Anecdotal?

So I am starting to get really upset. About a year ago I heard a liberal say to someone… “ well your story doesn’t count, It’s anecdotal.”
This same guy went on to tell how HIS opinion was the better one and in order to prove it he used an Anecdote.

Now this bugs me on many levels. One of those levels would be, This person is trying to have his cake and eat it too.
When he said what he did he was basically saying that the only opinions and or stories that he will accept as valid are the ones that support his view.

Since that day I have heard many other people saying that. Basically belittling everyone who does not believe the same as them while using the same venues to support their view that they will deny others.

Now this strikes me as downright stupid. I have to take a moment here to ask you my reader, Have you done this?

Think about it. In all the conversations you have had lately have you ever said “that is anecdotal”?

If you have I suspect you too may be guilty of the same problem as all these other people. Most of the stories people use today to describe their idea/s, views or beliefs will turn out to be Anecdotal.

For Example, In order to show how important it was for his Health care plan to be accepted, Obama told a story about a 50+ year old lady who could not get Health Insurance because of a preexisting condition.

He claimed that because of that she died.
Now that story is one little story that could easily be described as Anecdotal. But that is the reason he gave for why we need his Health care plan.
BUT if I were to point out that since his plan has been implemented several of my friends have lost their health insurance.
That BECAUSE OF HIS HEALTHCARE PLAN they are out in the cold. Then every liberal who supports Obama would jump up and say “oh that doesn’t mean anything… it’s anecdotal.”

So why does you anecdote count but mine doesn't? Why do you feel the need to belittle me and my friends? Why does it not matter what we are all going through? Why do these people dismiss my concerns and examples as Anecdotal?

The only conclusion I can come to is that it is Simply because they do not care about the people they claim to care about. One person I know is exactly the model of what Obama said his plan is there to help.

Even though I know this will be discounted as anecdotal by those who love to hate everyone who disagrees with them, this guy has not received the help that he was supposed to. In short for him Obama’s plan has failed. Therefore he reads that as Obama’s plan has failed, PERIOD.

All those who want to pooh pooh people’s experiences need to realize that we all have experiences in our lives, and those experiences are what will lead us to our choices and beliefs. So for you to knock those ideas is for you to say “your experiences do not count, your life does not count.” That is the same as saying “you are not a real person, you are worthless.”

That is a very cruel thing to say to a person. It is also a form of bullying. I find it very interesting that people who CLAIM that they are the most caring are so fast to hurt everyone they can.
Imagine, if you will, what it would be like for me to tell you that you do not count as a person, you are a nonentity not worth my effort, because you do not believe the same as I do.
Or if I told you that all the things you have gone through are for nothing.

10 years ago I did not hear Conservatives telling Liberals that their opinions don’t matter. But now that the shoe is on the other foot I hear it from the party in charge all the time.

So here is my advice to you, Mr. Liberal (or even Mr. Conservative, if you are guilty of this) STOP putting people down! STOP belittling others and STOP bullying people. We are trying to stop bullies in the schools… the best way to do that is to set the example. So that is what you… What WE, need to do.
Start respecting the people who are around you.
Remember we all have opinions. Some of them are good some of them are bad some of them are in between. Sometimes each of us have an idea which is a very bad one. We all need to learn to accept that and stop being stubborn, bullheaded jerks.

The best way to get the right view is to use the scientific method AND add on some compassion,

(1) Find out ALL the facts. What is the most economical? What makes the most sense to do? One of the issues in this is you have to not just listen to the hyperbole of people who are trying to make you feel the way they do. DON’T RELY ON FEELINGS Get the FACTS!
(2) How does this effect ALL the people in the scenario? Not just the ones you like, not just the ones that you feel for, All of them.
(3) How do all these people feel about it?

See some people can point out that there is crude oil currently leaking up off the west coast of the U.S.
They are saying that thousands of gallons are leaking out every day. This is occurring without any effort or intervention of man.
In fact if man would intervene we could save the environment, simply by drilling a well and siphoning off oil from the area so there is less pressure to push the oil out. But because they are predisposed to think that drilling for oil is evil a bunch of environmentalists are screaming that no one can drill there. So their actions are directly harming the environment.
People who say that they are working to save the planet are directly responsible there for the further damage to that which they are supposedly protecting.
All because, instead of focusing on reality and facts they want to do the emotional thing and follow a flawed belief.

And yet when I point that out I have NO doubt that at least one of my potential readers out there will snort shake his or her head and say “but that is all anecdotal.” Maybe that is anecdotal… but it is still real, it is still a fact and it is still a problem.