Objectivity, fact and opinion

 Herodotus says a delegation of Greeks from Elea went to Egypt to ask for a critique of their community’s claim to fame: the Olympics.

The Eleans were sure the Olympics were perfect. Still, Egyptian sages had a reputation for surprising insight. The Eleans traveled far to get their counsel.

The learned Egyptians examined the matter and offered two suggestions:

• If the Eleans wanted to stage great games, they should open them to everyone, not just Greeks.

• However, the Eleans shouldn’t allow their own citizens to compete. The Eleans were judges of the competitions, and it’s hard for judges to be impartial when their own friends and kinfolk are involved. 

The Egyptians were right that inclusivity is important. That’s a point most of us would understand today. But I like the second point. The sages knew that impartiality and objectivity are important, even if they are ideals that can only be aimed at, rather than achieved.

When I started working at newspapers, objectivity wasn’t negotiable. A young writer didn’t express opinions in reporting the news. Reporters who couldn’t distinguish opinion from fact were fired.

The notion of objectivity seems quaint today. Instead of honoring news organizations that try to report objectively, we dismissively say that they all have biases — they’re all the same. You just choose the flavor of “truth” you like.

When we can’t distinguish between fact and opinion, we get the kind of public discourse in which the occupant of the White House says Ukraine started the war with Russia and no one in his political party can contradict him.

We Americans need to rediscover an appreciation for the verifiable fact.

• Source: Herodotus, The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield; Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 165.