Miles Jackson wrote:
>
> I understand
> how vivid anecdotes can lead a person to distrust
> professionals in a field (I'm sure we can all tell
> doozies about psychotherapists, doctors, lawyers,
> and college professors), but I think our
> judgments of the usefulness of a profession should
> be based on systematic data. (Again with the
> data! I never let up on that, do I? I'm well
> indoctrinated, I guess.)
>
I don't think this can be emphasized too much -- a goodly proportion of human ignorance proceeds from paying too much attention (or any at all for that matter) to "vivid anecdotes." Anecdotage is the most undependable of all sources of knowledge. When I taught freshman comp I made this almost the center of my teaching, but I'm not sure I ever convinced many students!
Carrol