To What Extent is Objectivity Possible?

• If objectivity is impossible, then we know nothing about the world
• Objectivity is a work-in-progress.
• You can’t just put your emotions aside, but you need to be cautious with them

Where Mistakes Come In

1. Misinterpreting Senses:
   • “Our senses don’t lie”: Your sense of sight may perceive a mirage, but the lie happens when you misinterpret it as water instead of a mirage
2. Words & Language:
   • Error can come in as soon as we begin organizing experiences into words.
3. Pleasure & Pain:
   • Physical: Errors come in when you relate the feeling to life in general
   • Emotions: Thinking shapes over time what gives you emotional pleasure/pain

Other People…:

• …Are potential sources of every type of mistake above
• …And they can also willfully lie.

3 Basic Requirements of Reliable Testimony

Testimony: Any learning from other people that goes beyond your own direct experience.

1. Qualifications
   • “Is this person in a position to have this knowledge?”
     • e.g., Education, training, reputation (references from other qualified)
     • “Was this eyewitness really there/mistaken/etc.?”
2. Motive / Character
   • “Does this person care/have reason to lie/focused/etc.?”
3. Logic of what the person says
   • e.g., Test results, the person can explain the results to you.