A few years ago I began listening to a Danish podcast called Detox din hjerne. The episodes can, to many, be quite controversial, because they dive into common misconceptions about the idea of health, healthy food, and critical thinking. In one of the episodes, they recommended The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe for people interested in critical thinking, and science journalism.
Before I started listening to these podcasts, I did not have a specific approach to evaluating whether something was true. I’d been educated in the scientific method in my studies, but it wasn’t something I considered in a broader sense, beyond my studies. Now, I’ve started seeking out learning the objective truths about all of life, and I strive to the best of my ability to evaluate whether something objectively is true based on its evidence and merit. I apply this to my personal life, to my workplace, and to my thoughts about government.
Last year, I started thinking about how I could contribute to the politics in my country by starting a party whose sole focus was to introduce laws that enforced rationality somehow. In big companies, it’s common to A/B test, in science, we have controlled studies–why can’t we do the same in government?
I’ve let that dog lie for a while, but last night I encountered this conversation between Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ben Shapiro, and the following quote struck me:
“Imagine a community where all laws are created only in the strength of evidence in support of them. […] Any law that applies to everybody needs to be based on objective truths. […] If you don’t have the evidence to support it, you have no business making a law.” - Neil deGrasse Tyson