Bob Dylan’s 1965 song Subterranean Homesick Blues used this line as did the radical SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) splinter group Weathermen in the 1960’s. Various permutations of the phrase can be traced to “The Packet” published in a 1799 issue of the Porcupine Gazette. The meaning of the phrase can be shortened to one three letter word: Duh. In other words, a truth so obvious, one need not look any further upon.
We are confronted with many Duh moments. Do we ignore them? Disparage them, or lean into them? I’ll throw a few out:
1. The Earth is not flat;
2. American politics are polarized;
3. There is good and evil in the world;
4. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West;
5. Water is a liquid, water vapor is a gas, ice is a solid;
6. Climate change is real.
How many will challenge the first five as “Duh?” Anyone challenging the first one we can leave out of the discussion as there are deeper issues there. What about that number six? There are still many among us that will not admit climate change is real. Climate denialism is a form of science denialism as the consensus of the scientific community finds that a Duh moment. It’s not that those who question climate change are lacking in intellectual capacity (they aren’t, they just have a different belief system), it is the sources that frames one’s beliefs have become chambers.
We all use our phones and computers to seek answers to questions and to broaden our understanding. These tools all use algorithms that manipulate what we see. How many times have you clicked on an ad or article only to see a deluge of similar items or articles delivered to your feed? Organizations like the Heritage Foundation, the Heartland Institute, and Fox News manipulate the right. On the left, the Center for American Progress and MSNBC steer the left.
These algorithms and influences harm. It’s the profiteering of division. They have no place in honest discussions of science or matters of water, food security, and critical infrastructure. They rhetorically manipulate our fellow citizens for the sponsor’s ulterior goals. Short of disconnecting, it’s hard to escape these manipulations. What we can do is challenge ourselves to seek viewpoints outside of our own echo-chambers. And, when confronted by self-proclaimed “skeptics” on an issue of science, know that the term skeptic is being misused. Skepticism is a part of the scientific method. Denialism is the opposite of the scientific method. It is a conclusion searching for a basis.
The next time you are confronted by a “skeptic,” research that source. Is the source funded opposition research? What entities are the sponsors of the skeptic? Of course, the downside is that after you do that online research, you’ll have a whole new set of algorithms that will chase you. It may make you go back to the Dewey Decimal System (for those born after 1995, you may have to look that up).
P.S., the photo confirms the Earth is flat, really, I read it online.