On 12 August 2011 18:09, Andrew Gray <[email protected]> wrote:

> I haven't seen Ken's particular case, but I've seen similar ones.
> Citing a print source is fine, but some (particularly querulous)
> people will occasionally challenge the print source because they don't
> believe what it says. In doing so, they'll argue that the person
> citing it can't be trusted, or that the transcription referred to is
> inaccurate, or - in this case - that there is something inherently
> wrong with the scanned file referred to. See, for example,
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Kurt_Meyer_(SS_general) which used
> this style of argument before moving swiftly on to denying the
> existence of anyone who'd ever read the book.
> It's a conceptually silly argument - it basically amounts to assuming
> deliberate deception at some point in the chain of evidence, which
> isn't a reasonable assumption in 98% of cases - but if someone is
> insistent enough, they can probably stonewall with it until the other
> party throws their hands up and gives in. And, sooner or later, we all
> do.


That's a rather different claim than that it is standard and accepted
practice, which is what Ken was clearly implying.


- d.

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