Hello, Fillmore County Journal readers. My name is Aaron Bishop. For some months, I have wanted to begin discussions on matters facing our communities, our state, our nation, and our world. It was suggested to me that I do this by writing in the newspaper. So here I am. Before delving into topics, I would like to introduce myself. I graduated high school in Harmony from Fillmore Central. I acquired a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Geology, and I am now living in Harmony, Minn. My goals for writing here include getting to know our community more, giving you a chance to get to know me, and to provide insight from the perspective of a millennial. I will bring up issues affecting all of us and welcome your suggestions, guidance, and informative feedback.
The title of my articles will precede with “Devil’s Advocate” to portray multiple perspectives with the intention of challenging one’s perceptions. I will do my best to be accurate and honest when presenting fact-based material and will also attempt to be impartial and unbiased when deriving conclusions or making claims. Although I will do my best to accurately represent the facts, there may be times when I have misinterpreted something. I will be the first to admit error if I am shown and convinced of it. I will do my best to clarify when I am stating my opinion, and when I am presenting information and data provided by research. If anyone has questions or comments, I encourage you to post them on the FCJ website or reply in letters to the editor. When applicable, research sources can be provided upon request via citations in the comments section of the FCJ website. I hope others find the primary sources as fascinating as I do.
I have an affinity to science, politics, and community. I feel no matter which discipline we find ourselves in, each area of study connects one to another. The sciences help illuminate who we are, how we came to be, or where we may be heading. Our community is what drives our connectivity and forms our politics. Many of my articles will likely reflect these ideas.
Yet, it’s important to recognize that our perception of truth can be skewed depending on who or what we surround ourselves with. Avoid echo chambers. However, one can expect to find mistakes in research. This is what makes the scientific method effective. Mistakes, when published, can be weeded out when a replication of the original experiment comes up with different results, illustrating error somewhere. I believe a problem arises when so few research teams independently verify results from previous teams. When a research group publishes a claim, it’s widely accepted as factual (not to mention unintentional media distortion). It should be challenged by replication. To disagree with someone’s conclusion is one thing, but to effectively illustrate where mistakes were made is what makes rebuttals useful. So please, if I make a mistake on the facts, let me know (and provide the sources).
It’s been an engaging election year. I have intentions of occasionally writing questions directed towards our elected officials using this as a medium. I encourage others to do the same. After all, they are our representatives. I feel it is our responsibility to hold our elected officials’ feet to the fire (figuratively) whether our preferred candidates were elected or not. This is to ensure they do not become complacent or too comfortable. When we, the voters and constituents, relax our civic duties, our leaders may become too relaxed. It’s okay to give representatives a poke occasionally, so they know we’re watching.
“Politics isn’t about power; it isn’t about winning; it’s about doing good for people.” Senator Paul Wellstone said that. Regardless of what we may have thought about the late Sen. Wellstone’s voting record, perhaps we can agree politics should be about doing what’s good for people. What is good for the people? What is good? These are questions to ponder.
Cheers.
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