Re: [Harp-L] re: history

["Roscoe Catania" <rjcataniajr@xxxxxxxxx>]

*"Me too"
...now its time to sharpen my quantum theories
Uncle Roscoe
*
On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 5:31 PM, Dave Payne, Elk River Harmonicas <
dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> This thread should have been taken offlist long ago, but you refuse to
> communicate offlist, where there is no audience to whom you may showcase
> your high-school debating skills.
>
> So, I must respond to you calling me an outright liar onlist: In West
> Virginia, calling somebody a liar, especially as you just did, is the most
> heinous of offences and it is certainly something one would only dare do
> from thousands of miles away via Internet ether.  You would never say that
> to my face.
>
> Yet, considering all that, I sit here not succombing to the fiery passions
> of unbridled, medieval anger right now as I should be.
>
> I am simply bored out of my skull.
>
>
> _________________________________
> Dave Payne Sr.
> Elk River Harmonicas
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 4:38:45 PM
> Subject: [Harp-L] re: history
>
> Dave Payne writes:
>
> "John Ross"
>
> It's Jon, as I mentioned previously.
>
>
> "You wrote about a Mr. "Bauschman"
> I want to know who that is. So I asked you who he was.
> You dismiss it as: "A misspelling of Buschmann.""
>
> Exactly, you asked, I answered.  Honestly and directly: I made a
> mistake, I spelled the name wrong because I didn't bother to look it up.
>
> What you did was make a factual claim here:
>
> "I've heard folks say he invented the Richter, but it was probably
> his brother Joseph."
>
> Which you have since recanted claiming to have never actually
> believed what you wrote.  The difference in terms of honest and
> accurate study of history couldn't be greater.  Your actions have at
> least two explanations.  First, if your claim to have not believed in
> the Richter invention hypothesis is true, then you were making a
> false statement in the sentence I quoted above, perpetuating a myth
> which you know to be at best questionable in accuracy.  That is not
> something an historian should do, at least not without pointing out
> the mythical nature of the claim.  If, as I think is far more likely
> the case based on your actions in this thread (continually dismissing
> me for even deigning to point out the problems with this factual
> claim), you honestly believed that a Joseph Richter invented the form
> when you wrote that, then now that you see that this position is
> questionable at best you are lying to try and save face.  That is the
> exact opposite of what I did.  An historian who does that has no
> credibility whatsoever.
>
> The difference between our actions in this matter really couldn't be
> more stark a contrast.
>
> And for the now probably bored harp-l audience, these differences do
> matter.  They go to the heart of honesty in academic and intellectual
> studies.  If the history of the harmonica is important, than the
> practice of how it is presented and how it is studied is equally
> important.  And it must be done with the highest standards, nothing
> less.  That doesn't mean pedantically footnoting everything one
> writes on harp-l--this isn't a scholarly journal and those standards
> don't apply.  But rather, it means being willing to be challenged on
> statements and to deal with these on their face when they come up,
> either by giving sources, reasons for suppositions or the like.
> Perhaps most importantly, it means being able and willing to freely
> and easily admit to being wrong when one makes a mistake.
>
> As for the stuff on nationalism and it's impact on the study of
> history,  I am simply shocked that you didn't deal with these issues
> in classes on historiography when in school. These aren't esoteric
> concepts at all.
>
>
>
>
>   ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
> ()  ()
> `----'
>
>
>
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-- 
rjc