Hi Rob,
You know, there's a type of "knowledge" called "tacit knowledge" (I think the termw as coined by Michael Polanyi) that is "sub-conscious". It's one of the ways that cultural anthropologists are trained to operate, adn it can drive you crazy . What you seem to be describing, Rob, is similar to what we go through about 3 months into fieldwork - a kind of "Nothing makes any sense!! I want to go HOME!! THEY"RE ALL CRAZY!!!" reaction.
"Understanding" is often based on unconscious assumptions about reality. Remember when you were telling us about your CO and his belief in the djinn? That's part of it. After a while, parts of "their" worldview - how they conceove and perceive reality - filters into you brain where it runs head on into "our" worldview. And sometimes, the two don't match. Even "random" decisions are conditioned by your worldview, rather than being truly "random" in the mathematical sense.
There's a limit to the inductive method, and that limit is your comprehension of the reality of the perpetrator. It's one of the reasons I've always found criminal profiling so interesting. Operationally, the important thing would be to identify the body and return him to his family with "honour". Sometimes you just have to say "I don't grok this" and leave it at that <sigh>.
I've always thought well of beer, myself . Maybe the US colleges will institute Heinlein's course in "Doubt" - I think it would prove very usefull.
Marc
Bookmarks