Fit the philosophy to the facts (#947)

You do not come up with a philosophy and then make the facts fit it somehow. The facts come first then the philosophy evolves from them. Whether you use logic or not, there has to be a starting point from which we can all begin from. That can only happen if we begin with the facts of whatever reality we are discussing. There are rules to language and to how to interpret language as being of a factual nature. Outside of my occasional gut feeling about truths based upon guesswork, I have only found logic to be a set form for distinguishing truth from falsehood. There are rules for how logic works but basically you have premises that build up to conclusions. For these to be factually true conclusions the premises must also be factually true. This is the art of argument. You start out with a premise that is a given or known fact and build on it to a point of conclusion. There is no other way to interact with so many other people in conversation without having logic as the foundation of the discourse. All too much in America today we have people who begin conversations with assumptions, opinions or beliefs that are not or cannot be proven to be factually true. This leaves having conversations with them in an illogic form. It is because they have put the philosophy before the facts. Why is it such a strong barrier to break or recognize by those who have done this yet who are also are unable to accept that they have? When, in the past, I have done so it is out of some loyalty to an idea or belief that no matter how conclusive the evidence was that I was wrong to start from where I did, I wouldn't admit it and further I would relentlessly try to prove I was right using any permutation of fact available. It was my ego telling me that I had to hold my ground, otherwise my world would make little sense. The world already makes little sense but then again my ego would not let me realize this. I have since reformed and put facts first then let philosophy build on the facts, not the other way around.