What if we ran government like scientists instead of politicians?

The election is over, the die (and votes) cast, and we are now able to — most of us blissfully — turn our attention toward trimming turkeys, hanging lights and maybe even singing a few carols.

And eggnog — don’t forget the eggnog.

But before we bid a fond farewell to this election season, I’d like to make a humble suggestion: a new political party, called the GOS. Not to be confused with the GOP, the GOS is short for the Grain of Salt party.

Its platform would be simple: Question everything, including your own candidates. In fact, if the Republicans are R’s and the Democrats are D’s, the Salty Dogs (a natural mascot to hound those none-too-elegant elephants and daffy donkeys) could be Q’s.

There’s just one problem: It would never work.

Imagine a party that (just hypothetically) was open to the idea of more restrictions on both guns and abortion. Or (again hypothetically) the converse: fewer restrictions on both. Try to wrap your mind around either of those. Not too easy, is it?

Our political culture has become so dependent upon litmus tests and checklists to do our thinking for us that we’ve almost forgotten how to think outside the political box — a box that’s really just a self-imposed prison for fragile egos. Too often, we dare not consider innovative solutions to our problems for fear they might run afoul of political correctness, party platforms or interest group demands. And crossing party lines? Forget it. That’s tantamount to treason — never mind that we’re all Americans here.

The scientific method

Ever wonder why most politicians are lawyers, business owners or, well, just plain career politicians rather than scientists? Well, a lot of scientists probably don’t care much for politics. But more to the point, we wouldn’t vote for them if they did.

Why? Because we don’t like people who are always asking questions.

Scientists do that. They ask questions (based on hypotheses) before they form conclusions. Then they ask more questions to test those conclusions and revise their opinions based on new data. That’s too messy for a lot of us. Too often, we want people to give us answers now and then stick to those answers come hell or high water, even if they don’t actually work. Egos are more important than results.

Of course, not all questions are good questions. If you’ve already made up your mind, you might still pose queries ... with the sole purpose of questioning (or rather, impugning) your political opponents’ judgment, motives or ethics. Such questions aren’t a form of inquiry, they’re a form of attack, and they should never be confused with real “I don’t know, but I want to find out” investigations.

Accusations thinly veiled as questions are rampant nationally, and I’ve seen them here locally, as well. And on social media? Don’t even get me started.

Two choices

We’ve got two choices: Either we ask questions in pursuit of something better, or we ask them because we’re convinced (justifiably or not) that we already know the answers — and the other side darn well ought to admit it.

If we did science the way we do politics, we’d still be treating infections by bloodletting and worrying about sailing off the edge of a flat Earth. If we did politics the way we do science, we might actually get something done.

But as it is, our political process isn’t much of a process at all. Litmus tests, interest-group ratings and party labels have replaced, to a great extent, the actual down-and-dirty work of seeking real solutions and, by extension, of governing. We already “know” we’re right and the other side is wrong, and that’s more important than even knowing what we’re right about.

All this is why a Grain of Salt party will never work, at least not in the current political climate. But on the heels of this particularly nasty political season, it never hurts to dream, does it? After all, dreams are a kind of hypothesis.

So dream we must. But we can’t just leave it at that. We must transform ourselves into a nation of scientists and find solutions that will work. That’s good governance. That’s what we need to get back.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 9:45 AM with the headline "What if we ran government like scientists instead of politicians?."