Stop Protecting the Truth

I’ve only ever been in one, true schoolyard fight in my life. It was in the 6th grade and at my public elementary the 6th graders were the oldest in the school. The fight came about because I had befriended a younger kid from the neighborhood who was small for his age. To be clear, by no means was I (or currently am I) the epitome of the masculine physique, but this friend of mine was being picked on by my school’s bully, who fit almost every stereotype of a 90’s bully (complete with bowl cut and JNCO jeans) and I felt compelled to step in. In my moment of righteous anger, I pounced and after a fury of 12-year-old “punches” was quickly pulled off by the teacher in charge of recess. I was made to apologize to the bully and he to me. I then told my side of the story and the teacher brought in my younger friend. I was getting ready to receive my medal of honor, but his only statement was, “I don’t need protection, I can stand up for myself”.

20+ years later (and a few weeks of detention, where I learned the bully was actually a pretty good dude), this incident was brought to mind as I contemplated some recent events.

 - First, and without addressing anything at all about the case itself, was Trump’s impeachment proceedings. While much could be said on the matter, the fact that the Senate refused to hear witnesses in regards to the accusations was…something.

 - Second, was a story from The Chronicle of Higher Education named “It’s Time to Stop Calculating Graduation Rates”, where the very thoughtful and well-reasoned author presented an argument about the error in measuring graduation rates during an era of high transfer rates and schools with disproportionate demographic representation.

 - Finally, was a story that came out in November of last year, which revolved around a financial tool developed by a startup company, Edmit. This tool would predict which schools were about to close or were under financial duress (940+ institutions by their count). Inside Higher Ed was about to write an article in conjunction with the release of this tool, but due to immense pressure by representatives, counsel and administrators of such institutions, they decided not to. To quote from that article:

“Inside Higher Ed had planned to write about the projections, but the company's decision changed that plan, too. The goal was to foster an open discussion about what has become an elephant in the room for higher education: Which financially stressed colleges are likely to shut down, and what can be done to protect students and taxpayers from abrupt closures?”

Lo and behold, 5 months later an abrupt closure took place at Concordia University in Oregon.

All of these events have caused me to come to a conclusion: The truth doesn’t need protection. It is not afraid of enquiry. Or investigation. Or the spotlight. In my opinion, it wants to be found, even if we don’t want it to be or even if it's ugly. Much like my physically smaller but philosophically larger friend from elementary school, the truth may seem like something fragile that could be destroyed if “bullies” try to harm it, but turns out it can stand up for itself.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Ben, truth is such a sticky subject. What even is truth? Postmodernism aside, I’m not going to even pretend to try to answer that question. MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY smarter and more adept cognitive giants have contemplated what that word means and haven’t come to any conclusions (last link there is a bit of joke). But what I do know, is that intentionally trying to hide, obscure, or “protect” the truth will definitely not help us to find it...whatever “it” is.

I guess what I’m saying is: let’s not be afraid to ask questions, free the data, ask why, or poke and prod…and equally important, let’s not rush to conclusions. Let’s allow the evidence speak and stand up for itself. It doesn’t need our protection.

BTW here is a pretty good definition of the truth from Aristotle: "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true"