Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1016519
25 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 AUGUST 2018 OPINION quent developments, we still cling to this unhealthy habit of reaching automatic con- clusions, only on the basis of a potentially misleading 'gut-feeling'. Something tells me that sooner or later, this nasty habit of ours is going to lead to serious conse- quences. In the case of the bludg- eoned cat, there is a chance that popular conviction may yet be vindicated. Then again, fresh evidence might emerge to exculpate the number one suspect... hope- fully, before he's already been lynched. The only certainty to date is that we don't know exactly what happened. But this in turn only points towards the truly frightening part of this entire mind-set: for many people, 'knowing exactly what happened' isn't even an important consideration anymore. The only important thing is that – having craned their own necks out to pronounce guilt – they now maintain their own credibility. If proof does emerge to es- tablish that it was NOT the restaurant owner's father who killed that cat... a size- able chunk of those people will continue arguing that it WAS him, and to hell with any proof. They will ques- tion the new evidence; they will conjure up instant con- spiracy theories to explain why the authorities might be 'protecting' the guilty party; they will, in brief, cling to their preconceived notions regardless... because the alternative is to lose face: something very few people are ever willing to do. I could never really under- stand that mentality my- self. There is a fair chance I might lose face with this article, if my doubts turn out to be unfounded. So what? Since when is 'saving face' more important than estab- lishing the truth of any given incident? I mentioned Egrant earlier, so I may as well close on that point. A lot of people who invested their own credibility in that unsub- stantiated allegation over the past 15 months, are now behaving precisely as I de- scribed above: among other things, trying to discredit a reputable magistrate in their zeal to 'prove' that they were all along right... even though there was never any solid evidence to uphold that view in the first place. It is more than evident that their concern is not, ulti- mately, in establishing the truth at all. On the contrary, they are only too happy to obfuscate the truth as much as possible, because it keeps getting in the way of their cherished 'gut feelings'. And the scariest part of it all, is that some of these same people also have the temer- ity to speak out on behalf of 'justice'. If that is their idea of 'justice', then bashing the life out of a cat with a stone must surely constitute 'kind- ness to animals'. I can only hope that these people never not end up becoming judges, magistrates or jurors... after all, they've already appoint- ed themselves 'executioners', and that is way worrying enough. Their concern is not in establishing the truth at all… they are only too happy to obfuscate the truth as much as possible, because it keeps getting in the way of their cherished 'gut feelings' the daytime...