Witness Evidence

[bennyboy]

There are three ways to gain knowledge. Through logic/reason, personal experience, and testimony from others. I wished to discuss the latter.  I have had a number of people of conversations where people outright deny testimony in certain situations.  In others they lean towards scientism. I believe both are incorrect.  This is not to say that every testimony is good, or that science is not profitable for knowledge.  To just deny testimony or automatically label them as fables is to remove a key portion of our path to knowledge.

Okay, let's say I learn about physics from the "testimony" of a professor. I may believe what he says or I may not. Let's say I do not-- now what? Either he will have to demonstrate the truth of his testimony, or I will have to decide whether it's worth listening to him anymore. The implication, and it's an important one, is that I COULD choose, at any time, to question him, and to demand a means by which to attain the knowledge through personal experience.

Let's say a professor claims to have produced cold fusion. I get excited and say "Show me, show me!" and he starts talking about how only he can understand the readouts on the computer, how only he has the right stuff to intepret the data, and that it is very important that I "just believe" him. How should I respond?

The kind of testimony you are talking about lacks this important criterion: that if I don't believe, someone will be able to bring to my personal experience whatever they are testifying about. So if I don't believe John Smith murdered Jane Doe, and have only your word for it, then I will disregard your testimony. If I don't believe Jesus died and was resurrected three days later, then your testimony to that effect is unlikely to change my mind.

Now, in neither case does my disbelief have anything to do with the truth. It may be that John Smith DID murder Jane Doe. It may be that Jesus DID die and get resurrected. However, I've met enough liars and fools in my life, and heard enough obviously false testimony, that I'm unlikely to spend much time considering hearsay. There's just nothing in it for me.