Michael,
I've been working in the forum to be at one with honoring you for your many positive contributions and service to the hang gliding community. And I am daily seeking ways to be supportive of your good reputation.
The challenges of the recent complex communications facing many of us may bring all of us up a notch in positive reputation. Any smacking faux pas in our discourse in this forum may beckon correction; a start would be to avoid any further error in our text to the best of our abilities; suggestion: let's all try during this effort to make errors; consider staying out of others' minds and souls while facing just ideas; and if we do make a transgression: pause and correct with apology. Then work on earlier opportunities at correction as needed. Bring forward forgiveness when asked sincerely. Publish corrections and clarifications as deserved. The work will be worth it, I bet.
Michael, as I've known both you and Bob, I easily have in me a trust that neither one of you would choose deliberately tell untruths. So, I am looking for points of misunderstanding, non-intentional errors of statement, differences in assumption sets, inadvertent errors of logical argument, inadvertent talking on different pages, and differences of definitions being applied. And the like.
As one point of start, I'd like to get on the same "page" concerning lying and liar; could we agree that inadvertent forwarding untruth is not lying but rather error making neutrally? And "lying" and "liar" reserved for deliberate intentional deception by forwarding untruth? Let's see if we may share that in common. If someone confesses: "I intended to deceive by giving an untruth." Then we have a person who confesses to be a liar. But before absolute truth about intention is revealed, then trusting that one is trying to tell the truth might work for discourse better. When a proposition is proved wrong, then under this scheme, the promoter of the untrue proposition would not be called a "liar" but simply as one who forwarded something that was not true. A cooperative participant seeing the proof could choose to assent to the difference; no need for drama, but maybe only for thanksgiving for learning. What say us on this matter? May we reserve "liar" to one who deliberately deceives?
Some propositions may be difficult to prove as true or false. And a proposition might be true in one system or perspective while being not true within a different system or perspective. My son's meeting had an example: He held up a ball to his audience and asked what color was the ball; the audience said "blue" and they felt true in their perspective; but he said of the ball: "it is white". And in his perspective the ball was white. The fact was that the ball had blue on one side and white on the other side. After some wrestling all saw a higher fact: the ball was blue and white. In one system the ball was blue. In another system the ball was white.
May we trace over recent statement and claims and allow for the possibility of different perspectives, allow for possible overstepping into intentions, beliefs, and motivations. One may have an opinion or guess about another's intentions, beliefs, motivations, and value systems; but without near divine vision or a clear report from a person about their value system, their full perspective, their motivations, their intentions, or their beliefs, then an author or speaker about another has a disadvantage point of view and left with scratching via guess, approximations, and speculation; evidence might mount to support an opinion or view, but proof over beliefs, intentions, and motivations seems very very difficult; and blanketing conclusionary statements on those aspects of another person is wrought with potential misses; it is better to ask for reports from a person about those aspects, I am holding. E.g., do you believe that ______? What were your motivations for doing that? Let them report that which is behind their statements and actions. We may objectively face many matters without declaring what is behind a person's interior veils. Suggestions and opinions may be tools of investigation. May we honor the mystery of person by hesitancy to pierce the personal veil.
Soon,
Joe