Feelings-Based Community
12 January 2008
Editor, Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
For the past few years, persons on the left have described themselves proudly as being members of the "reality-based community." This community, ostensibly, insists that policies be based on facts, reason, and intelligent thinking rather than upon myths, superstitions, and sloppy thinking.
So we can trust, I presume, that Sen. Clinton's remarks yesterday in Los Angeles will cost her the votes of reality-based citizens. Speaking about the economy, Ms. Clinton declared that "the statistics are one thing, the stories are something altogether different. . . . It doesn't matter what you're told. It's what you feel, what you feel deep down" ("Clinton Proposes $70 Billion To Stimulate Economy," January 12). As a wag once noted, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data." And because facts are found with the head and not the heart, Ms. Clinton's "feelings" - no matter their depth - would be a dangerous guide to policy.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
For the past few years, persons on the left have described themselves proudly as being members of the "reality-based community." This community, ostensibly, insists that policies be based on facts, reason, and intelligent thinking rather than upon myths, superstitions, and sloppy thinking.
So we can trust, I presume, that Sen. Clinton's remarks yesterday in Los Angeles will cost her the votes of reality-based citizens. Speaking about the economy, Ms. Clinton declared that "the statistics are one thing, the stories are something altogether different. . . . It doesn't matter what you're told. It's what you feel, what you feel deep down" ("Clinton Proposes $70 Billion To Stimulate Economy," January 12). As a wag once noted, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data." And because facts are found with the head and not the heart, Ms. Clinton's "feelings" - no matter their depth - would be a dangerous guide to policy.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 10:57am