There have been nearly 15 million view of Hans Rosling’s TED talk dispelling preconceived ideas. In the video the sadly departed Professor Rosling uses data visualization to convey our misconception of nations, their level of income, child mortality, and family size. Many of the nations we once knew as being poor, with high mortality and large families, are no longer so and yet we continue to live in the past.
I’ve been guilty of carrying the same preconceived notions. You work with someone, not closely, but close enough, you form a view of them. That view sticks no matter how much time passes. Of course the same has been ‘done’ to me too – this seems a very human failing. Sometimes we just need to move on so we can start afresh, not necessarily so we can be different, but so we can leave behind the baggage of others.
The same problem exists when we consider political parties. In the US the Republicans are perceived as good for the economy and pro life, for example, and the Democrats are seen as higher taxes and big government. I don’t have all the data to compare but I have been able to gather a little.
| Abortion Rate | GDP | Term | Employment | |
| Reagan (R) | -4% | 3.5 | 1 | +5.86% |
| 2 | +11.20% | |||
| Bush (R) | -4% | 2.3 | 1 | +2.46% |
| Clinton (D) | -30% | 3.9 | 1 | +10.54% |
| 2 | +9.33% | |||
| Bush (R) | -3% | 2.2 | 1 | 0.07% |
| 2 | 0.95% | |||
| Obama (D) | -26% | 1.6 | 1 | 0.9% |
| 2 | 7.6% |
The above data on abortion rates comes from the CDC and has been shared widely on Facebook recently. The argument from Democratic circles is that Republican policies of making abortion illegal are not as effective as Democrat policies of making it unnecessary. On the face of it Democrats aren’t bad for the economy either, depending on how you measure benefit. If you measure it according to taxes, or the S&P500 it may be different again. Definition is important: what does big government mean, what does judicial reform mean, what does law and order, investment in national security, etc. all mean?
It doesn’t help that data needs to be handled with care. The above data can’t be taken at face value. The abortion data does not include information from California, which hasn’t submitted figures to the CDC for 20 years.
Are we even looking at the right data? To what extent, for example can the president even affect some of these data? Are they influenced by state decisions rather than federal ones?
Some of the data has long lead times; the decisions of one president will affect the data under later presidents. Global events may not even be within the control of a president: the dotcom bubble, 9/11, the credit crunch, the coronavirus…
I believe people want what they want and then find the rationale, almost as an afterthought. (If you saw data in the above chart that upset you, and then felt a sense of relief when I said the data was unreliable, you may fall into this camp.) We select groups that align with our values. If you want a party that is going to do good things for the economy you could go either way, but do you prefer a party that does this by reducing central government, lowering taxes, and reducing regulation, or do you align with the party that prioritizes affordable education, giving people a roof over their head, and eliminating inequality?
It’s hard to change the preconceived notions of others. It seems a personal choice. To do so we need to remain open minded, to accept the possibility that we’re wrong, to engage with those who hold different views, to educate ourselves, to travel, to dare to ask stupid questions…
This all seems a lot of effort though. Isn’t is easier just to find a group that think like we do and go along with them? Yes it is, but if we want to grow, if we want to evolve beyond our wiring, we need to put in a bit of effort! We need to think for ourselves. We need to weigh things up in our own mind and make an individual decision.
The need to belong is strong, as is the comfort of a long held idea. I frequently remind myself of a scene in Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ in which the hero is fed up of the large numbers of people following him around, asking him what they need to do. He tries to tell them they are all individuals, and the crowd, speaking with one voice cries back in unison, “we’re all individuals.” Only one person says, “I’m not” and he is told to ‘Shhh!’
