4 ms·
As someone who has done some experimental work, I can appreciate how emails like this sound bad but may actually not be. With every set of data, there is a lot
by psyklic 17y ago
As someone who has done some experimental work, I can appreciate how emails like this sound bad but may actually not be.
With every set of data, there is a lot of additional information necessary for interpreting it. I'm sure that if someone is just given my raw data, for example, it is open to interpretation -- however, ALSO given the "metadata" (which is often in my lengthy, informal lab journal), the rationale behind my interpretation is more clear ...
If I had to explain every little nuance to amateurs and explain why their interpretations are incorrect, I would certainly not have much time left in my day!
- fauigerzigerk 17y agoAnd therefore you would start deleting emails, ask others to delete emails, claim that original data has been lost when it has not in fact been lost, etc? What would you do if you have a hypothesis and you see that from a particular date onwards the data doesn't support your hypothesis? I think you would try to find out why that is. And if your work directly influences policy and taxes and living standards you might have to provide an explanation that "amateurs" can understand because "we the amateurs" are the same as "we the people" mentioned there: http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/preamble http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/preamble
- Tichy 17y agoI could see myself starting emails if somebody hacked my accounted and started publishing my private correspondence.
- fauigerzigerk 17y agoObviously it's not desirable to have email accounts hacked. But what has emerged so far is work related correspondence of public employees working on publicly funded projects. And the content of those emails is about trying to hide data that is supposed to be subject to public scrutiny and peer review. Depending on what kind of organisation you work for, deleting that kind of "private correspondence" may constitute a crime. It has been suggested that some of the data these people were trying to hide was subject to a FOI request (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_2000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_2000). I don't know if that's actually the case, but if it is we may see prosecutions in the future.
- Tichy 17y agoI didn't follow this in detail, so far I have mostly seen some words taken out of context that can mean one thing or another. Personally I prefer not to judge words that are taken out of context. In that sense, I suppose an actual prosecution would be a good thing, to end all the senseless speculation.