From: Kai Becker (kmb@kai-m-becker.de)
Date: Thu Jan 30 2003 - 13:44:18 MST
Am Donnerstag, 30. Januar 2003 19:09 schrieb Lee Daniel Crocker:
> > (2) Since when is "credibility" a rationally measurable unit?
>
> Since when is it not? Do you deny the simple fact that some people
> are more honest than others?
Surely not, but how much is "more"? And why do people have so different
opinions about the credibility of the same person, e.g., Mr Bush? Could
it be that people weight the same facts diffenrently? How can that be, in
a rational world?
The Milgram experiment shows, how "credibility" (and obedience) can be
faked with symbols of authority.
> But if all they do is speak, all I can do is speak in
> return, and hope that humans with reasonable minds judge us both
> reasonably.
Unfortunately, lies can become rumors, which can become "common
knowledge", which then lead to actions. Like "if vietnam falls, the
communists will invade the US". Or "if the amis come here, they'll rape
all german women". Or "Saddam has WMDs", rsp. "Saddam is really dangerous
for us". See the book "The Wave" for an example, how fabricated "truth"
can influence reality.
> Your contention that any kind of speech must be supressed
Ah, waitaminute. I said "unlimited lying". This term contains two words.
The first means "without any restrictions or boundaries", the second
means "distribution of untrue allegations" :-) Together, it means, I'd
like to have a way to stop _only_ the unrestricted distribution of untrue
statements about my person.
We don't live in an ideal, rational world. People do judge by rumors and
reputation, which is almost never true, objective or rational. You, for
example, judge me -whatwasit- to be "left-wing", "anti-american",
"naive", etc. without any knowledge about me but the few words I've
written here.
If therefore someone uses this human behaviour to damage someone others
reputation by telling lies about him, this can have drastic as well as
subtle consequences for the victim. Example: "Lee Daniel Crocker is a
child molestor. Protect your kids, force him out of this town". What
would your defense be? Ask for evidences? Have you ever seen a
witch-hunt? Remember McCarthy?
Kai
--
== Kai M. Becker == kmb@cameron.kn-bremen.de == Bremen, Germany ==
"Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced"
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