Truth, strike two

[ciphergoth]

Thanks for some interesting and surprising responses to the JFK question. At the risk of creating more heat than light, let me try another example, one that I think might be a little less comfortable to be neutral about.

It seems that many people believe that on the morning of September 11, 2001, four thousand or more Israelis who were working at the World Trade Center did not show up for work.

Are those people wrong?

(Update: amended as per ajva's caveat)

Comments

[djm4]

(taking ajva's rewording as read, since I don't think you're trying to pull off atrick question here:)

What do you mean by 'wrong' (serious, non-snarky question)? I think with a question like this, it's important to be clear, and Bad Stuff will happen if we confuse the meanings.

'Wrong' as in 'what they believe is factually incorrect'? Well, snopes disagrees, and I generally trust their fact checking, but I didn't personally clock everyone in and out.

'Wrong' as in 'wrong to believe it in good faith despite the evidence, because they have other evidence'? I don't feel that I have an authoritative answer on that one, and 'wrong' seems too strong a word in that case, although I'd probably use it in casual conversation and then backpedal shamelessly if challenged about it.

'Wrong' as in 'morally-wrong anti-Semites who are willfully ignoring the evidence because of their own prejudices'? Quite possibly, although they would probably think the equivalent about me.

There are many shades of grey between those, of course, and almost certainly more meanings I haven't considered. But my general answer to that question is 'yes, they're wrong'.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I mean "mistaken". I think it would just about be possible to think this and not be a screaming anti-Semite so long as you were mind-numbingly gullible.

I'm not asking for 100% certainty, just enough confidence in your opinion that if you heard someone saying that, you'd contradict them. It sounds like you would contradict this if you heard it.

[djm4]

Probably, if I were minded to say anything at all. Despite my reputation, I don't always lose sleep over Someone Being Wrong On The Internet, still less The Victoria Line.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I wasn't imagining strangers on the Victoria Line! Feel free to substitute some more contradiction-friendly environment.

[djm4]

I was reading '...you would contradict this if you heard it', as too much of a moral imperative, then; my apologies.