TED'S TAKE: HOW MANY LEGS DOES A DOG HAVE IF YOU CALL HIS TAIL A LEG?

This famous quote by Abraham Lincoln poses a great framework for viewing and understanding most of the messaging including studies and political messaging.

His quote: “How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”

Lincoln’s message here is - always look for the “truth” and “reality” regardless of what is said or what you think.

Aristotle had a principle of looking for of the truth. The concept is “A” is “A”. Or things are what they are. Our view of the truth can vary based upon our perception or view which can distort what we hear and see. This really applies in research because if you answer the wrong question or distort what you think you have found you will not get the right answer. To get to the “truth” we need to filter out things that could alter our perception.

In today’s world, there are so many folks talking, but do they know what they are talking about? Asking some questions might assist us here:

·     Do I have enough information to understand and formulate an opinion on the subject area?

·     Do the talkers have the right information?

·     Do they possess the ability to analyze, understand and then communicate that information?

·     Do they have an outcome they desire?

·     Do they have a bias?

·     Do they want something from the listener/us/me?

·     Do they want to provoke or influence any particular action or behavior?

·     Does what they are saying make sense as in common sense?

Ask yourself these types of questions and you can interpret more objectively what is being said and understand “why” it’s being said. This may alter the meaning of what you believe you are hearing. It’s hard to get to the truth because sometimes we are influenced by what we “want” to believe; however, that might be our belief system taking over.

Just because we say something does not necessarily mean it’s true, correct or accurately describes the situation. We need to consider what’s being said, its context and whether the person saying it has an agenda and understands what they are saying.

We need to pay attention and listen to things in an objective, unbiased and thoughtful manner. Just because we WANT them to be true or WANT to believe the message or WANT to believe the messenger, does not make it so.