Personal experience is important, and none of us are unbiased—but it’s important for elected officials (and all of us, really), to seek to expand our own personal experience by listening to stories of others. It’s also important for all of us to think about our own biases and how those can influence how we react to others’ stories, or to data. I don’t want to go too far down the postmodern rabbit-hole here, but there’s some validity to the idea that there is no such thing as a fact without interpretation! That obliges all of us to be aware of the layers of interpretation going on around and within us.
Personal experience is important, and none of us are unbiased—but it’s important for elected officials (and all of us, really), to seek to expand our own personal experience by listening to stories of others. It’s also important for all of us to think about our own biases and how those can influence how we react to others’ stories, or to data. I don’t want to go too far down the postmodern rabbit-hole here, but there’s some validity to the idea that there is no such thing as a fact without interpretation! That obliges all of us to be aware of the layers of interpretation going on around and within us.