From: louisnews@comcast.net
Date: Sat Jul 27 2002 - 11:05:38 MDT
> Lee wrote:
> Actually, when
> I'm first reading something---most of the time---I definitely
> don't want to know the authoritativeness of the writer precisely
> because I'm afraid that I'll give him or her too much credit.
Funny. That's exactly the reason I DO want to know the authority of the
writer, so I DON'T give them too much credit to someone who has no
knowledge of the field they are talking about.
> And one
> always has to be very careful too: reading Einstein's views
> on quantum mechanics, or Eric Thompson's views on Mayan
> decipherment, are misleading to say the least, even though
> each was unchallengeably the greatest authority in the world
> in their respective fields.
Exactly my point. You have to know what field they are in, so you know
how credible their answers are.
> Yes, I do admit when reading an article, to consulting the reputation
> or name of the author when I first start to get really suspicious
> of the accuracy or base of his reliability.
I'd rather know if they were reliable, up front.
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