On 22 Mar 2009 at 21:57, Michael Smith wrote: > Oh sure! > Now you're just substituting one authority(Dr. Rona) for another (Dr. > Schwarcz) And we don't even get to see his statements! Instead they are > relayed through a friend. Reminds me of that book (Urantia?)
You're right about the consequences of missing required readings on TIPS, Michael. You'll have to stay in over recess to make them up. The first point is empirical: Dr. Rona provided no evidence--not a shred--to back up his claim that drinking distilled water is harmful and can lead to early death. I then searched the premier biomedical database in the world--PubMed, and came up with...nothing. I feel confident that no such evidence exists. If someone paid me enough, I would be happy to swill the stuff three times a day to age 100 because I am so sure no detrimental consequences would result. Wanna pay me? So all we have to go on is the authority of Dr. Rona. And seeing what else he's pushing, and the uses (such as selling water filters) to which this "fact" is put, I can have little confidence in his evidence-free assertion that drinking distilled water is dangerous. However, given the credentials of Dr. Schwarcz and the thoughtful quality and scientific knowledge displayed in the many columns of his that I've read, I'm reassured knowing that he feels, as I do, that the claim is "ridiculous nonsense". Sometimes in deciding complex issues we have to depend on the opinion of authority. This is standard practice in court. But we have to make sure our authority really is worth listening to, rather than pretending to an expertise he/she doesn't have. My first choice is to examine the evidence. But expert opinion can be a valuable supplementary source of information. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
