[PREV - CONTAMINATION]    [TOP]

THOUGHT_EXPERT

                                             August 13, 2010


   Granted the known,
   difficulties of
   thinking clearly...            RISK_ASSESSMENT

   Would it be possible to have
   a new "specialty", a generalized         THINKING_HOWTO
   "trained thinker"?

   Someone without the scientist's
   specialized knowledge, but with the
   skills we hope scientists will pick             Analogy to Heinlein's
   up along with their training...                 notion of the "trained
                                                   witness", presented in
     If you had such a class of certified          "Stranger".
     thinkers, what would you do with
     them?  What role would they play?             STRANGER



                                                      (Nov 13, 2011)
    In addition to the training,
    there's the need to guarantee
    independance:

    Strong "full-disclosure" laws,
    and heavy penalties for concealing              FULL_DISCLOSURE
    a finacial connection would help.

    It's difficult to deal with the
    "revolving door" problem, though:

    A long-term implicit agreement to scratch
    backs later is difficult to guard against,
    even when it happens repeatedly.


    And a more subtle problem:
    do they really care if they're caught?
    A scandalous abuse of the system
    would serve to discredit it, and
    that's also a win for the Bad Guys.



--------
[NEXT - FULL_DISCLOSURE]