Andrew Schlafly was on NPR's All Things Considered talking about Conservapedia today. Most of it was what you would expect, things like Wikipedia is run by liberals and doesn't provide a "balanced" view of the world.
One statement, however, really got to me; in the interview, Schlafly states: "It's impossible for an encyclopedia to be neutral." Statements like this really do scare me; they seem to reflect an unwillingness or even an inability to admit statements of fact are by definition neutral. Kangaroos did not descend from the pair that boarded Noah's ark. That's not bias; that's the truth, and there's really nothing you can do to change that.
Such statements are the greatest expression of a truthiness culture: the world has to be the way we say it is, regardless of what the facts are. Such statements are dangerous; they absolve us of the responsibility to question and think about what we are told. Such statements are, in short, the greatest obstacle to progress.
What is less clear to me is what to do with people who make such statements. Suppressing them, telling them that they cannot speak, is wrong -- as ridiculous as their ideas may be, they have the right to speak. Arguing with them is equally futile -- their beliefs are so ingrained that no amount of fact will be able to change them. I suppose the best we can hope for, then, is to present the truth to everyone else and hope they understand. If anyone else has a better idea, by all means, let me know.
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