<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Do you never get a second opinion when you go to the doc? All I can say is that on day-to-day stuff, probably not, but if its something huge and potentially life-altering, darn right I do, and there's a good chance I'm going to do some research of my own.<br><br>DC</div><div><br>On Jan 1, 2013, at 11:46, Joe Campbell <<a href="mailto:philosopher.joe@gmail.com">philosopher.joe@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>Even in the case of medicine? Do you trust no one? Sorry but I don't believe you!<br><br>I'm not denying that a healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. Actually, I consider myself a bit of a skeptic about almost any topic. <br>
<br>But when push comes to shove and a decision needs to be made and we're considering matters of science in order to set public policy, I don't see a better general rule than "Follow the overwhelming consensus." I don't see "Follow the guy who thinks about it in his spare time instead of the consensus opinion of the experts" as a very good GENERAL rule to follow, and neither do you. Or at least you shouldn't.<br>
<br>That is not dogmatism; it is common sense.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 11:34 AM, Steven Basoa <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sbasoa@moscow.com" target="_blank">sbasoa@moscow.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">On Jan 1, 2013, at 11:11 AM, Joe Campbell wrote:<br>
<br>
>Then we come down to the issue of what I or anyone else should do when given the choice of (a) believing what the majority of experts say on >ANY topic or (b) believing what you say, given that you have no formal training, education, or expertise.<br>
<br>
I have always found that a healthy dose of skepticism is almost always warranted, no matter the subject.<br>
<br>
>The wise decision is (a). Even you will agree in most cases that this general way of thinking is correct.<br>
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Why will Paul agree to this? Because you say so? There you go being dogmatic yet again... ;-]<br>
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-SB<br>
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