Ars Technica: Steve Ballmer’s new gov’t data project assumes that facts change minds

From Ars Technica:

Steve Ballmer’s new gov’t data project assumes that facts change minds

Having data is half the battle
The two main intertwined problems are that facts and data by themselves aren't always capable of changing people's minds and that the USAFacts project requires trusting the government data itself to be unbiased and accurate. This is something not everyone is willing to do.

Distrust of the government, of data, and of "experts" isn't universal, but it's amazingly, depressingly common. It's why accepted science like evolution and climate change continue to be questioned in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus; it's why people refuse vaccines and turn to homemade remedies instead of trusting modern medicine; it's why flat-Earthers still exist, it's why people believe the moon landing was faked, it's why people believe Hillary Clinton was running a nonexistent child trafficking ring out of a pizza place. Even when well-meaning people actively seek facts and evidence, confirmation bias dictates that we tend to gravitate toward that which confirms our existing expectations even when we consciously know better.

These problems have become worse and more noticeable in the age of President Donald Trump, who rails against nominally respected media outlets like the ("failing") New York Times as "fake news," calls the free press "the enemy of the American people," and only seems open to accepting data when it portrays him and his initiatives in a positive light.