COMMENTARY
Natural law smothered by data
By Eben F ockx
tial has happened to the
W1 _
groat minds, gnat com
municators and great
leaders that so inspired people
in times past?
Could it be that the great
minds of today are lost In data7
Are their thoughts smothered
by all the facts dumped on us
by the information age? Are
they confounded fry the com
plexities of our modern tech
nology?
Thomas Jefferson reform! to
"natural law" or "natural
truths," which he deemed to be
self-evident and upon which he
based many of his greatest
ideas.
But who would dare refer to
such a law today? Any refer
onto to nature must be kept
purely scientific and ire well
documented if wo are to expect
anyone 4o listen Any theory
that we put forth must be bol
stered by a hearty array of fac
tual-type data.
Today we believe only in
what cannot t>e refilled — the
computer, the exhaustive scien
tific study, the mathematician
or accountant, and to a lesser
extent, tho Supremo Court and
the Constitution that it up
%io!ds. All other sources are not
Shortly subject to doubt, they are
worthless heresy
Is there not, as Jefferson
claimed, a natural law or code
that all human beings under
stand and are more or less in
clined to follow? Is there no
moral or ethical common sense
that we all share?
Whether something is right
or wrong, fair or unfair, cannot
be decided bv a statistical anal
ysis of socio-economic data
Differentiating between good
and had is often difficult We
might like to turn to a compu
ter to generate liie correct solu
tion But there may tie no right
answer only a series of mor
\ d and ethical tests to whit h
W each of us can apply the natural
law that resides within us
We need to restore that trust
in ourselves and in our own
natural ability to understand
and interpret what goes on in
the world around us
Many of us live as though
there will he no tomorrow We
consume natural resources with
reckless abandon, ton! in the
process we create pollution at
levels far exceeding those that
can Im' absorbed by the environ
menl.
We sit anti watch as the pop
ulation of the world climbs to
new heights, now twice as large
as it was just 40 years ago We
are already unable to properly
provide for those that now ex
ist Humans are rapidly crowd
ing other species off the planet
as we compete for more and
more of everything
Vet at the same time, we
know deep down that this life
style is wrong and that endless
growth is impossible It's
wasteful, shortsighted, selfish
and un sustainable
We know It is wrong, but we
don't act because we doubt our
selves Today's world seems
too complex to sav anything
with certainty Simple truths
ure lost in obscurity
Modern technology blinds us
to the physical limitations of
the natural world
We may be lured into believ
ing our ability to control and
manipulate the environment
somehow compensates for the
impact we have on it Hut our
advanced technology has actu
ally amplified our individual
impact, while simultaneously
disguising the damage
"Primitive" societies are like
lv to have a clear understand
ing of their relationship to the
earth They are aware of their
connectedness with the past
and the future They know
their foixl comes from the land
And they are aware of their
vulnerability and dependency
on nature
We can access this kind of
common sense wisdom by rare
fully consulting the natural law
inside us To assist in this pro
cess we can use something
called the "Veil of Ignorance"
(John Rawls. A Thaory uf fus
/ice)
l*'or example, to understand
how our policies today will Im
pact those living in the future,
we tan imagine we are to be
Today's world
seems too complex
to say anything
with certainty.
Simple truths are
lost in obscurity.
placed iiehind a veil of igno
rance, and that once tint veil is
lifted we will la1 transported to
an unknown point ol time
present, near future or distant
future and will exist there
for the rest of our lives
The veil makes it dear that il
we were to he sent into the fu
ture. we would not want those
of the present to use all our nat
ural resources the coal, oil.
minerals, etc Nor would we
want them to destroy areas of
({real natural beaut v We
wouldn't want to fie left with
messes they were too lazy to
( lean up or prevent themselves
This exerc tse of the imagine
lion shows that we are uhle to
objectively consult a form of
natural law to help us resolve
complex issues The veil of ig
norance can lie applied equally
well to other issues
it serves to remove our bias
and create an objective frame
work for evaluation l-'rom be
hind the veil we know not
whether we will fie rich or
poor, sick or healthy, smart or
dull, ugly or beautiful, Amori
can or African
Many of our natural thoughts
and reasoning prot esses have
been rendered ineffective try in
formation overload By appeal
mg to our innate sense ol pis
tiie, I believe we can find a
great deal of common ground
in the contentious deflates that
divide us and widespread
agreement on many of the prin
ciples and policies for manag
mg our society.
Those great people who OfW e
inspired us are among us today,
their voices are just getting
harrier to hear
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