Re: His Highness's New Clothes

[many waters cannot quench love <lisa@technomancer.com>]

Poster: many waters cannot quench love <lisa@technomancer.com>


scripsit giacomo:

> Allright here we go.   There is never a time to publicly correct an 
> authority figure except in cases were a law is about to be violated or 
> someone is about to get killed.  As a figure of some authority and respect 
> they deserve the courtesy of discrete private consultation on any behaviors. 

the original discussion started because logan expressed two opinions to
the list at large, and other people on the list provided conflicting
opinions and/or facts.  i suspect that you are concatenating "correction
of inappropriate behavior" with "correction of inaccurate facts."  the
onlyine webster's has two connotations for "correct" - the first being to
revise, amend, rectify (constructive) and the second being to rebuke,
punish (punitive).  i think it's possible to do the former without the
latter... 

i can only think of very rare hypothetical instances in which i can
imagine it would be appropriate to offer punitive correction to an
authority figure, publically or otherwise.  but i feel that authority
figures are just as subject to constructive correction as anyone else is,
and in some instances more so because their errors can carry more weight
and thus have more ill effect. 

> All rationalization aside if you were the public person criticized publicly 
> how would you feel. Answer honestly kids it gets scary from here.  How would 
> you like to be the object of public disrespect.

you make the assumption here - which i cannot let stand unchallenged -
that it is impossible to correct someone without criticizing them or
disrespecting them.  milord, if i am teaching a rapier class and i tell my
students that a triplette fencing jacket counts as impenetrable material,
would i not be incorrect?  and would it not be appropriate for you to
correct my error, lest it lead my class into error and possible harm? 

such corrections can be (and too often are) administered with a
sledgehammer, it's true.  but it IS possible to correct an error without
ripping the person who made the error, and if the error is made in a
public forum where others may be affected by it then the correction is
most efficacious if offered in the same forum.  (if for no other reason
than starting interesting debates like this one... ;) )

						in service,

							melys

lisa@technomancer.com		lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'intrate!

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