Sunday, December 11, 2016

Process in relation to climate change

How does Sherlock Holmes know?

He knows by following clues and developing new clues from old.

He does not know instantaneously. He does not chew over the idea that the butler did it for a few hours or a few days and then come out and announce to the whole world: 'Yes the butler did it!' Sherlock Holmes does not proceed in this fashion.

He needs clues. He has to follow a process--a process in which he looks for clues, figures out what they mean, from which answers he then develops more clues, and so on, and on, until the truth finally reveals itself to him. There can be nobody else except the butler.

Truth hinges on a process. The process leads to the conclusion, the butler did it. It is not Sherlock Holmes saying so; it is the process.

Under the rule of law, guilt is also determined by process. You have to go through a certain process before you can say, the person accused has broken the law.

Under the rule of law, you cannot send a person to prison without following due process.

Is there climate change caused by human activities? How are we to answer this question? By chewing it over for hours and days? Or by looking to some process?

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