I think, the GOP is caught in a literally medieval mindset. Literally medieval.

[DetlefK]

* Donald Trump once said that his net-worth depends on how he is feeling.
* Newt Gingrich argued on TV that emotions are facts.
* Ben Carson said on TV that the unemployment-rate is an arbitrary number without meaning.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512341964



Since when do numbers have factual meaning? Since the invention of modern math, which lead to the development of the scientific method, which eventually lead to the Age of Enlightenment. That was in the late 17th to early 18th century.

Before that, mathematical formulas didn't exist. (At least not in Europe.) The relevance of numbers wasn't attributed to laws and formulas that give numbers sense.
Instead, numbers were relevant because of numerology. Each number was thought to have a secret, magical meaning. If the number 7 showed up as the result of calculation or as a ratio, the explanation was that the number 7 was somehow magically connected to the situation.

These weren't "cold, hard numbers". Numbers were a magical and vibrant thing, full of secrets and higher meanings.



And it reminds me strongly of the mindset Trump, Gingrich and Carson are displaying. To them, numbers are not "cold and hard". To them, numbers are interchangable, depending on the situation, depending on spirit and emotion.

[Ilsa]

1. I presented someone with data, history, and

A quoted speech. She essentially told me that the quoted speech didn't matter, how she felt was more indicative of what was said versus what was said.