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| | | I was further surprised to discover that I could not verify the validity of the gun camera footage. The Pentagon has not released an official statement confirming the validity of the footage. And while a number of reputable news sources, including the New York Times, Reuters, and the Associated Press claim to have confirmed the video's authenticity, all relied on unnamed sources. Thus, I could not point to incontrovertible evidence that the footage is valid. | |
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< | Further issues cropped up. Wikileaks significantly edited the short video, playing with the chronology of the events and emphasizing certain scenes to heighten the emotional impact. Having already shown a willingness to play fast and loose with facts, could I really trust that Wikileaks had left the longer version "unedited?" Moreover, the source itself seemed to contain gaps in footage, as recently recognized by Wikileaks (Gawker, CNN at 1:20). My faith that the video was a clear and sufficient source of evidence was misplaced. | >
> | Further issues cropped up. Wikileaks significantly edited the short video, playing with the chronology of the events and emphasizing certain scenes to heighten the emotional impact. Having already shown a willingness to play fast and loose with facts, could I really trust that Wikileaks had left their longer version "unedited?" Moreover, the source itself seemed to contain gaps in footage, as recently recognized by Wikileaks (Gawker, CNN at 1:20). My faith that the video was a clear and sufficient source of evidence was misplaced. | | | Analysis | | | "The sage embraces things. Ordinary men discriminate among them and parade their discriminations before others. So I say, those who discriminate fail to see." | |
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< | "Right is not right, so is not so. If right were really right, it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for argument...Forget the years; forget distinction. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!" | >
> | Zhuangzi did not write about analyzing evidence. He wrote about what it means to live a harmonious life. Nevertheless, a couple of ideas struck me as particularly relevant to this topic. There is the notion of relativity and perspective: what seems natural to a fish seems wrong to a snake, yet who is qualified to judge which is more correct? There is the error of intellectual overconfidence--believing unknowable things to be knowable, or, in a more basic sense, believing that one knows anything at all. Finally, there is the example of the perfect man--an individual who, among other attributes, does not struggle against the facts of life but embraces things as they are, good and bad.
These ideas interrelate. For example, do we know that death is a bad thing, or that the dead are less happy than the living? If one can dream of being a butterfly, is it not possible that one is a butterfly dreaming of being a man? Is not uselessness a virtue, given that the useless live life unmolested by outside pressures? Zhuangzi likes existential questions, and uses them to challenge assumptions. | | | | |
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< | Over the past week, I decided to revisit some favorite readings. Zhuangzi, a Daoist philosopher, was among the authors I read. A couple of ideas struck me as particularly relevant to this topic. There is the notion of relativity and perspective: what seems natural to a fish seems wrong to a snake, yet who is qualified to judge which is more correct? There is the error of intellectual overconfidence--believing unknowable things to be knowable, or, in a more basic sense, believing that one knows anything at all. Finally, there is the example of the perfect man--an individual who, among other things, does not struggle against the facts of life but embraces all things as they are, good and bad. | >
> | "Right is not right, so is not so. If right were really right, it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for argument...Forget the years; forget distinction. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!" | | | | |
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< | My reading of Zhuangzi brought home the need to maintain an open and critical perspective towards evidence. | >
> | (My reading of Zhuangzi brought home the need to maintain an open and critical perspective.) | | | Work in progress...
A quick note - Ron: after our discussion, I reconsidered my earlier comments and have taken another approach to editing your paper. Please don't hesitate to contact me - either on this page or by email - if you have concerns about the direction I have taken this paper in or if you have additional tips. Many thanks for the explanation, and congratulations on completing the school year. Best wishes for a great summer! -David |
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