A litmus test for news reporting, directed research, and conspiracy theories

GUEST POST from Geoffrey A. Moore

The philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe is credited with a wonderful thought experiment that illustrates the concept of direction of fit. Imagine a shopper is doing her errands, working off a list of things to buy. She is being followed by a detective who is making a list of everything she does buy. If both are successful, at the end of the day their two lists should be identical. But each list represents a different direction of fit. The shopper’s list works from mind to world: it seeks to fit the world to what the mind intends. The detective’s list works from world to mind: it seeks to fit the list to what the world in fact manifested. Mind-to-world and world-to-mind are thus two distinct directions of fit. Hold that thought as we apply it to three different kinds of discourse.

1. News reporting is committed to maintaining a world-to-mind direction of fit. The integrity of the news is based on reporters doing their very best to discover and communicate what actually happened in the world. As part of their communication, they are responsible for providing evidence for their claims, citing whatever documents, sources, or other materials that warrant believing these claims to be true. The goal is to inform the reader as objectively as possible, a key plank in any platform that supports liberal democracy.
2. Directed research is more complicated. It follows a bi-directional approach to fitting. It begins with a hypothesis which it seeks to either verify or disprove through some form of research or experiment. This represents a mind-to-world direction of fit. Einstein’s theory of relativity is an example. That research or experimentation, however, is conducted with scrupulous objectivity in order to create a body of world-to-mind evidence that is independent of the hypothesis. The Eddington Dyson expeditions to use a solar eclipse to test Einstein’s theory is an example. The final results represent a meeting of the two, often resulting in a version of the hypothesis that has been modified to incorporate learnings from the research findings. In Einstein’s case, this was not necessary. In this manner, science proceeds dialectically between the two directions, building an increasingly reliable model of the world.
3. Conspiracy theories represent a mind-to-world direction of fit. They consist of hypotheses that cannot be verified due to the nefarious actions of the actors involved. They are presented as truths despite their lack of evidence, and these presentations are protected by the right of free speech. Because there is no mechanism for governing or qualifying conspiracy theories, there is no limit to the outrageousness of their claims. When such claims are converted to headlines, they garner attention, which in turn attracts advertisers, which funds the media that publishes them. This has materially adverse effects on any liberal democracy that relies on news media to inform public decision-making.

As one can see, the ethics of news reporting and conspiracy theories are diametrically opposed. This presents a challenge to news organizations that wish to maintain the integrity of their mission. The fact that people are promoting conspiracy theories is something that is happening in the world. As such, it warrants reporting. When these theories are labeled as such, however, conspiracy theorists claim that is all part of the conspiracy. They also claim that the news outlets in question are biased against them, that they aren’t getting their fair share of the coverage. We have left logic behind and are now firmly in the domain of rhetoric. In the absence not just of evidence, but of any obligation to provide evidence, the most brazen voices win.

This is not OK. It is why our educational system needs to prioritize the teaching of critical thinking. Here both the right and the left need to be taken to task. The right continues to use conspiracy theories to restrict such efforts. The left uses political correctness to the same ends. Neither trusts that students will develop responsible habits through open dialog. The best way to meet this challenge, in my view, is to engage students in directed research projects that use the two-way direction of fit to investigate issues of interest and concern.

That’s what I think. What do you think?

Image Credit: Unsplash

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