… is from page 633 of the 1988 collection of Lord Acton’s writings and notes to himself (edited by the late J. Rufus Fears), Essays in Religion, Politics, and Morality; specifically, it’s a note drawn from Acton’s extensive papers at Cambridge University:
You can prove geometry to every man, not history. You can only prove history to men of good will.
DBx: Indeed.
David Hume correctly identified in the human mind a powerful natural tendency, and an impressive ability, to rationalize belief in whatever the emotions want the human mind to believe. Share with 100 protectionists evidence and coherent argument that U.S. economic growth in the 19th century was not caused by – or even assisted by – protective tariffs, and 99.6 of them will remain unconvinced, each finding fanciful reasons to dismiss the inconvenient facts and logic. Share with 100 progressives evidence and coherent argument that legislated minimum wages diminish and worsen the employment options open to low-skilled workers, and 99.6 of them will remain unconvinced, each finding fanciful reasons to dismiss the inconvenient facts and logic. And so it goes for people who today cheer on industrial policy, rent-control, socialism, and countless other lovely sounding economic interventions.
Of course, we are all subject to this bias, and must forever be aware that we too, when confidently expressing the lessons that we believe that we draw from history and logic, might well be unwitting passengers on this Humean elephant. Yet it is also the case, despite this elephant, that there are arguments and theories that are indeed ‘true,’ and it remains the job of people of good will to diligently search for such ‘true’ truths amidst the countless number of false ‘truths.’
