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Archiver > TMG > 2002-06 > 1023106116


From: "Darrell A. Martin" <>
Subject: [TMG] Proof or hearsay (was: Place of death)
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 07:08:36 -0500
In-Reply-To: <a.1fcaadc6.2a2c5ec5@aol.com>


Hi:

When I provide output from TMG, I do not believe I am presenting "proof" of
anything. Instead, what I am trying to do is present my current
understanding about certain events, and provide the reader/viewer with the
evidence which has led me to that understanding. In some cases, my
understanding is, "I have no idea" and the reason is, "I have no evidence
whatever". But in most cases, I can at least guess to within a decade or
two, based on things like birth dates of parents or children, or their
participation in dated events.

Let's say I transcribed from Grand-Aunt Nellie's Bible that
Great-Great-Grandpa Smith was born July 4, 1876, in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and that Bible was lost in a recent plane crash. I would have
no hesitation in continuing to report GGGP Smith's birth as I have in the
past. It is up to the reader/viewer to balance the evidence I present
against any contrary evidence she or he might have, apply his or her own
standards of evidence, and come to his or her own understanding. But if I
have found information taken from that Bible to be reliable as corroborated
by other sources I trust, and yet still say, "I have no idea when or where
Great-Great-Grandpa Smith was born", I am misrepresenting the truth -- not
necessarily about his birth, but certainly about whether I have an idea
about it.

And that is my opinion.

Darrell


Darrell A. Martin
a native Vermonter currently in exile in Addison, Illinois



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