In looking not just at whether facts have changed but whether perceptions of facts have changed, this test arguably permits the Supreme Court to overrule precedent whenever the justices come to see things differently.
The court went on to outline four factors to be considered in making the decision to overrule itself: the workability of the rule, the extent to which the public has relied on the rule, relevant changes in legal doctrine, and changes in facts or perceptions of facts.
In a fascinating post, coincidentally published today, he described this as "a species of motivated reasoning" that "reflects the tendency of individuals to form perceptions of fact that promote their connection to, and standing in, important groups".
Naturally politicians reflect the point of view of people and their priority on environmental issues "perception of facts".
4. Perception of fact thus varies, and all facts must be treated as hypotheses and tested constantly. 5. Some will indeed become dominant (the Earth is round, gravity is real), while others are open to testing (T. rex was a carnivore... or was she?).
When the other side demands more than you believe he deserves, it's unlikely you'll think, "Gee, we must both have different perceptions of the facts". If you're like most people, you'll think instead that your counterpart is out to cheat you.
To find out, the NAS recommended tapping into social science, which can be used to describe people's perceptions of critical facts and their goals when making choices.
The facts have not changed, or at least not much, but the perception of those facts has shifted radically.
It is all about our perception of unknowable facts and the way in which we interpret them.
The more general point here is that politics, in colonising everything, has come to colonise our perception of the facts, too.
As a professor who years ago taught Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s autobiography, "Colored People: A Memoir," in an ethics class, I am struck by so many critics' failure simply to put themselves in either Professor Gates's or Sgt. James M. Crowley's very different shoes, as if our experiences had no bearing on our perception of the facts.
