New Years Advice for 2009 – Part 3

So it seems I had more to talk about than I’d originally thought. What can I say, forums are a lot of inspiration.

This particular piece is still related to the last two. As you can probably tell by now, I’m big on being able to analyze and apply information. I think that’s the big thing that most fitness-seekers are missing.

Being able to discriminate and filter information is crucial, regardless of your goal. Doesn’t matter if you’re trying to build muscle, lose some fat, the generic ‘get in shape’, or what have you – there’s ways to go about things, and then there’s misinformation.

3. Evaluate information objectively, not by how you feel

I know that it’s the big thing today to be happy and trust your gut and all that. The modern world is a constant bombardment of messages telling you that you are special, that you have a voice and should let it be heard. This self-centered perception has given a lot of people the idea that the world is subjective – that you, too, can be an expert and have a worthy opinion on just about anything.

After all, you can go set up a blog or a Myspace page and suddenly you’re a celebrity. I mean, just look at where you’re reading this page to see that in effect. The problem is that people have yet to learn that simply because somebody has an opinion does not make it factual, accurate, or correct.

That’s that’s the media talking. Despite pop-culture portrayals, progress in science and technology is not made by maverick outsiders or rogue outcasts struggling to be accepted by a bunch of crusty old professors. It’s certainly not made by people completely uneducated on a topic that spend a few hours reading on Google.

Put simply, your feelings have no place here. If you are not rather highly educated on a subject, your opinion is really not relevant. I don’t say this to be insulting; I say it as a matter of pragmatism. If you’re not educated on a subject, what gives you the ability to talk about that subject with any authority?

If the scientific establishment was ruled by feelings, humanity would still be trying to cure diseases by letting out all that pesky demon-inhabited blood. Science is in place for a reason.

This is not meant to deflate your self-esteem or whatever. It’s meant to point out that just because you think, or you believe, or you feel something, that does not mean you are right. That does not mean you should tell other people what they should be doing. Most importantly, it does not mean you should ignore people that are better-informed and better educated – certainly not with the excuse that it’s ‘your opinion’.

Information is just information. Yes, it can be biased, but unless someone is being intellectually dishonest, information will usually stand on its own legs. Information is not something that can be reduced to a matter of opinion.

Gravity is not an opinion (though I’ve been waiting for somebody on a forum to make that case). Light is not an opinion. And so on.

Why then would any other structured scientific discipline be a matter of opinion?

Consider this when you’re choosing to accept or reject your sources.