X-Message-Number: 5842 Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 14:42:59 -0600 (CST) From: Mac Tonnies <> Subject: Green Giraffe terrorizes town--Pictures at 11. One of the problems of the "extraordinary evidence" maxim is the definition of "extraordinary." Who's to say what's extraordinary and what's not? John K. Clark mentioned the difficulty of prooving having seen a green giraffe with the Pope riding and singing "Louie, Louie." This is a good example of an extraordinary claim. Now suppose he had a camera (or, better yet, a camcorder) at the time of this remarkable sighting and was able to get extensive photographic evidence. There's nothing "extraordinary" about clicking a few good Polaroid shots or getting a few minutes of quality footage, but if the case is real, sufficient evidence of this sort can satisfy juries. Ideally, what would happen if people up and down the street saw the Pope cruising on a green giraffe and were able to provide independent collaboration to the town's befuddled local newspaper. Nothing about reporting a strange event is innately "extraordinary," and yet many rational poeple would accept this as evidence that something highly unusual indeed took place pretty much as claimed. The sentiment behind Sagan's sound-bite is a good one, but it allows any self-appointed judge the _decide_ whether the evidence is "extraordinary" enough to fit the claim. Thus the maxim becomes more and more arbitrary and--ironically enough--subjective...possibly more so than the claim/s in question. Mac Tonnies 509 Phillips Hall Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO 64468 (816) 562-6716 http://www.nwmissouri.edu/~0211555/apu.html _=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_ "He runs after facts like a beginner learning to skate, who, furthermore, practices somewhere where it is forbidden." --Franz Kafka Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=5842