Email address obfuscation in effect -- please
click here to turn it off.
[
Date Prev][
Date Next][
Thread Prev][
Thread Next][
Date Index][
Thread Index]
Vern Green wrote:
Right, but you see, as Joe sixpack sitting on the sidelines, we are
watching this case and we see this outstanding scientist with a lot of
fancy letters after his name get on the stand and present information
on behalf of the prosecution that looks iron clad.
We watch as the evidence unfolds and we are thinking, "Wow, so this is
how it works, and we have 99.9% assurances that we have the killer in
this case". Then we turn around and see that the scientist did not
follow the right procedures and that the evidence by his own admission
is biased against the defendant.
And I think that you make good points here. We cannot examine every
issue for ourselves, and so we have to rely on some kind of authority.
But everytime a purported authority makes a mistake like this, the
general trust in it diminishes.
The difficult thing for an outsider is to know when a particular
authority has made an honest mistake, or whether it is consistently
trying to mislead. And it is impossible for any group not to make a
mistake from time to time.
It is then particularly easy for those with bad motives to come along
and completely muddy these issues. They accuse those who made honest
mistakes of trying to mislead. Counter-accusations fly around, and the
outsider is left completely mistrustful of everybody.
For example, I think that is why many of us completely mistrust all
politicians.
Stephen
_______________________________________________
discussion mailing list
EMAIL:PROTECTED
http://mlug.missouri.edu/mailman/listinfo/discussion
Home | FAQ | Server | Presentations | Mailing Lists/Archives | Member Tools | Links | Sponsors | Contact