***-----Original Message----- ***From: CICS [mailto:towle@sbcics.com] ***Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 10:09 AM ***To: MAYFLOWER-L@rootsweb.com ***Subject: [MFLR] Semantics *** *** ***At 04:11 AM 8/19/02 -0600, you wrote: ***>John, ***> ***>The silver books alone are sufficient proof to cite that the ***line is valid. *** ***Don't you mean "evidence" as opposed to proof? Wouldn't DNA be ***the closest thing to "proof" available and usable? *** ***Tom Mmmm. "Proof" in stricter usage is the process of establishing or the establishment of fact from argument or evidence. (It is possible to quibble with that definition I know). The results of a DNA test are evidence, and can be part of a proof. You may consider DNA tests to be more convincing evidence than a written record--I think I would, but I don't know much about them. The Silver Books, I would think, marshal evidence to present proof, and in turn become evidence when an individual uses them to present his own proof of lineage. I think we'd better stop before the list loses patience.