We call it 'Reason'

Dean on 'Face the Nation'

One thing I'd like to call to your attention.

SCHIEFFER: Listening to you talk about this, listening to you talk about some of the things that you said about Medicare and so forth, the republican national committee has put out a long press release that just says you're a flip-flopper, that you've changed on so many issues. How do you respond to that, governor?

DEAN: I have changed on some of the issues. I think that's one of the hallmarks of who I am. I'm a doctor. I believe if you have a theory and the fact comes along that changes the theory, then you throw out the theory. The republicans believe that if a fact comes along that changes the theory, they throw out the fact. They deny there is such a thing as global warming. President made the case now that bipartisan committee in congress admits was exaggerated and ignored the facts for going to war in Iraq. This is pretty serious stuff. I have no complaint and no embarrassment about changing my positions at all. If facts come along that show you things need to change, you need to change them.

This, my friends and fellow voters, is what we like to call, 'the scientific method':

1. Look at some 'data' (information).
2. Form an 'hypothesis', or conclusion, based on that data.
3. Test your hypothesis (by using it to make a prediction, and then checking to see if that prediction is right).
4. Correct hypothesis as needed.

Repeat until you can make no more corrections!

Even for the big brains, *thinking* *about* *stuff* frequently involves throwing away earlier ideas that no longer work given your revised understanding of the situation.