It’s been nearly three years since I graced these pages on a regular basis (some may question whether “grace” is the appropriate word). But now I’m back and here’s what I’ve decided in the time I’ve been away: Mythbusters may be the most important show on television.
Before I explain, let’s look at how things were when my last column appeared in June of 2005. Back then, the general consensus was that the $2 we were paying for a gallon of gas was outrageous, the surest way to financial security was to invest in Florida real estate and that Katrina was the name of someone who sang of walking on sunshine.
Political pundits were certain the Democrats were toast after falling further into minority status following Congressional losses the previous November and Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in to become their next presidential nominee.
Banks were convinced that interest-only and adjustable rate mortgages were a way to make homes affordable to people of modest means, McMansions affordable to almost everyone else and profits a certainty for themselves.
And who among us would have predicted an Oscar was in Al Gore’s future.
Which brings us back to Mythbusters. There’s a tendency to make blanket statements – the Democrats are dead, you can’t go wrong investing in real estate – which often turn out to be misguided. Such statements may be based upon something we’ve read or heard. They might be part of the conventional wisdom, where an opinion is repeated so often that it crosses the chasm from mere opinion to accepted fact. Or they might just be things we think to be common sense. In any case, they tend to be ideas we accept at face value without question and without considering alternate possibilities.
But that doesn’t fly on Mythbusters. We should be forever grateful that they have reintroduced the scientific method to an over-opinionated society. Rather than accept conventional wisdom or what appears to be common sense – i.e., a truck filled with birds weighs less if those birds are in flight than if they’re standing on the truck’s floor – they will test it. And testing those myths – those opinions – requires an open mind and the ability to think outside the box. Moreover, it requires an emotional detachment from the outcome. They don’t care what the answer is, just that they get it right.
Contrast that with the way so many issues are discussed today. Rather than asking what’s the best way to achieve an objective, we ask how we can best prove ours is the only way. Too often, that requires us to disregard any argument or evidence that might prove us wrong. It’s the equivalent of sticking our fingers in our ears and chanting, “I can’t hear you.”
We’ll never solve the issues facing us, from healthcare to Social Security, from school funding to soaring energy costs, if we don’t listen to each other and openly consider viewpoints contrary to our own. My objective with this column will be to encourage an open dialog. I’ll offer opinions, but I’ll consider them also. And if I leave you wondering on which side of the political fence I stand, so much the better. I look forward to the discussion.
Oh, and if you were wondering, the Mythbusters say the truck weighs the same whether the birds are flying or not. Of course, they could be wrong.
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