Everyone thinks that they are reasonable and the person they are having a disagreement with is not. We realize reason is useful for achieving our goals and describing the world. We all want to have it, but we don’t want to be a computer! We acknowledge that emotion is an important past of the human experience, too. But, what exactly is reason and why should we follow it?
Reason can be hard to define. Many scholars tie reason to logic, valid arguments, and truth. Reason can also involve consistency and systematic thought. Sometimes it involves determining causes and identifying fallacies. Reason removes clouded judgment, but does not remove emotion.
My hope is to make reasoning concepts more digestible to everyday life to help people make ethical decisions. More practically, reason involves thought clarity. Simple ideas like is my argument supported with evidence? Am I appealing to an authority rather than providing an argument? Is there some type of fallacy or bias? When we remove the thought errors, we follow reason.
Let’s take for example, the largest topic in the news, Covid-19. A recent article in the New York Times called ‘Covid Partisan Errors’ discusses a Gallup Poll. The poll showed the members of both major political parties made mistakes. For instance, the polling showed that 33% of Republicans believed that without Covid-19 symptoms the virus could not be spread. Numerous studies have shown the reality of asymptomatic spread. Similar numbers of Republicans thought Covid-19 killed less people than seasonal flu, which is contradicted by the CDC numbers.
But, before my Democratic readers get a big head, the studies showed Democrats made many errors, too. For instance, 69% of Democrats thought that there was more than a 20% chance a Covid-19 infection would result in hospitalization (41% of Democrats thought there was a more than 50% chance that a Covid-19 infection would lead to hospitalization). The real answer according to the New York Times was 1-5%. Similarly, Democrats overestimated the danger Covid-19 presented to children. The CDC showed the fatality number as 4/10,000. Some studies have shown an even lower percentage.
In order to make informed and ethical decisions, we need to properly understand the world around us. Reason allows us to remove our thought errors and make informed value judgments. I am not citing the New York Times, the CDC, or Gallup as the trusted authority, but as a resource of information and starting point. None of these organizations are flawless and without mistake. Like every organization, they have their own priorities and biases. Part of why I liked the article is because the New York Times challenges itself and its readers own assumptions. This is what you should do. The process would be exactly the same for Fox News or other polling companies. Reasoning requires consistency.
We must always be open to new data and new arguments. We must always ask ourselves, how we know something is true and are we making an error? We should make the opposing argument as strong as possible, in order to test how your position holds up. Only if you argument holds up to scrutiny, can you have a strong argument.
This is the journey that I hope to take my reader on. Let’s follow reason to become more informed and ethical people.
