To: Lazarus who wrote (1012 ) 6/18/1998 9:24:00 PM From: Dave Bissett Read Replies (1) | Respond to
Lazarus - The flap you're making that is basically about Gary's dictum to "trust no one" is understandable from the standpoint of what one studies in basic classes on Logic, i.e. to the extent that Gary holds himself out to be trustworthy his statement to "trust no one" is a logical contradiction. The classic example of this taught in Logic 101 is the statement "I never tell the truth", which implicitly negates the statement made. So does the speaker tell the truth or doesn't he? The trouble with logical contradictions is that they are implicitly irresolvable. Now, Gary has never said "trust me" explicitly, but has for all intents and purposes held himself out to be trustworthy, so I can understand your distress, if not your attacks. But what would you expect of an honest person? I would expect an honest person to counsel others to "trust no one" in this arena while at the same time doing their best to pass on information which they believed to be true. That is the best one can do, for fundamentally logical contradictions are in fact fundamentally irresolvable. While we're on the subject, one that really gets my goat is the oft repeated statment to "do your own DD", which is all too commonly stated. While that's good advice too, it's hard to understand what this means from a logical standpoint when good DD'ers post completely exhaustive DD and then in the face of later criticism tell others that they should have done their own DD. This makes no sense. (The real and better message is that everyone should be responsible for their own decisions, which is IMO unquestionable.) Anyway, I've never seen a board yet that doesn't contain one or both of these contradictions and IMO they are completely unavoidable. The best course I think is in fact to do your own DD and make your own decisions but also attempt to develop a bit of respect, if not trust, for those who appear honest in their efforts. We all suffer to some degree alone with losses in our own accounts, but at the same time colleagues are very valuable and, as the saying goes, no man is truly an island unto himself. People need each other and they also need to think for themselves at the same time....perhaps the ultimate contradiction in our human experience. I hope you're doing well.
