Immigration and Clear Thinking

I get a lot of "reader comments" on the issues I choose to write about. This is a good thing for my editors since this means more readers and more readers mean more advertising revenue. It is good for me too in the sense that I do get some of the greatest writing topics from readers who write me. It can also be a bad thing?sometimes a very bad thing.

What I enjoy are those readers' comments in which readers will take the time to attempt to offer me counter-arguments to the particular position I take in the op-ed pieces I write. What I mean is that there are some readers who realize that the process of clear and linear thinking is not an easy task. It takes work-hard work. One is not always successful-especially your humble columnist.

And, when a reader takes the time to carefully craft and linearly constructed counter-argument, I appreciate it to no end. I appreciate the effort. I enjoy the challenge.

However, most readers' responses I get are NOT carefully crafted, well-constructed counter-arguments. Without fear of contradiction, the vast majority of readers' responses I get are not just poorly constructed but are not counter-arguments at all. Let me give you an example. Here is someone who was attempting, and I credit her for the attempt, to challenge some pieces I wrote on the illegal alien issue:

"And by the way, everything - the numbers, and the data I stated here - I can prove to you if you want me to. It is all true."

This person believed that if she backed the dump truck up, pulled the lever, and dumped a deluge of "stats and facts" that this would constitute "proof" for her Minuteman Project position. She apparently believed that the "preponderance" of "facts" she could provide me constituted "proof" that she was right and I was wrong.

Let me say that I did appreciate this person's attempt. Never once did she resort to the usual fare I encounter: threats to my life, wild profanity, ad hominem, asking what rock I crawled out from under, etc? She tried.

The problem with her reasoning, and which vexes me that Americans do not seem to be able to engage in critical thinking to see this, is that she really sincerely believed her own self-proclamation, "It's all true".

A proclamation of something being true does not constitute proof of a claim. This person is assuming that her evidence is so overwhelming that only a nimrod, a ding-dong could doubt the claims she is supporting with "the data". However, unless this person's "data" can be shown to be the result of the "test of experimentation" then it would be mere speculation and thus the reader would be committing the fallacy of "Selective Use of Evidence".

The issue I think the Minuteman folks seems to miss completely is that when they attend their conferences where their gurus stand before them to rally the forces how do they know whether they are being fed correctly obtained data? How do they know when they are being told the truth and not rehashed rhetoric that is committing the "selective use of statistics" error in critical thinking?

This is a hard question and it is a hard thing to solve.

How do we know that we are using proper and honest statistics in the point we are trying to prove or in the axe we are trying grind? My Minuteman Project readers often miss this point entirely in that they kept sending me e-mail after e-mail with attachments, texts, and entire PDF e-books from so-called experts.

I couldn't possibly read them all!

Those I did read were mainly the rehashing of the same quoted truckload of unproven claims. And they were all some form or another of a work by an "expert" with more degrees behind their names than the weather.

What was lacking in the stats sent to me was the "test of experimentation". And when there were studies quoted there was a total absence of "peer review". In other words, no one replicated (or was able to replicate) the studies.

"The secret language of statistics, so appealing in a fact-minded culture, is employed to sensationalize, inflate, confuse, and oversimplify," warns Huff.[1]

Frankly, I do not believe my Minuteman Project readers get that point at all. Nor do I believe that my Minuteman Project readers understand that because someone is an M.D. or a Ph.D. that they are immune to biases and even dishonesty. Even so-called experts can and do have ulterior motives in reporting "studies" in an attempt to support their biases.

The example I reported is that the Minuteman and their kind will tell you in no uncertain terms that all of America is on the verge of being wiped out of existence by tuberculosis. Yet, when I contacted the CDC, they were not of that opinion.

The Minuteman will use quotes from degreed individuals but who never cite the studies from which they originated nor the "peer reviewed" studies and subsequent results. This is so vital that I cannot risk overstating it:

Honest scientists INSIST upon repeatable experiments! This means that properly conducted experiments have to be able to have their steps repeated by objective third-party scientists-who have no axe to grind--who will come up with the same results in order to establish REAL facts and not just speculations!

You cannot have the PROPER use of statistics if you do not have PROPERLY OBTAINED statistics to quote. Proper stats are the direct result of the properly constructed TEST OF EXPERIMENTATION!

I honestly do not believe that the Minuteman and all their kind get that! Maybe they never will. If they are committing themselves to the Proper Use of Evidence then they should be able to show how that evidence was obtained! They should be able to show, from start to finish, the test constructed to obtain the data, the replication studies, what the result could or could not mean, etc?

To date I have seen nothing of the kind!

[1] America's Anti-Mexican Xenophobia, by Doug Bower

Freelance writer, Syndicated Columnist, and book author, Doug Bower, has written a compelling new book titled, AMERICA'S ANTI-MEXICAN XENOPHOBIA. Have you wondered if the Minuteman Project is really on the "up and up"? Have you wondered if they represent all that is good and right with America-paragons of patriotic virtue? Doug Bower may have the answers you've been looking for. FREE CHAPTER: http://www.lulu.com/content/140958

---

What are Seduction Lairs?

Are you familiar with Seduction Lairs and how to use... Read More

Online Dating Tips ? Creating Personal Ads

Creating a personal ad for online dating services is not... Read More

Online Dating Tips For Success

So the search for the perfect relationship is tuff. You... Read More

How to Finally Approach the Women You Lust for

We've all been there. You have been meeting her accidentally... Read More

Male and Swinging Single

As a single male trying to enter into the lifestyle... Read More

Dating On-line in Safety

Dating online can be great fun, stimulating and exciting. So... Read More

Using the Internet as a Method for Adult Dating

In this day and age, many find it hard to... Read More

How to Find True Love Quickly And Easily

How often do you find yourself wishing you could find... Read More

Dos and Donts for Men on Dating Sites

Men, learn how to behave on dating and personals sites.Being... Read More

The Best Way to Pick Up a Girl

You see her across the room. Ah, so attractive. But... Read More

Dating Advice for Men: Why Some Women Like Em Younger

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Your... Read More

Dating Tips - Prepare To Impress

At first dating is fun but as you go on... Read More

Guys, Do Your Pickup Lines Always Get Met with Turn Downs?

It's unbelievable how many guys have this problem!I mean, you... Read More

A Real Man

Something I find 100% humor in is the fact that... Read More

How to Tell if a Single Woman is Really Interested in You

It's very important to learn how a single woman acts,... Read More

Web Cams: Windows on the World

The webcam has brought a truly amazing variety of experience... Read More

Dating Tips for Matchmaking and Friend Finder Sites

Three years ago, I met my boyfriend Andy through the... Read More

What To Put On A Dating Site Profile And What To Leave Out

Your dating site profile is the most important tool you... Read More

Dating Tips: The First Impression Matters

Ever had a love at first sight encounter? Totally captured... Read More

Online Dating

Dating has become easier for everyone due to the emergence... Read More

e-Matchmaking: Can a Computer Program Find Love For You?

I logged on to a dating site the other day... Read More

Creating a Great Online Dating Profile

First impressions are important, which is why it is essential... Read More

5 Signs Why He Wont Leave His Wife

LadiesYes, we all have a friend who is or has... Read More

Use The Fated Encounter For First Date Seduction Success

Every woman has a fantasy from the time she was... Read More

Ways to Say I Love You in Another Language

Have you been looking for romantic and provocative ways to... Read More

Online Dating - Needle in a Haystack?

No doubt about it, Internet dating has become a unique... Read More

3 Reasons Why Inner Game Will Help Your Love Life

What Does `Inner Game` Mean?`Inner Game` is what we call... Read More

Are You Making These Body Language Mistakes With Your Hands?

Unfortunately, what you do with your hands can be one... Read More

Your Online Personal Ad- Write For Success!

Where are all the good men/women? You go to parties,... Read More

She Rejected You: Some Reasons Why It Happened & What You Can Do?

There is just something that makes women NOT get attracted... Read More

The Truth About Women Revealed

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to... Read More

How To Have Sex On A First Date

Guys have all different motives for trying to be successful... Read More

The Right Dating Site For You

There are so many dating sites on the net these... Read More