Would you like to borrow my pitchfork?
>
>What should you do when an expert in a field offers --- without even an
>"IMO" --- an opinion which is respectable, defensible, but nevertheless a
>decidedly _minority_ opinion among experts in the field.
>
>Do you simply say, "You are wrong"?
>Do you say, "In my opinion, you are wrong"?
>Do you say, "In the opinion of most experts in your field, you are wrong"?
>Do you offer to spend the next 30 years compiling the empirical data from
> 100 years of experiments in order to challenge the opinion?
>Do you challenge the expert to toss out a few experimental results to
> back up his claim?
>
>What's the best option?
Perhaps to just let the claim stand or fall on its own merits.
Respectfully,
Steve
__________________________________________________________________________
Steven S. Clark, Ph.D. Phone: (608) 263-9137
Associate Professor FAX: (608) 263-4226
Dept. of Human Oncology and email: ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu
UW Comprehensive Cancer Ctr
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53792
"Philosophers consistently see the method of science before their eyes,
and are irresistibly tempted to ask and answer questions in the way science
does. This tendency...leads the philosopher into complete darkness."
Ludwig Wittgestein, The Blue Book, 1933
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