“The problem with truth is its verification, the problem with fiction is its veracity.” It is neither the Internet nor its genealogical aspects that is wrong-headed, suicidal, or genocidal. Deamonizing what transpires across genealogy because of the Internet is wrong-headed. Humans have always chosen what they want to believe, frequently in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Critical reflectivity applied to any claim is intelligence applied whether it is genealogy or something else. Information is neither good nor bad but that reflectivity does make it so. Critically reflective intelligence is what we use to derive the value of someone’s claim, to assign it a truth value. The statment of the original problem in the first post is generically true of every human endeavor, not just of genealogy. Lack of a reflective intelligence leads many to develop a sense of ownership of information and knowldge that is not theirs to own, the is often seen in genealogy lists across the net. I wish no one to suffer fools lightly (I don't), but the proof of the efficacy and accuracy of genealogy on the net is within ourselves as we choose to believe. We define what is credible based upon our own standards for evidence. Garbage in, garbage out only happens when there is no application of intelligence. It does not happen because of a process like the internet genealogy system. If we were to cull from our lives all those things for which there is less than conclusive evidence, we would live lives of narrow isolation. Kat Steward’s post states all of this succinctly when she writes, “I just want to feel comfortable that the information I add is as accurate as possible.” She is the one who defines what it means to “feel comfortable” and what is “as accurate as possible.” She does it with the way she chooses to apply her intelligence. “The problem with truth is its verification, the problem with fiction is its veracity.” Thereby making critical reflectivity the most powerful tool for progressing through internet genealogy as well as through life. Indeed, the opportunity for this Saturday dialogue is all part of a very healthy process called thinking and learning. Randy Hoover DrRHoo@cisnet.com