Posted by rpcman on November 24, 1998 at 11:57:35:
In Reply to: don't hold me to any of this .. I may be wrong. posted by njili on November 24, 1998 at 11:36:13:
: I choose to accept those conclusions which make me feel most comfortable.
I'm not sure if this is the best methodology unless you define "most comfortable" to mean "most evidence and most convincing arguments".
I'd be much more comfortable with a conclusion that I'm a billionare who will live forever in total peace, happiness, and with continual excitement and adventure to boot. However, I reject such a conclusion because it is delusional, does nothing to really help me, and is based far more on wishful thinking than an objective look at the evidence.
On your other comment about being able to "find data (experts and evidence) to back totally opposing conclusions" I disagree. While the data is sometimes controversial or unresolved, you need to examine the so-called experts' prejudices and methodologies to see through their opinions to the facts. Facts are seldom in complete contradiction and should always be weighted accordingly (ie. if you have fifty items pointing in one direction and one item pointing in another you probably shouldn't ignore the fifty.)