Richmond - The Editor, Re: "To boldly go where science fears to tread," Column, April 16.Matthew Claxton's column about heliocentrists like Robert Sungenis, who claim the Earth is the centre of the universe and that all the stars and planets revolve around our planetary orb, is an important commentary about the fact that there are many people who have trouble accepting the correlation between valid evidence and what counts as the "truth" about us and the world we live in.As a teacher, I constantly encounter instances of selective hearing, selective retention, and selective interpretation. In other words, "I am only going to listen to, contemplate, consider, or accept that which: I already understand; have already experienced; feel comfortable with; doesn't challenge what I already believe in; or doesn't contradict what I have been told and have already accepted."Such people are essentially unteachable because they lack curiosity about what makes the world tick and are comfortable with their unjustifiable certitude that they don't need to learn more than what they already know.Oxford historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, in his landmark book Truth: A History and Guide for the Perplexed (1997), proposes that we tend to decide thatsomething is "truthful" on the basis of one of three perspectives: direct experience; that which we are told; and that which we reason.In other words, I understand it is true I will burn my hand if I put it on that glowing stove burner because I have done that; I accept without question or doubt what that person, book, or group tells me is true; or I deduce what is likely to be the truth by objectively examining all available evidence and deciding for myself how valid or invalid it might be.Unfortunately for humankind, the historical record indicates the majority of us are so intellectually lazy and unmotivated that we not only keep repeating stupid things over and over while expecting the outcomes to be different (wars and environmental degradation), but also prefer to be told what the truth is rather than do the work that is inherent to the reasoning and critical thinking that would allow us to figure that out for ourselves (think advertising, religion, politics.) Do the untold trillions of galaxies out there revolve around our Earth? Well - either become an astronaut and test the theory yourself or look at the evidence provided by the smartest people on the planet and draw the most logical conclusions possible. Or ....Ray ArnoldRichmond
