(November 10, 2015 at 11:31 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote: So what strengthens testimony (or the lack of decreases it's worth). Collaborating testimonies and evidence can verify what a witness reports. As with any evidence multiple pieces that tell the same story are less likely to be in error in the same way. Time and proximity lessen error. Familiarity will make a testimony more reliable; we can better recognize what we know. We may mistake some details in what we remember or some thing may have more focus or less (given the person witnessing and perspective). But it is rarely completely inaccurate (short of lying).
I'm not saying that witness testimony is the be all... end all. Any evidence needs to be evaluated in light of all other evidence (pro and con), and in regard to it's strengths and weaknesses. And depending on the circumstances, witness testimony may not be reliable at all. Even biases or motivation to lie, can be a strength or weakness (or it may be of null value). It needs to be dealt with given the circumstances and considerations for each account. Hasty generalizations about all testimony and without looking at the facts is both naïve and I believe impossible to live.
Witness testimony can establish what people experience, in a broad sense. It cannot, however, establish that their assessment of their experiences is correct, no matter how many witnesses make the same assessment. For example, many people believe God has come into their hearts and "shown them the way." They had similar emotional experiences, and have drawn similar conclusions. However, their testimony is garbage, because they have not established any reliable method by which to self-assess their decision-making processes, nor are they able to demonstrate that they've arrived at their conclusion by anything other than wishy-thinking.
