Re: [ga] Since nobody in authority wants to announce it...

[Dave Crocker <dcrocker@brandenburg.com>]

At 10:18 AM 10/27/1999 , J. William Semich wrote:
>If you use a thermometer to test whether you are sick, and the thermometer
>says you have a high fever, it is merely "denial" to question the numbering
>scale on the thermometer. Instead, it is time to try and cure the sickness.
>
>Kilnam's post is a reference to the numbers on the thermometer - those
>numbers indicate the process is not well.


Bill,

Perhaps this seems like old news, by now, but I was reviewing this thread 
and remain dismayed at the dangers it carries.

To carry the example forward:

1.  All thermometers are not accurate.

2.  A person's NORMAL temperature varies over the course of the day.

3.  Different people have different normal temperatures.

4.  Have you tried taking your temperature immediately after coming out of 
a whirlpool spa?


The point, therefore, is to be very careful when claiming that an 
"objective" measure shows that you are sick.

Specifically:

There is a difference between real equality (and real representation, 
and...) versus mechanical conformance to a numbers game.  If we insist on 
the latter, history suggests we will not really get the former.

d/

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