[sustran] Re: Transport of Delight! New Book!

[Carlos F. Pardo]

Dear all,

I think this illustrates a very well known problem in epistemology.
Different ideas of how the world works (or should work) develop into =
strong
arguments that may forget some issues of special relevance. As a
psychologist, I have to agree that there are other points of view of =
life
such as postmodernism that may give us some insights about language as a
builder of reality (by this, I think we all understand that a rock is a
physical object and that when we say that language constructs reality in
language itself). Also, there are other positivist views (in the sense =
of
Hume) that give more importance to verifiable objects than to cognitive
events.

As Mr Richmond has pointed out, I think his main interest is the first =
topic
I have described, and Mr Litman's view is more on the second side of the
story. In order to view transport as a whole, maybe the two perspectives
should be taken into account while going through the exercise of reading =
the
book. From the short (and a bit commercial) summary that appears in =
Amazon,
I think this is fundamentally a qualitative study (3,000 interviews, =
etc),
and it focuses on this kind of data (I presume, discourse analysis and =
all
that stuff). Obviously, results can be different from a purely =
quantitative
point of view and maybe they should be that way. Language doesn't
necessarily respond to physical or statistical reality, and vice versa.=20

I find this discussion quite interesting... but I hope we can arrive at
conclusions instead of hopeless criticisms. Does anyone else have an =
opinion
on this?


*views expressed not necessarily those of any employer.

Best regards,

Carlos F. Pardo
Project Coordinator
GTZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP)
Room 0942, Transport Division, UN-ESCAP
ESCAP UN Building
Rajadamnern Nok Rd.
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel:=A0 +66 (0) 2 - 288=A0 2576
Fax: +66 (0) 2 - 280=A0 6042
Mobile: +66 (0) 1 - 772 4727
e-mail: carlos.pardo at sutp.org
Website: www.sutp.org

-----Mensaje original-----
De: sustran-discuss-bounces+sutp=3Dsutp.org at list.jca.apc.org =
[mailto:sustran-
discuss-bounces+sutp=3Dsutp.org at list.jca.apc.org] En nombre de Jonathan =
E. D.
Richmond
Enviado el: Thursday, March 17, 2005 1:31 PM
Para: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport
CC: UTSG at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Asunto: [sustran] Re: Transport of Delight! New Book!


Todd Litman, you have the nerve to raise issues about my book before you
have even seen it, and all of what you have to say is a manifestation of
your insecurity as an unscientific advocate of rail.

My book does contain a very thorough analysis of the technical issues =
and,
as always with my work, it is entirely impartial and has been reviewed =
by
numerous of my academic peers.

Your alleged findings are not supported by the facts. You really are one
of the people my book talks about, someone who lives in a world of myth.

Most importantly, you should note that the importance of my book is not
in its findings of whether or not rail or bus systems are desirable. =
That
is a sideline. The significance of the book is that it provides insight
into how humans think and make decisions, so that we can muster powers =
of
reflection to make better decisions.

I suggest you read the book before you have anything further to say.

                                  --Jonathan