Re: Kyoto
WIAF,
In my work I have seen a man with grade 7 and a lifetime of practical experience have far more expertise than the engineers he worked with. Ditto on the physician.
No. When confronted by two differing opinions by experts, non-experts such as I can best form an opinion by comparing the two expert opinions, since both will carry equal authority.
Why yes I can remember what caused this. Once again, quoting myself;
WIAF,
They certainly have knowledge in their field, but the expertise could be contaminated by individual bias.Quote:
No-one needs credentials in order to gain the expertise, not me, not you, not John Daly.
However, those who persue academic credentials and publish their research are de facto experts in their respective fields.
Depending on the nature of the field, expertise may also entail practical experience beyond "arm-chair" learning (I don't know if I would trust an armchair civil engineer or physician).
In my work I have seen a man with grade 7 and a lifetime of practical experience have far more expertise than the engineers he worked with. Ditto on the physician.
Expertise can also be determined by observation of the results produce. Daly's results have confirmed his expertise. Me, expert?The expertise of those without formal credentials can only be assessed by other experts. Are you an expert?
No. When confronted by two differing opinions by experts, non-experts such as I can best form an opinion by comparing the two expert opinions, since both will carry equal authority.
Nice circular argument, but not mine. His work has proved to be accurate, more accurate than his opponents. That is a proof of expertise. Were he still alive, any future work would be given more weight because of past performance.Moreover, I'm beginning to see an argument that runs like this, "Daly was an expert, because of his work. We should trust his work because he was an expert."
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it fraud, but I would say that his work was heavily influenced by his a priori beliefs.Still, perhaps you should look up "fraud" in your Cassells English Dictionary and reconcile the definition to your description of Mann's research.
Quote:
Why would you expect me to remember his exact words from 15 or 20 years ago?
…., yet you can't remember what caused this?
Why yes I can remember what caused this. Once again, quoting myself;
From the way you pursue this, I must assume that you have an infallible memory for all past events, no matter how trivial, or you keep an incredibly precise diary of all your mundane thoughts and activities. I, on the other hand, have to rely on an average memory which doesn't recall all the details from 20 yrs. ago.I remember why. He was spreading falsehoods about our forest practices….
Why would you want that?. The graph speaks for itself. Its’ purpose is to convey the authors conclusions to us. That conclusion is at odds with reality. If there were no records to compare to, then the only way to know whether the graph was correct or not would be to go through all the background work, which would require the expertise you’re talking about. Fortunately, we have recorded reality, so anyone with the ability to only read a graph can see that it is wrong.Quote:
Mann et al, Geophysical Research Letters, 1999
You have, of course, read the article that accompanies Figure 3, haven't you? Perhaps you would provide a short yet enlightening excerpt?