Re: Cobb County

Sure, folks who are not pilots CAN ask if the pilot was properly trained
or not (survivors, relatives?). They might not even be able to discern
on their own, however, whether the person they ask is qualified to answer.

If expertise of the one approached is generally recognized, then it
would seem reasonable for the questioners to be fairly considerate of
the assessments of those trained in the appropriate disciplines (or
those of the majority of such experts).

To distrust this opinion may be valid, but then the onus is on you (if
you still care for a sound answer) to obtain enough knowledge - or
access enough knowledge - to be able to qualify a replacement opinion.

Weaker, but seemingly all too common, is the approach of just rejecting
the answer offered from the domain expert, followed by repeating the
question again (and again) until you get the answer that satisfies you
from someone else with equivalent, or perhaps less training.

Weaker yet is just to find a satisfying (though less substantive) answer
from anyone who will give you a plausible opinion or one that scratches
where you itch, with less attention to their particular qualifications
and/or weight of opinion from a number of qualified experts.

Either of these alternative models would seem unpalatable outside of a
particularizing (izzat a word?) context, but seem to be quite acceptable
when the emotions or opinion dominate the transaction.

JimA

George Murphy wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Edward Hassertt <mailto:ehassertt@mac.com>
> To: Dawsonzhu@aol.com <mailto:Dawsonzhu@aol.com> ; asa@calvin.edu
> <mailto:asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 11:39 AM
> Subject: Re: Cobb County
>
> Dawsonzhu@aol.com wrote:
>
>>
>>You would certainly be angry at a person posing as a pilot
>>that never even obtained a license to fly. Just like flying,
>>it's not easy for any of us to acquire even a fraction of
>>what is needed to sort these matters out. What makes you
>>so special that you don't think you have to do any homework
>>before you jump in the cockpit?\
>>
>>
> Bad analogy. No one is posing as a scientist, just judging them by
> their fruit. When the plane crashes those who are not pilots can
> still ask if the pilot was properly trained or not.
> It's quite likely that they can't. When a plane crashes the people
> who investigate it & try to decide whether the cause was pilot
> error or something else may not be pilots but they are people who
> are trained in appropriate kinds of work, are familiar with the
> workings of airplanes, air traffic control, &c. They aren't just
> people who are brought in off the street.
> Shalom,
> George
>
Received on Sun Jan 16 21:11:55 2005