What Makes Us Credible?
Ezra Pound writes, “Any general statement is like a cheque drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it. If Mr. Rockefeller draws a cheque for a million dollars it is good. If I draw one for a million it is a joke, a hoax, it has no value. If it is taken seriously, the writing of it becomes a criminal act.”
This means:
The same statement, uttered by two different people can be more or less credible, depending on what’s backing it up (only take my word for it if you think can justify why I say this.)
Extending certain statements a line of credibility can be more or less risky depending on whether the statement is well thought out and issued in good faith.
Giving a statement the benefit of the doubt is a good thing to do only if you trust the speaker (and trust yourself to be a good judge of trustworthiness).
But all of this begs the question—what does it mean to be Mr. Rockefeller in the world of ideas? Where, exactly, is the bank we can go to check our balances? (I can imagine a dystopia where people have metaphysical FICO scores).
What makes you credible and how do you decide when to grant credibility to others? Is credibility domain-specific (the same person can be trust-worthy in one field and non-believable in another) or is it generalizable?
I think the real joke would be rockefeller walking to a people's bank with a check. Maybe he can only ask for it and it becomes. I think power is no excuse to not try to achieve that power. We people can get power and manage each time bigger actions with bigger consequences in the world. Credibility is what make us be who we are. Discrimination I think is a different thing we can put on the table for this situation.