Reality Check

OUR MOTTO: Reality Will Out!

And that's the truth!

Reality, you say????

So, alright already, just what exactly is reality? Is there such a thing? Is it all in the eye of the beholder? Do we really need to know reality?

Well, here's what we think: There is an objective, knowable reality, separate from human perception, and one of the things we need to know is how to discover what it is.

In other words, when a tree falls in the forest it DOES indeed create sound waves, whether we hear them, or not. That is the objective reality.

Our task is deciding if we benefit from hearing them and if so, how to go about it. For example, if we happen to own a cabin next to that tree...

Whether we see, or hear or even understand it, reality is out there and it will do, or be whatever it is regardless of any awareness of it we might, or might not have.

That's it in the proverbial nutshell. Our goal is not just to reveal reality but to reveal how we all can go about finding reality on our own, in spite of our fallibilities and the efforts of others to obscure reality. We think it is always important to do a reality check and to have tools that can help us do it.

So here's what we're going to do.

In some cases, we'll address facts being discussed, while in other cases we'll address the reasoning (or lack thereof) in what's being discussed. And sometimes we'll do both, or even something else, like present our own take (possibly just our opinion) on something. We'll try to be careful and make it clear which of these we're doing when we post something here.

Whatever issues, or topics we address, we may point out errors, and so on, but we will also try to shed light in a positive direction toward things that can be done to deal with reality in a more reasonable, appropriate and productive manner.

Our reason?

That's exactly the point. We're in favor of reason. We're not against emotion, but we see reason as a crucial tool in perceiving and understanding reality. We're all for it. Sooo...our reason for this web site is to affirm and use reason as we look at the realities we all face...AND to look at the facts, the true facts and the realities we look at using reason.

Informed Choice: Our values will always play a big part in the decisions we make, but our ability to make choices is hampered when we don't see all that's there to be seen, including some less visible choices. So we advise a reality check. A pacifist, for example, may choose not to own a gun, even with the knowledge he, or she is living in a high crime area.

Are we opposed to emotions, feelings, gut reactions, opinions?

Absolutely not. In fact, we have a whole section devoted to the role of feelings in dealing with the world. We also discuss this matter of opinions.

BUT, for better or worse, the world we live in has become increasingly complicated and gut feelings cannot fully deal with this. They can, in fact, lead us astray and prevent us from seeing reality and how best to deal with it.

So we think that there MUST be a balance between the two (thinking and feeling) and that of late reason has been getting short shrift (i.e., not being used as much as it could).

Are we political? Yes, and No...

YES, in the sense that at times we will examine things said that happen to be part of some political agenda.

NO, in the sense that we are more interested in the factual and/or reasoning errors that can occur when folks share their perceptions of reality than the politics behind what they've said.

Now, we may find that the reality distortions occur more in one political stance than another, or we might tend to notice them more in in one political stance than another, but it will not be our primary intent to point that out. Probably this occurs more at the extreme ends of the political spectrum. In most cases we won't even mention the political aspects of what we look at--which is not to say that you won't recognize them on your own.

Do we have thoughts and opinions?

Yes we do, and in the spirit of full disclosure, we'll try to flag them, so you will know when we wander from the realm of factual reality, and offer some of our perspective on the various topics we address.

Of course, we recognize our own fallibility, so we might not catch every instance.

Further, we know that there are those that think it is ALL a matter of opinion, theory, and perspective, but we don't agree. Our intent is to separate "fact" from "fiction" and help others do the same.

There, that's about it...that's pretty much what it's all about. We will continue the process of examining reality and the ways folks come to know it, including the problems that arise if and when we don't do a reality check.