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There was a great episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" in which the stunning Jennifer was sitting in a bar by herself. I don't remember why. Three of the guys, her co-workers and friends, wandered in and offered their lamest pick-up lines. Dr. Johnny Fever asks: "Come here often?" Venus Flytrap asks: "What's your sign?" Les Nesman is sitting on a stool and Jennifer asks him: "Well, Les, don't you have a pick-up line you'd like to try?" Les says: "I'm not really this tall, I'm sitting on my wallet." Jennifer leaves with Les. Great scene, but this isn't about that. Allow me to shift gears.
So, you're thinking about buying a pick-up truck! You've always wanted one, right? You're finally going to get one; a dream come true!
There are some really cool pick-ups out there. 4-door crew cabs, jazzy paint and trim packages, jacked-up suspensions, HUGE tires....
But which one is the best? Depends on your definition of "best." The Chevy is "most awarded." The Ford is "best selling." The Ram is "longest lasting." It seems "best" doesn't depend on some objective measuring scale or YOUR definition of "best," it depends on the definition used by the brand and its advertising agency. The agency will always find SOMETHING to define their product as better than all the others. And they will always manage to do surveys that bring them out on top. All will get featured in automotive magazines based on their best attributes and performances on the self-serving surveys.
But what are the "facts"? Are they all "facts" or none of them? What is factually the best truck? Unless there is an unbiased source, are we stuck dealing with the "alternative facts" presented.
Why does it have to be so difficult? Aren't there ways to objectively address these things?
While this seems like an impossible situation to resolve, there is some good news when it comes to pick-ups. Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler all make very good trucks. They're so good, in fact, that often "Chevy guys", "Ford guys", and "Ram guys" are loyal to their favorite brand in great part because the dealership has treated them right. That's why, when it comes to used trucks, a Ford guy might pick a Ford off the Chevy dealer's lot or some other cross-branding version of that.
Wouldn't it be nice if news of other types of "fact"-laden situations worked that way? It could happen, if we referred to "opinions" rather than "facts." I think it was William F. Buckley who said exactly that. If I remember correctly, he said: "You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts." And he said it long before today's inane miasma was extant. (My attempt at Mr. Buckley's style....)
What we need is the opinions of the best and the brightest and a forum where they can be distilled into objective facts.
But people like their opinions so much that they will pitch them as facts and we instantaneously have gridlock because others with opposing opinions will do the same thing. Again, there's nothing wrong with conflicting opinions. Matter of fact they are fertile ground for progress. Bits of her ideas, bits of his ideas, bits of my ideas, conversations, compromise.... This use of opinions can lead to progress.
I don't think there should even be such a thing as "conflicting facts." The problem is, with people perched at the extremes of any issue, conflict is more popular than compromise.