Re: Sick of bashers (was: Re: Sick of KB)

[jdrukman%dlsun87@us.oracle.com (Jon Drukman)]

Slap me with a watermelon and call me Muffy, cos Chris Williams
finally said something interesting:

>I defer to the opinions of others when I feel that their knowledge of
>the subject is greater. Andy knows much more about the compositional
>aspects of Kate's music, and I will almost always defer to him on
>those matters. Peter knows far more about the history of Kate's
>career, and I will almost always defer to him on those matters.  Do I
>think their opinions are more valid? Yes.

ah, but are their opinions *objectively* better?  no!  expertise does
not improve the worth of an opinion - an opinion has no objective
value!

>All opinions are not equally valid.

i'd say that this is incorrect.  the whole concept of an opinion means
that it has no objective measurement, thus there can be no validity or
lack thereof assigned to it.  do you have some sort of tally board
where you rank the "kateness" of l-h posters and then decide based on
their Kateness Quotient how worthy of respect their opinion is?

>Everyone has an equal *right* to *voice* an opinion, but to claim
>that all opinions are equally valid makes the entire idea of
>education silly.

says you.

>Why pay big bucks to get the opinions of professors, when you could ask
>anyone on the street for free?

good professors foster a *diversity* of opinions in their classes.
bad ones impose a single viewpoint (usually their own).  ever hear of
the "marketplace of ideas"?

you better watch what you say about teachers, cos my best friend is
one and i'll get quite angry if you start spouting a load of nonsense.

>My opinions about Heavy Metal have *no* validity at all. No one
>should ever ask my opinion about Heavy Metal.

and why not?  your opinion is no better or worse than anyone else's.

>Given that I can accept that my opinions have varying levels
>of validity, I believe everyone has opinions about many different
>subjects, and that some of those opinions are going to be of variable
>quality.

well, you believe wrong things, and it is my unpleasant duty to summon
you back to the reality that us ordinary earthlings inhabit.

i read music newsgroups and subscribe to music mailing lists all the
time because i am *curious* about what other people think about
particular records.  after a period of frequenting a group, i begin to
learn about the people behind the postings.  if you post a glowing
review of an album, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a piece of utter
crap in my eyes because i know what you're like.  on the other hand,
if i read one of Pete Ashdown's thoughtful and intelligent XDZebra
reviews, i know from past experience that my tastes are pretty much in
line with his and i will enjoy stuff that he enjoys.

i have no idea why you're playing this dumb game, chris.  is it
because you truly wish to squash the "wrong thinkers" in this group?

think hard about objective and subjective reality, and also about the
importance of consensus.  reality isn't the absolute you make it out
to be - it's much more flexible.

--
Jon Drukman                                      jdrukman%dlsun87@us.oracle.com
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Always note the sequencer - this will never let us down.