Being Right (it doesn’t always mean ’staying right’)
May 2, 2008I was in a class recently and commented on a word origin that I had first heard in some class in college. To be fair, the Professor probably presented it as a “possible” word origin (even the dictionary is often vague on direct attribution, as in “probably from the archaic”).
Word origins are often that way in that many cultures will make their claims, but what I found interesting was how quickly another class mate “jumped” on my assertion about the word and said that it had been “debunked” on a web site devoted to urban legends.
I told the fellow student I’d notify my Professor of his error.
The point in this is just how this society has begun to put such confidence in this thing, the internet.
I had a friend from high school who used to say “if it is in the newspaper, it has to be the truth. They are not allowed to print lies”.
Well.
This is the reason that research requires, mandates even, that one must go further than a single source.
It is easy when all the sources agree, but more difficult when there is controversy.
Global warming cheerleaders, holocaust deniers; ethanol saving the planet, ethanol driving up food prices and starving the world; polar caps melting in the North, yet solidifying on the South Pole.
So what’s the answer.
Quite simply, the answer is - further research.
Just because someone makes an assertion, the assertion is more palatable if backed up by facts, preferrably by more than one, independent source.
It is the nature of science to test a hypothesis and then hand it over to someone else to see if they can repeat the results. Then accuracy and some degree of a “warm fuzzy” is achieved.
Confidence is important, especially in dealing with facts and assertions.
Doubt can be placed on practically anything.
The truth resides with those who are willing to explore the details and consider the clues.
The smoking gun alone raises doubt, but add to that cordite residue on the hand of the shooter, his finger print on the shell casing, his name written in blood on the floor by the victim and a history of animosity between the two and things look pretty bad for the fella holding the gun (worse for the victim).
Where many assertions are concerned, the elements above do not always exist.
Global warming could be caused by a number of assassins, and not necessarily only man’s influence on the environment.
Volcanoes, the sun’s influence, dust in the atmosphere, ocean currents, the magnetic field around the earth, the earth’s core and plates…all these have been speculated to affect changes in the weather. One theory even holds that a butterfly flapping its wings in South America could through the turbulence created at wingtip cause a tornado in Kansas.
Dorothy will have to remember to use care when chasing butterflies lest she hit her head on a branch and then get caught up in a coma-induced maelstrom.
I think the rest of us should take a lesson from the Wizard of Oz and use a little care as well; we all need to be careful in chasing single theories and relying too heavily on singular sources for our information.
The man behind the curtain usually gets revealed. Sorry, Mr. Gore.
In real life, sometimes revealing the error in a person’s thinking can take the form of a world war (remember, Hitler hated intellectuals, and was prone to believe in mysticism and dark arts - it took a world war to change that thinking).
I believe the time is upon us to consider where we stand intellectually. To move forward and advance in our knowledge means that we need to take that chill pill and consider the facts, as well as the sources and not rely on any one, single outlet, but rather tested and true sources (and as many as we can get).
This writer will continue to write, and I’ll base my assertions on the articles you will see referenced in my work.
If I err (and I will), my errors will at the very least be based in more than just an assertion made on a page debunking urban myths. My source will not be “the internet” (as is becoming the catch-phrase), but rather through a network that allows access to the journals of the world.
Did I mention that you really need to go see Stein’s movie?

Posted by precipii


