Once upon a time there was a group of twelve detectives
who were called to a complicated crime scene. ...

Once upon a time there was a group of twelve detectives
who were called to a complicated crime scene. There were
some different groups of witnesses to the crime, as well as
some forensic evidence. There were also two suspects,
one guilty and one innocent.

Two detectives immediately went and began trying to
assemble the basic story of what happened from the
different groups of witnesses.

One of the other ten said, "We can't go by eye-witness testimony

at all. It's notoriously unreliable. We should not even talk
with
the witnesses, lest our forensic analysis be slanted by that.
We're
detectives. Let's just look at the facts!"

Another murmured, "Detectives....yes, the detectivity of us!"
To
which another replied, "Yes, observation and facts. That's like
science.
And science is good, so science has to have the answers." So
another
picked up a bit of dirt on the scene and studied it carefully.
Then he tasted a little of it and said, "I do detect...that this

tastes like.....dirt!" And another detective scribbled down,
"The dirt tastes like....dirt." One of the detectives peered
over his shoulder as he wrote.

The writer looked up at him and said, "Why are you
peering at me?"

"I'm not, I'm peering at what you are writing."

"We should call that peer review! I think I shall go report
on what we detectives have detected here, especially now
that you have peered at it."

So those two detectives left to go publish their findings.

The first two detectives came back to the others and one said,
"I
think we have the general story down and the facts here do not
contradict it. In fact, they support it. Look at those
footprints,
they are the first suspect's size and match his weight, as
well."

The other detectives replied, "What? You're not real detecting
detectives as we are. Just look at what we can detect!" as
one picked up a piece of grass and studied it carefully. Then
he
sniffed it and said, "This smells like....grass!" Another wrote

that down as a detective peered over his shoulder.

Then the group looked at the footprints in the grass and
dirt that the other two detectives had pointed them to.
Then one said, "I detect....grass and dirt! That's all we
*real*
detectives have detected and written about. So that's all that
real detecting detectives like us should be allowed to see!
You two aren't really REAL detectives, like we are.
Just look at the science of us!"

Fortunately, the crowd generally believed the two detectives
who had made an effort to assemble the whole story. Those
who pursued the truth and not those driven by a vanity about
being detectives. For if the detectives more interested in
their
own detections than the truth had been listened to,
an innocent man would have been condemned
and the guilty set free.

The two detectives who got to the truth never were
called "real" detectives by the group, but they got to
the truth. And that was all that mattered to them.
http://mynym.blogspot.com/2005/01/detectives.html#comments
--
--W
http://mynym.blogspot.com/

Once upon a time there was a group of twelve detectives
who were called to a complicated crime scene. There were
some different groups of witnesses to the crime, as well as
some forensic evidence. There were also two suspects,
one guilty and one innocent.

Two detectives immediately went and began trying to
assemble the basic story of what happened from the
different groups of witnesses.

One of the other ten said, "We can't go by eye-witness testimony

at all. It's notoriously unreliable. We should not even talk
with
the witnesses, lest our forensic analysis be slanted by that.
We're
detectives. Let's just look at the facts!"

Another murmured, "Detectives....yes, the detectivity of us!"
To
which another replied, "Yes, observation and facts. That's like
science.
And science is good, so science has to have the answers." So
another
picked up a bit of dirt on the scene and studied it carefully.
Then he tasted a little of it and said, "I do detect...that this

tastes like.....dirt!" And another detective scribbled down,
"The dirt tastes like....dirt." One of the detectives peered
over his shoulder as he wrote.

The writer looked up at him and said, "Why are you
peering at me?"

"I'm not, I'm peering at what you are writing."

"We should call that peer review! I think I shall go report
on what we detectives have detected here, especially now
that you have peered at it."

So those two detectives left to go publish their findings.

The first two detectives came back to the others and one said,
"I
think we have the general story down and the facts here do not
contradict it. In fact, they support it. Look at those
footprints,
they are the first suspect's size and match his weight, as
well."

The other detectives replied, "What? You're not real detecting
detectives as we are. Just look at what we can detect!" as
one picked up a piece of grass and studied it carefully. Then
he
sniffed it and said, "This smells like....grass!" Another wrote

that down as a detective peered over his shoulder.

Then the group looked at the footprints in the grass and
dirt that the other two detectives had pointed them to.
Then one said, "I detect....grass and dirt! That's all we
*real*
detectives have detected and written about. So that's all that
real detecting detectives like us should be allowed to see!
You two aren't really REAL detectives, like we are.
Just look at the science of us!"

Fortunately, the crowd generally believed the two detectives
who had made an effort to assemble the whole story. Those
who pursued the truth and not those driven by a vanity about
being detectives. For if the detectives more interested in
their
own detections than the truth had been listened to,
an innocent man would have been condemned
and the guilty set free.

The two detectives who got to the truth never were
called "real" detectives by the group, but they got to
the truth. And that was all that mattered to them.
http://mynym.blogspot.com/2005/01/detectives.html#comments
--
--W
http://mynym.blogspot.com/