Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Sometimes, the conventional wisdom is quite wrong

Arrest Made In JonBenet Ramsey Case.

Other later stories are reporting a DNA match. So for now it looks like this is the real deal.
UPDATE 9/3/2006: OK, never believe early news reports on sensational stories. The DNA did not match, and the charges were dropped. And the saga continues.....

So -- how many of you were sure the Ramsey's had murdered their own child? It's OK to admit it, but if so many people were wrong about that, what else could people be wrong about.

I can't count the number of stories, radio shows, tv specials, etc. where person after person commented on the overwhelming evidence that the parent's did it. I tired of being laughed at for arguing that we needed to keep an open mind, that you can't just assume stuff, and I imagine most others who didn't accept the conventional wisdom likewise stopped bothering.

When something like this happens, I find it's a good time to re-assess why you are so quick to jump to conclusions and judgment when you don't have all the facts. It seems to be human nature to come to conclusions unsupported by facts, and to judge others in ways we would never want to be judged.

It is now seen as tragic that Mrs. Ramsey lived the last years of her life having to defend herself against charges of killing her own child -- even while she also had to live with her child being brutally murdered, by someone else as we now know. Think about that -- this woman lost her child, and rather than being comforted, a good portion of the population blamed her for the death.

I still think O.J. Simpson killed his ex-wife. Sorry, I just can't bring myself to believe otherwise.

1 comment:

Charles said...

Of course, I could have spoken too soon about this "suspect". Rather than change what I wrote, let me just add that this man, JUST LIKE the Ramsey's, deserves to not have us jump to conclusions (I was decieved by the reports of a DNA match, which may in fact be true but may not be).