“I don’t know.” This radical statement, together with its corollaries, first committed to writing by the ancient Greeks, marked the onset of all Western thought: philosophy, mathematics and science resulted. “I don’t know, but I shall endeavor to find out.” This represented a rejection of mythological explanations. They were deemed insufficient in explaining the world. “I shall endeavor to find out by intelligently collecting all the available evidence, critically examining and evaluating it, and only then, attempt to deduce how matters stand. The conclusions I draw will be tentative and subject to revision as new evidence emerges.”
In the United States today, a new sort of thinking has firmly taken root. It begins with the smug statement: “I know!” “I know, and I am going to prove that I am right by denying the validity of any evidence that contradicts what I know and by accepting, uncritically, only evidence, that reaffirms what I already know, regardless of the questionable credibility of its source. I will then arrogantly tout this evidence.” Those who practice this method are rejecting 25 centuries of Western thought. Does anyone seriously believe that they would hesitate in rejecting two and a half centuries of American democracy?
— Kenneth Baitsholts
Anchorage
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