Three Sides to Every Fact?

There seems to be a lot of "change" or "proposed change" going on these days. Be it man-made, or not. We seem to have entered an era of false facts used to drive this change and it seems difficult to determine whose word is correct through the debate.

With the reasons, or reasoning for change - I find much of the proposals questionable - though it is difficult to discern the facts and their true logic or reality. Here is an example, from a source that I think is respectable.

What is real and what is false?

A recent occurrence of this fact conundrum was when driving down the street and listening to a pro/con topic on talk radio.

As I listened, I thought about how there is so much information available. To discern and wade through it seems to be an exhausting task.

In my gut, there was a feeling for which side to agree with. But the way the two opposing speakers were throwing facts and figures around, it made them seem really… right, as in correct.

Which to choose? The very effluent speaker who practically chafed at the other speaker on air - or the less clear speaker, the one who used um and augh a lot (I tend to root for underdogs)?

How about which one sounded the clearest. I mean this literally. Perhaps one of the speakers was actually in the studio with the talk show host and the other was on the phone line – thus offering their viable information, though with a bit of snap, crackle and pop and with a slight delay.

Perhaps the local person versus the outsider?

The think tanker versus the tanking thinker?

I don’t know, I couldn't tell, so I turned the radio off.

I took statistics in college. I managed to make my way through and it wasn’t all pretty – but I got through. What I seemed to hear is that there is a difference between the application of mean, median and mode. I am troubled by folks using facts and the means to gather these facts - and then only having perhaps 45 minutes to relay this information. Or, is that what makes a good politician?

I've been told there are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth.
Does that go for facts as well?

oh, you've gotta know when to hold'em...