Origyptian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Martin Stower Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > Origyptian Wrote:
> > -------------------------------------------------------
> > > What I still don't understand is why you continue
> > > to insist that any of that is relevant to the
> > > observations Jon made about those brush strokes.
> >
> > I don’t understand why you don’t understand
> > the implications of citing someone as an
> > “expert” and not just (say) “a bloke who
> > likes fixing old cars”.
>
> Simply because in this case it's not something I
> would expect anyone to accept without verifying
> regardless of the stated expertise of the
> observer. The way I read it is simply Scott
> acknowledging he didn't have the insight to make
> the observation Jon did, so he credits Jon who
> does in fact that the stated credential and who
> made the observation. Otherwise, if Scott had
> instead said "a homeless bloke pointed out to
> me...", it would not change the stated observation
> one iota and, therefore, would be irrelevant to
> me.

Irrelevant to you and therefore irrelevant to everyone else?

Scott did not say “a homeless bloke”. Nor did he say “a bloke who likes fixing old cars”. He said “the independent researcher and art expert, John Snape”. Why do you think he chose the one and not the others?

What’s made credentials an issue in this case is, precisely, Scotts use of the phrase “art expert”. Why not just leave it at “independent researcher”? It’s unobjectionably factual and (we may note) not too far from the “British researcher” which some are confusedly trying to make something of now.

So rarely do I find a point of agreement with you that it’s worth making special note of it here. You, unlike some, are displaying the right attitude: judge the arguments on their merits and not on the credentials of the source. Not sure how far I follow this through, as at some point I will rely on credentialed sources for basic principles—but, only if they make sense to me and I’m persuaded that they know what they’re talking about. On this I’m inclined to agree with Bakunin:

http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/anarchism/FAQquotes/Bakunin2Authority.html

M.