From: Phil Osborn (philosborn2001@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Jul 10 2002 - 21:40:39 MDT
This is an example of the truly antiquated and
imperfect methods by which our information culture
assesses credibility. Of course you can't put ALL the
information about a product on the package, and WHO
decides what info should go on it - and why should you
trust them - or, for that matter, why should you trust
the manufacturer to tell the truth?
When the Life Extension Foundation hired some
professionals to do chemical asseys of various
commercial nutritional supplements a few years ago,
they got the following results:
1. The actual ingredients varied enormously compared
to the what was listed on the labels. Sometimes the
supposed active ingredient was not present at all!
2. The test results from various "professional" labs
for the same product varied enormously.
So, LEF set up their own testing facility, last I
heard. Now, can you trust THEM?
The network of credibility is pretty well shredded in
the anonymous society. Every decade or so, the
Criminal Investigative Division of the Consumer
Affairs Bureau of the State of California busts a
bunch of auto repair shops. Same story every time,
about how they systematically rip off the public.
They hit Sears, Firestone and I forget who else, but
it was really pervasive and non-trivial, with totally
unnecessary repairs typically running into hundreds of
dollars.
So, for a little while, consumers go somewhere else
for auto repair, but there's no particular reason to
think that the alternatives are any better, and the
slaps on the wrist that the companies get is nothing
compared to the profits they make. If they actually
based their business on honest repairs, they would
probably go out of business, as the competition would
eat them alive.
This is a killer problem of social entropy, as we are
now seeing with ENRON, VP Cheney today, etc. Forget
Osama and those silly idiots. They can do their worst
and it won't even come close to the Hobbesian mess we
are making for ourselves. In fact, they are probably
a very welcome distraction for the vultures that are
socking away nest eggs in Switzerland as we rot from
within.
I mentioned a couple years ago on the list that I do
have a solution; however, the only person to contact
me sucked me into giving out a little information and
then wasted my time gratuitously insulting me, so I'm
loath to even make an offer, but if someone with
credibility is willing to go the non-disclosure
contract route, I'll consider it.
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