fact and opinion

LIES

/ janpriddyoregon / 11 Comments

Lies, damned lies, and statistics

“Lies, damned lies, and statistics” is a phrase describing the persuasive power of statistics to bolster weak arguments, “one of the best, and best-known” critiques of applied statistics. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent’s point. The phrase was popularized in the United States by Mark Twain, who attributed it to the British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.

—Wikipedia
A double rainbow over the ocean: the fact is a splintering of light passing through mist. My opinion is “Beautiful!”

I’ve been thinking about lies and opinions lately. People have lied to me, of course. My parents lied about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and I figured that out when I was five and bore them no grudge. People admire and nod in response because they think that is polite of them. I might not even want to hear the truth, but I am grown up now and almost never want the lie.

Just yesterday a workman lied to me about transgressing onto our property. And I understood his reasons. He is not well-paid and needs the work and has been told to make nice because my husband is furious about something that had they asked he probably would not have minded.

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LISTENING CLOSELY

/ janpriddyoregon / 9 Comments

Gary has heard this story too many times: It’s from years ago at one of our holiday Open House events to which we invited neighbors and co-workers and hosted forty or so. I was teaching, so for a few weeks before, I came home from school and made small savory pastries and baked cakes and cookies and stashed them in the freezer. We cleaned the house, me down on my hands and knees to scrub the floors. The party began at 2pm and ended two hours later. It was a great deal of work, but cleanup after the party took only minutes, not hours, no messes, no fights. We served only sparkling non-alcoholic apple juice. That might be why people only chatted, ate, and then went home without hard feelings.

One year, a co-worker went off on me about people who claimed everything was a matter of opinion. “You English teachers want everything to be a matter of opinion. Some things are not opinion. There are such things as facts!” He raised his voice, not quite yelling, went on for a bit, the closest to an argument we ever experienced at our parties. He was also talking at me.

For the record, I have never claimed that everything was subject to opinion. Nevertheless, I heard what he said. That uncomfortable moment impacted me and my teaching. I was careful to make that distinction with my students: fact and opinion are not the same thing. Some accepted truths are subject to interpretation and opinion. Some facts are indisputable. Know the difference.

The rewards of listening closely to someone who is not you.

—Scott Korb in his craft talk at the Pacific University MFA residency in Seaside, Oregon on 7 January 2023
Our window in Portland with Gary’s dinosaur. We have suffered power outages and internet outages at the coast, avoided ice storms in Portland, and walked in the rain and terrific winds. The beach house shook from 75mph wind gusts, and I have learned to make better use of my cell phone. The cell phone itself is an accomplishment I failed to note in my review of 2022. Ian helped get us started.
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