Re: Credibility of the Internet (was: User-centered design)

[Steven Feldberg <steven -at- ICU -dot- COM>]

Tracy wrote:
> If I believe I know the truth, I can say "this is true."

Yes, of course. We all do that everyday. I guess what it boils down to is:
once you have stated, "this is true," how well prepared are you to answer
to, "How do you *know* this is true?" (This was, once upon a time, hammered
into my head by a newspaper editor who threw that at me every time a fact
was presented in one of my pieces, and has now been picked up by my kids :)

So how *do* you know this is true? If the answer is "because I just know it
is" then, yes, the recipient must "decide whether to believe [you] actually
know what [you're] talking about." (And I'm sure that's good enough for me!)
BUT if you can answer, "because I read it in a Peter Lewis article in
Tuesday's Times" or "because I went to the library, reviewed the patent
records, and found to my satisfaction that so-and-so actually did invent the
whatsit according to patent number 999 which was filed ....".  If you can
answer like that, the message recipient is no longer forced to rely on an
on-the-fly assessment of your "belief" in what you're saying. And even if
the question doesn't get asked--and it almost never is--then at least you
have a citable basis for *knowing* what you know.

No more, no less than that.

/Steven
Feldberg Communications
steven -at- icu -dot- com

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