of critical thinking, I propose several “don’ts:”

1. Don’t rely on just one source for getting and assessing information.

In one example, which affects my daily life, I make sure to read the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, not to presume that facts lie expressly in one direction, but, rather, to assess viewpoints from both the right and the left.

In your own world, rely on multiple sources before you make decisions about what you think.

2. Don’t assume that you automatically have or know all the facts.

It’s easy for all of us to assume that we know what’s true and that we have all the answers. But, I say, test your views in discussions with others, not just those friends and neighbors whom you suspect may agree with you.

3. Don’t jump to quick conclusions based on what you read or hear.

We all have a tendency to want conclusions, to want clarity in our lives amidst all of the confusion and noise. But, it makes more sense to avoid quick decisions and test your emerging views with others whom you trust.

I have tried this example in such areas as (1) health care policy (where I spent 25 years representing a major health provider in the Northwest) and (2) political contributions in state and federal races.

On the former, I have learned a lot from my long-time partner, Gary Conkling, still the president of the firm he and I founded, CFM Strategic Communications. He challenged me to think about current health care issues from a different perspective than just my own.

In another case, one of my golfing buddies, Kevin Turner, has prompted me to think again about the Citizens’ United federal court case, which enables political contributions from business interests. Kevin’s comments to me are still resonating – and that’s good because contemplation is one aspect of critical thinking.

In neither of the above cases, did the conversations produce final “fact” conclusions on my part, but they did prompt me to avoid jumping to conclusions.