The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Logic versus irrationality the only debate that matters
“Pumbaa: Hey, Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?
Timon: Pumbaa, I don’t wonder, I know.
Pumbaa: Oh. What are they? Timon: They’re fireflies. Fireflies that, uh … got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing.
Pumbaa: Oh, gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, with you, everything’s gas.” From Disney’s The Lion King
W.E.B. Du Bois said in 1903 that the problem of the 20th century is “the problem of the color line.” Because of the COVID-19 pandemic we can update this prescient statement and say that the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the rational vs. the irrational.
This dichotomy is independent of race, religion, country of origin, gender or sexual orientation. This separation of American society (and perhaps the world) is not to say that this is all that matters. Traditional human characteristics that divide us, bring us together and describe us will continue to be important. But right now, those categories and distinctions are minor compared to the hard line that separates the rational from the irrational. We can now ask the question: Are you Pumbaa or are you Timon?
Rationality is defined by a way of thinking that includes logic, reason and a scientific approach to reality. Irrationality is characterized by impulse, whim, faith, illogic and wishful thinking. Science and technology are in the realm of the rational.
The scientific method starts with observation. After observation, hypotheses are developed that can be disproved by the data but cannot be proved. Hypotheses are simply if/then statements that show relationships of cause and effect. If you put your hand on a hot stove, you will burn your hand.
Scientists take something as axiomatic if the data overwhelmingly supports a hypothesis. We know that Earth is not the center of the solar system. At one time, that was the belief. After data was brought to bear showing Earth circles the sun, most people stopped the belief in an Earth-centric solar system. Anyone who continued to believe Earth was the center of the universe was irrational.
The irrationals also make hypotheses, but they do not use data to test those hypotheses. The irrational just believe that something is true despite the lack of physical evidence to the contrary.
The current COVID-19 crisis which President Joe Biden has once again described as a pandemic of the unvaccinated could have just as easily been called the pandemic of the irrational. The dichotomy of the rational and irrational is also revealing itself in other public debates involving critical race theory, election fraud, environmental protection, the federal debt ceiling, foreign and military policy, and the infrastructure bill.
It used to be the case that public discussion on important matters was largely a debate among the rational, with the irrational delegated to the fringes as “crackpots.” Now the debate is between the rational and the irrational. And unfortunately, debates don’t work between the rational and the irrational, because debates are based on logic, reason and facts.
The irrationals do not accept any of these core components of debate. The irrationals storm school board meetings or meetings that are discussing public health, and have nothing substantive to offer but they are pretty good at screaming and crazy talk.
The sooner Connecticut and other states adopt the policies of New York City, the better. New York has told its citizens, if you want to eat in a restaurant, go to a Broadway play, see a movie in a public theater, teach in a public school, or work in a health care setting, you must show proof of vaccination. This is a rational policy response to a crisis.
If meaningful debate is not possible between the rational and the irrational, how does society decide what policies are appropriate and effective? I submit that this is not just an intellectual fight that must be won, this is a battle for the future of humanity and the planet. If we listen to the irrational, we will get education that does not educate; health care that does not provide health for our citizens; and environmental policy that accelerates climate change. We must confront the seriousness of this dilemma if we are to survive as a democratic society built on a rational understanding of nature and human behavior. We cannot afford to be led by the irrational. There can be no debate.
The strength of anti-democratic forces relies on a large irrational minority of Americans who have demonstrated to a much more sophisticated group of power-hungry manipulators that the irrational will believe anything and do anything if it supports their self-perception, not as irrational but as righteous. The irrationals are being misled for the benefit of those to whom they pledge their allegiance. The manipulators of the irrational who plant the seeds of misinformation know what they say is false.
As rational Americans we must continue to educate and explain to the American people how science works, how democracy works, and how it is a matter of survival that we rigorously and unapologetically seek truth.