Re: Rattling the Cage

Karl Heinz wrote:

> >Pardon me, but in an open society, nobody should be beyond criticism

B Squared replied:

> I agree with you when it comes to issues of importance, such as
conduct,
> etc.	What I meant in my original comments was that when it comes to
the
> hardships soldiers endure, it would be inappropriate of me, a civilian
with
> a soft life, to belittle them.

I think what it really comes down to is that the critic should know
something about what he or she is criticising.

Thus I don't consider myself to be qualified to criticise a team of
skydivers if they have an accident, or a team of oilriggers if they
appear to cause a spill. I'll leave that to people who have at least
jumped out of an aeroplane once, or someone who's a mineral geologist
with field experience. Because I know just enough about both areas to
know that there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

It's not a moral or ethical issue, it's an issue of informed criticism
vs ignorant interference.

There are few areas of human endeavour - be it warfare, medicine, law,
engineering, or game design where unless you personally have some
experience "in the field" of attempting it, then your opinion is most
likely useless as a means of improving a situation.