Do you "Never mind the facts, just do something!"

I was just reading this very sobering blog post (http://texasinafrica.blogspot.com/2009/12/show-me-data.html) I can't really comment of what would work in the Congo, as this totally not my area of expertise. What caught my attention, though, was a broader issue that he was addressing in the context of the serious violence in the Congo. His point was that there are activists who are pushing a theory of the violence that is not backed by the facts and data at hand.

So, who cares?! We have to do something! Right? Well, maybe, wrong. Why? Because anything we do is liable to have negative repercussions to someone innocent. If we can stop the violence, that's one thing. But if we are going to do something that's not going to help, but will hurt people, what's the sense? Worse, these policies could divert necessary attention and resources from action that might actually help. How can we justify it?

What's the relevance to all of us who are not involved with the Congo? No matter what the problem you are addressing, you need to make sure that the solution you propose is supported by real information. Simple answers are attractive, but they are not always the right answers. Better to take some time to study an issue, if you can, or to start putting in place partial answers that you know are going in the right direction.

So, if you are ever tempted to do something just because you can't sit by and watch, ask yourself whether you want to take a chance on making the situation worse. Would you do surgery based on this level of information? If not, then you shouldn't be doing much more that raisig consciousness of the problem, and push for more information.