Knowledge vs Belief: The Itchy Scrotum Debate

I have been reading up on STIs over the last few days. This is following recently published data on the incidence of various STIs in the UK and not due to a strange itch in vicinity of my scrotum. It turns out that there has been an increase in the reporting and diagnosis of STIs in the UK, but as any half decent scientist will tell you, this data by itself may not indicate a rise in the incidence per se but more likely an increase in people reporting it. So bizarrely, this is both good and bad news. Like on those occasions when you find out you haven't soiled yourself, but it unfortunately still smells like you have.

Despite this caveat there are still those, like Stewart Jackson MP, who think these figures are a damning indictment of 'years of liberal sex education'. Leaving aside the arguments that exist around the topic of sex education and the levels at which it should be taught, the biggest problem with this chappie (other than the £66,000 he claimed for his second home last year) is that he has no earthly idea what he's talking about. He obviously did not understand the figures, or the nature of the report, or the nature of sex education in the UK, or the difference between civility and rigorous debate, or long words and phrases... like confirmation bias, attitude polarisation or nobbycockshaftwankskull.

What most annoys me though, as suggested by a commenter on Evan Harris' Guardian Blog, is that on this subject he has has tried to fix the facts around his beliefs and not the other way round. I'm not sure why anyone would want to be like this, particularly in public life. But why, I ask myself, is this such a problem? Why should one not have the courage of one's convictions?

The problem here is best furnished by an example. If I were to suggest that my favourite football team was going to win the premier league this year, this would be a belief. Possibly based on evidence but not necessarily so. My belief here could and should be changed as my team gradually accumulates defeats and slips into the mire of a relegation battle. This is the difference between believing and knowing. However, to maintain the idea that my team will win the league despite the evidence would be immensely stupid.This is a ridiculous position to take and exactly the one which is taken by Stewart Jackson on the subject of STIs and sex education.

Willful ignorance is bad enough, but ignoring or distorting facts because you hold your position so sacred is a little risky if you are looking for respect. As Kipling may possibly have said; what a tit.