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Consensus theory of truth

A consensus theory of truth is the process of taking statements to be true simply because people generally agree upon them.

Consensus gentium
An ancient criterion of truth, the consensus gentium (Latin for agreement of the people), states "that which is universal among men carries the weight of truth" (Ferm, 64). A number of consensus theories of truth are based on variations of this principle. In some criteria the notion of universal consent is taken strictly, while others qualify the terms of consensus in various ways. There are versions of consensus theory in which the specific population weighing in on a given question, the proportion of the population required for consent, and the period of time needed to declare consensus vary from the classical norm.

Consensus as a regulative ideal
A descriptive theory is one that tells how things are, while a normative theory tells how things ought to be. Expressed in practical terms, a normative theory, more properly called a policy, tells agents how they ought to act. A policy can be an absolute imperative, telling agents how they ought to act in any case, or it can be a contingent directive, telling agents how they ought to act if they want to achieve a particular goal. A policy is frequently stated in the form of a piece of advice called a heuristic, a maxim, a norm, a rule, a slogan, and so on. Other names for a policy are a recommendation and a regulative principle.

A regulative ideal can be expressed in the form of a description, but what it describes is an ideal state of affairs, a condition of being that constitutes its aim, end, goal, intention, or objective. It is not the usual case for the actual case to be the ideal case, or else there would hardly be much call for a policy aimed at achieving an ideal.

Corresponding to the distinction between actual conditions and ideal conditions there is a distinction between actual consensus and ideal consensus. A theory of truth founded on a notion of actual consensus is a very different thing from a theory of truth founded on a notion of ideal consensus. Moreover, an ideal consensus may be ideal in several different ways. The state of consensus may be ideal in its own nature, conceived in the matrix of actual experience by way of intellectual operations like abstraction, extrapolation, and limit formation. Or the conditions under which the consensus is conceived to be possible may be formulated as idealizations of actual conditions. A very common type of ideal consensus theory refers to a community that is an idealization of actual communities in one or more respects.

Critiques
It is very difficult to find any philosopher of note who asserts a bare, naive, or pure consensus theory of truth, in other words, a treatment of truth that is based on actual consensus in an actual community without further qualification. One obvious critique is that not everyone agrees to consensus theory, implying that it may not be true by its own criteria. Another problem is defining how we know that consensus is achieved without falling prey to an infinite regress. Even if everyone agrees to a particular proposition, we may not know that it is true until everyone agrees that everyone agrees to it. Bare consensus theories are frequent topics of discussion, however, evidently because they serve the function of reference points for the discussion of alternative theories.

If consensus equals truth, then truth can be made by forcing or organizing a consensus, rather than being discovered through experiment or observation, or existing separately from consensus. The principles of mathematics also do not hold under consensus truth because mathematical propositions build on each other. If the consensus declared 2+2=5 it would render the practice of mathematics where 2+2=4 impossible.

Imre Lakatos characterizes it as a "watered down" form of provable truth propounded by some sociologists of knowledge, particularly Thomas Kuhn and Michael Polanyi.

Philosopher Nigel Warburton argues that the truth by consensus process is not a reliable way of discovering truth, that there is general agreement upon something does not make it actually true.

There are two main reasons for this:

 * 1) One reason Warburton discusses is that people are prone to wishful thinking.  People can believe an assertion and espouse it as truth in the face of overwhelming evidence and facts to the contrary, simply because they wish that things were so.
 * 2) The other one is that people are gullible, and easily misled.

Related topics

 * Belief
 * Conventionalism
 * Epistemology
 * Information
 * Inquiry

 * Knowledge
 * Pragmatism
 * Pragmaticism
 * Pragmatic maxim

 * Reproducibility
 * Scientific method
 * Testability
 * Verifiability theory of meaning

title: Consensus theory of truth


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Behind the Music

Behind the Music is a documentary television series that initially aired on VH1 and streams on Paramount+ since July 2021. Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group, examining career beginnings, roads to success and any resultant hardships.

Premise
Each show focuses on a musician or musical group, documenting both the successes of the musicians and the problems they faced during their careers. Except for the first two episodes (which focused on Milli Vanilli and M.C. Hammer), all programs are narrated by Jim Forbes. Forbes was later used to narrate the Milli Vanilli episode when it was modified to include the death of Rob Pilatus. The UK airings of the episodes focusing on Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith and Genesis were narrated by Mary Anne Hobbs while Forbes narrated the US airings.

VH1's criterion for choosing the musicians who appear on the show is, in many cases, to profile those who are no longer in the music industry, or were moderately significant in rock history (although many are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame such as Neil Diamond, The Police, Metallica, AC/DC, Aerosmith among others). This is different to VH1's other biography show, VH1's Legends, which profiles musicians who were very significant to the industry. Some artists were profiled on Behind The Music and Legends, including Tina Turner, Elton John, Keith Moon, and John Lennon (Behind The Music exclusively focused on the months before his 1980 murder).

Origins
While being interviewed by Rolling Stone in October 2000, co-creator and executive producer Gay Rosenthal explained "Jeff Gaspin, who's the executive vice president of VH1, and I were at lunch, and we said, 'Whatever happened to Milli Vanilli?' I said, 'I don't know, but why don't you let me take the ball and run with it, and let me see what I can find out?' Milli Vanilli was hard. Nobody knew where they were. I had to be a private eye. I got a list of addresses where Fabrice had lived and sent letters to every address. Two weeks later, I got a call from Fabrice's manager. And then I spent a good two months with them – having dinner, having them at my house – before they agreed to do it. They didn't know if they wanted to relive the story, but I said, 'Listen, no one has heard your story from you. This will be a great opportunity to set the record straight.'" "When we saw it in the edit room, we thought we had something special. The stories were working, and the series was green-lit." Rosenthal later stated in an August 1999 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Spin-offs and revival
Another episode of Behind the Music on KISS was re-christened KISS: Beyond the Makeup in July 2001 (which was two hours in length). This featured Matt Pinfield, formerly of MTV's 120 Minutes, as narrator instead of Jim Forbes.

In June, 2000, VH1 aired the BBC produced Behind the Music like program on Pink Floyd entitled Behind The Wall which coincided with the release of Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81 and focused on the making of The Wall, concerts that went with it and Pink Floyd The Wall film and had interviews with the band members and it featured no narration.

A short-lived half-hour spin-off series titled BTM2 (short for Behind the Music 2), chronicled the careers of newer upcoming artists.

The spin-off Behind the Music: Remastered that aired on VH1 Classic updates the original version of the Behind the Music episodes with new interviews, footage, and the later half of the artist's career. The series also included two original episodes on Motörhead and Deep Purple.

In September 2020, a spin-off known as MTV's Behind the Music: The Top 40 was announced for Paramount+, which was to feature a countdown of the 40 "biggest artists of all-time". In March 2021, it was revealed via a promo aired during the Grammy Awards that the spin-off would instead be positioned as a full reboot of Behind the Music, seven years after the last episode had aired on July 16, 2014. In May 2021, it was announced that the revival would premiere on July 29, 2021, with two episodes. Similar to the original series and Behind the Music: Remastered, it includes both new episodes and updated versions of past ones.

Musicians
The following is a list of artists who have appeared in episodes of the series:

 * 50 Cent (revisited in 2013; remastered in 2024)
 * Aaliyah (revisited in 2012)
 * AC/DC
 * Trace Adkins
 * Aerosmith
 * Christina Aguilera (remastered in 2021)
 * Akon
 * Jason Aldean
 * The Animals
 * Anthrax (remastered in 2011)
 * Backstreet Boys
 * Bad Company (remastered in 2013)
 * Badfinger
 * The Bangles (remastered in 2022)
 * Barenaked Ladies
 * Fantasia Barrino
 * Bay City Rollers
 * Bel Biv DeVoe
 * Pat Benatar (remastered in 2011)
 * The Black Crowes
 * Mary J. Blige
 * Blind Melon
 * Blondie (remastered in 2012)
 * Blues Traveler
 * Bon Jovi
 * Sonny Bono
 * Boyz II Men (remastered in 2022)
 * Brandy
 * Toni Braxton
 * Bobby Brown (remastered in 2024)
 * Lindsey Buckingham
 * Glen Campbell
 * Mariah Carey
 * The Carpenters
 * David Cassidy
 * Harry Chapin
 * Cher
 * Chicago
 * Joe Cocker
 * Natalie Cole
 * Sean Combs
 * Alice Cooper (remastered in 2010)
 * Creed
 * Jim Croce
 * David Crosby
 * Sheryl Crow
 * The Cult
 * Deep Purple (second original Behind the Music: Remastered episode)
 * Def Leppard (remastered in 2010)
 * John Denver
 * Depeche Mode
 * Neil Diamond
 * Celine Dion
 * DMX (remastered in 2022)
 * Snoop Dogg
 * The Doobie Brothers
 * Dr. Dre
 * Duran Duran (remastered in 2010 & 21)
 * Missy Elliott
 * Gloria Estefan (remastered in 2022)
 * Melissa Etheridge
 * Eve
 * Everclear
 * Marianne Faithfull
 * Fat Joe
 * Fleetwood Mac (remastered in 2010)
 * Foreigner (remastered in 2013)
 * Peter Frampton
 * Alan Freed
 * The Game
 * Garbage
 * Leif Garrett (remastered in 2010 & 22)
 * Gloria Gaynor
 * Genesis (remastered in 2010)
 * Boy George & Culture Club (remastered in 2010 & 22)
 * Andy Gibb
 * The Go-Go's (remastered in 2012)
 * Goo Goo Dolls
 * Grand Funk Railroad
 * Green Day (remastered in 2010)
 * Guns N' Roses
 * Gym Class Heroes
 * Hall & Oates (remastered in 2010 & 22)
 * MC Hammer
 * Heart (remastered in 2010)
 * Faith Hill
 * Hootie and the Blowfish (remastered in 2022)
 * Jennifer Hudson
 * Michael Hutchence (remastered in 2010)
 * Ice Cube
 * Ice-T (remastered in 2024)
 * Billy Idol
 * Rick James (remastered in 2011)
 * Jan and Dean
 * Jefferson Airplane
 * Billy Joel
 * Elton John
 * Quincy Jones
 * Journey
 * Judas Priest (remastered in 2010)
 * KC and the Sunshine Band
 * Kid Rock
 * Gladys Knight
 * Lenny Kravitz
 * Nick Lachey
 * Adam Lambert
 * Miranda Lambert
 * Queen Latifah
 * Cyndi Lauper
 * John Lennon (Titled "John Lennon: The Last Years and the Legacy"; remastered in 2010)
 * Julian Lennon
 * Huey Lewis and the News (remastered in 2021)
 * Jerry Lee Lewis
 * LL Cool J (remastered in 2021)
 * Jennifer Lopez (remastered in 2022)
 * Courtney Love
 * Ludacris
 * Lynyrd Skynyrd (remastered in 2010)
 * Remy Ma
 * Madonna (featured in 1998; continued in 2001)
 * The Mamas & the Papas
 * Bob Marley (remastered in 2022)
 * Ricky Martin (revisited in 2011; remastered 2021; remastered version aired as premiere episode in the revival)
 * Matchbox Twenty
 * Meat Loaf (remastered in 2010)
 * Megadeth (remastered in 2011)
 * John Mellencamp
 * Metallica (remastered in 2010)
 * George Michael (remastered in 2022)
 * Bret Michaels (remastered in 2021)
 * Bette Midler
 * Milli Vanilli (premiere episode; later updated; remastered in 2024)
 * The Monkees
 * Keith Moon
 * Alanis Morissette (remastered in 2022)
 * Mötley Crüe (remastered in 2010 & 22)
 * Motörhead (the first all-original Behind the Music: Remastered episode)
 * Nas
 * Nelly
 * Ne-Yo
 * Ricky Nelson
 * Willie Nelson
 * New Edition
 * New Kids on the Block
 * Stevie Nicks
 * No Doubt
 * The Notorious B.I.G. (revisited in 2012; remastered in 2024)
 * Ted Nugent (one of two episodes ever to have a viewer warning; remastered in 2012)
 * Oasis
 * Sinéad O'Connor (remastered in 2024)
 * Tony Orlando
 * Ozzy Osbourne
 * Donny & Marie Osmond
 * Pantera (the second episode to have a viewer warning; remastered in 2013)
 * The Partridge Family
 * Teddy Pendergrass
 * Linda Perry (final episode in the original series)
 * Tom Petty
 * Pink (revisited in 2012; remastered in 2022)
 * Pitbull
 * Poison (remastered in 2010)
 * The Police
 * Iggy Pop
 * Public Enemy
 * Quiet Riot
 * Bonnie Raitt
 * Ratt
 * Red Hot Chili Peppers
 * R.E.M.
 * REO Speedwagon
 * Busta Rhymes
 * Lionel Richie
 * Robbie Robertson
 * Run-D.M.C.
 * Salt-N-Pepa
 * Nicole Scherzinger
 * Selena
 * Brian Setzer
 * Frank Sinatra (half-hour retrospective that aired on the day of his death in 1998)
 * Britney Spears
 * Spice Girls
 * Rick Springfield
 * Steppenwolf
 * Cat Stevens
 * Rod Stewart
 * Sting
 * Styx (remastered in 2012)
 * Sublime
 * Donna Summer
 * Thin Lizzy (remastered in 2013)
 * T.I.
 * Tiffany
 * TLC (continued in 2004; remastered in 2011 & 22)
 * Peter Tosh
 * T-Pain
 * Train
 * Tina Turner
 * Shania Twain (remastered in 2022)
 * Twisted Sister (remastered in 2013)
 * Carrie Underwood
 * Usher
 * Wolfgang Van Halen
 * Vanilla Ice
 * Lil Wayne
 * Barry White
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic (remastered in 2010)

Years, events and non-musicians
Other than musicians, some episodes were documentaries on musical events, films, and non-musicians who were influential on the music world. The following appeared in episodes of the series:

 * 1968
 * 1970
 * 1972
 * 1975
 * 1977
 * 1981
 * 1984
 * 1987
 * 1992
 * 1994
 * 1999
 * 2000
 * Flashdance
 * Alan Freed
 * The Day the Music Died
 * Grease
 * Hair
 * Lilith Fair
 * The Rocky Horror Picture Show
 * Saturday Night Fever
 * Russell Simmons
 * Studio 54
 * Woodstock 1969

Accolades
Behind the Music was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards including the Outstanding Non-Fiction Series category for four constitutive years (2000-2003).

In 1999, the series won an ALMA Award for Outstanding Made-for-Television Documentary for the episode featuring Selena and in 2001, Behind the Music won a TV Guide Award for Music Series of the Year.

Behind the Music episodes received multiple nominations including a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Film (Documentary) in 1998 for the episode featuring Boy George as well as multiple Image Awards for episodes featuring Tina Turner and Bob Marley.

Similar VH1 programs
The following is a list of artists who have appeared in VH1 TV programs similar in format to Behind the Music but are not officially part of the series:

 * Chris Gaines (titled Behind the Life of Chris Gaines as it was a fictional artist played by Garth Brooks)
 * Kiss (renamed KISS: Beyond the Makeup, 90 minutes in length)
 * Pink Floyd (titled Pink Floyd: Behind the Wall, 50-minute documentary made in 2000 on The Wall album)

In popular culture
Film
 * In the 2001 movie Josie and the Pussycats, it is explained that Behind the Music was created as a result of how bands are "dealt with" if they discover the fact they are involved in the government's subliminal message program.

Music
 * The band Steel Panther released a fictitious episode about themselves that featured Dave Navarro, Dee Snider, Jani Lane, and Kat Von D, among others.
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic mentioned the Lynyrd Skynyrd episode in his song "Trapped in the Drive-Thru".

Television
 * Adult Swim's Robot Chicken did a skit where the Muppet band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, was profiled on Behind the Music.
 * The Family Guy episode "Herpe the Love Sore" begins with Peter and Lois watching an episode of Behind the Music about the Electric Mayhem.
 * In the made-for-television film A Diva's Christmas Carol starring Vanessa L. Williams, the character of Ebony * Scrooge watches her own episode near the end. This episode, filling the role as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, chronicles the life and tragic death in an ominous manner to force Ebony to change her ways.
 * In the Duck Dodgers episode "In Space, No One Can Hear You Rock", Dodgers plays a recorded episode of "Behind The Metal" about Dave Mustaine which is a parody of the Megadeth episode of "Behind the Music".
 * In the Family Guy episode "The Thin White Line", Brian explains to his psychiatrist: "You wanna know how pathetic my life is?" I've seen that 'Behind the Music' with Leif Garrett eighteen times." A subsequent cutaway gag is shown with a briefly shown animated recreation of the episode, and then cuts to Brian on the couch lip-synching to the dialogue.
 * In the Friends episode "The One with the Joke", Chandler tells Joey: "Dude, you have got to turn on Behind The Music. The band Heart is having a really tough time, and I think they may break up."
 * An episode of The Man Show showed a parody of Behind the Music with the band Korn, called "Beneath the Music". It showed the two hosts as ex-members of the band but later being kicked out because of their antics.
 * A late episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 features a skit parodying Behind the Music about an unnamed band featured in that episode's movie, Track of the Moon Beast; the writers christened them "The Band That Played 'California Lady'", after the apparent title of the song they performed in the film.
 * Saturday Night Live's "More Cowbell" sketch was a fictitious episode profiling Blue Öyster Cult. SNL would go on to do various skits that parodied BTM including Fat Albert, "The Super Bowl Shuffle", Joan Jett, "Rock and Roll Heaven", John Oates, and Colin Hay.
 * An episode of Conan aired a parody of Behind the Music featuring the Star Wars Cantina Band.
 * The show was parodied on the South Park episode "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" as well as in the episode "Chef Aid: Behind the Menu", which also featured Jim Forbes as narrator.
 * On the show Still Standing, Bill Miller and his sister-in-law's new boyfriend sit in a bar and watch part of an episode of Behind The Music.
 * An episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo? had a spoof of the show, called "Rewind the Music".
 * An episode of The Simpsons entitled "Behind the Laughter" was done in the style of "Behind the Music". It even used the show's theme music and narrator.
 * The sixteenth episode of the fourth season of The Jamie Foxx Show had a spoof of the show, called "Behind the Jingle".
 * In the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of How I Met Your Mother, "P.S. I Love You", a parody of Behind the Music was used, named Underneath the Tunes, about the transformation of Robin Sparkles into Robin Daggers.
 * Behind the Music was one of the programs which was discussed on I Love the '90s: Part Deux.

Online
 * The show is also the base for the running parody Behind the Music that Sucks, which has been produced by Internet humor site Heavy.com since 1998.
 * The flash animation collaboration based on the Super Mario franchise, Bowser's Kingdom on Newgrounds.com parodied Behind the Music in the tenth episode "Bowser's Kingdom: Behind the Kingdom".
 * In order to promote his full-length film, internet comedian Stuart Ashen released a parody called Behind the Tat.

Advertising
 * A Chex Mix campaign featuring The Backstreet Boys entitled "Sound Checks- The Story of Snackstreet" borrows heavily from the Behind The Music format.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Behind the Music


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Pragmatic theory of truth

A pragmatic theory of truth is a theory of truth within the philosophies of pragmatism and pragmaticism. Pragmatic theories of truth were first posited by Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. The common features of these theories are a reliance on the pragmatic maxim as a means of clarifying the meanings of difficult concepts such as truth; and an emphasis on the fact that belief, certainty, knowledge, or truth is the result of an inquiry.

Background
Pragmatic theories of truth developed from the earlier ideas of ancient philosophy, the Scholastics. Pragmatic ideas about truth are often confused with the quite distinct notions of "logic and inquiry", "judging what is true", and "truth predicates".

Logic and inquiry
In one classical formulation, truth is defined as the good of logic, where logic is a normative science, that is, an inquiry into a good or a value that seeks knowledge of it and the means to achieve it. In this view, truth cannot be discussed to much effect outside the context of inquiry, knowledge, and logic, all very broadly considered.

Most inquiries into the character of truth begin with a notion of an informative, meaningful, or significant element, the truth of whose information, meaning, or significance may be put into question and needs to be evaluated. Depending on the context, this element might be called an artefact, expression, image, impression, lyric, mark, performance, picture, sentence, sign, string, symbol, text, thought, token, utterance, word, work, and so on. Whatever the case, one has the task of judging whether the bearers of information, meaning, or significance are indeed truth-bearers. This judgment is typically expressed in the form of a specific truth predicate, whose positive application to a sign, or so on, asserts that the sign is true.

Truth predicates
Theories of truth may be described according to several dimensions of description that affect the character of the predicate "true". The truth predicates that are used in different theories may be classified by the number of things that have to be mentioned in order to assess the truth of a sign, counting the sign itself as the first thing.

In formal logic, this number is called the arity of the predicate. The kinds of truth predicates may then be subdivided according to any number of more specific characters that various theorists recognize as important.

 * 1) A monadic truth predicate is one that applies to its main subject — typically a concrete representation or its abstract content — independently of reference to anything else.  In this case one can say that a truthbearer is true in and of itself.
 * 2) A dyadic truth predicate is one that applies to its main subject only in reference to something else, a second subject.  Most commonly, the auxiliary subject is either an object, an interpreter, or a language to which the representation bears some relation.
 * 3) A triadic truth predicate is one that applies to its main subject only in reference to a second and a third subject.  For example, in a pragmatic theory of truth, one has to specify both the object of the sign, and either its interpreter or another sign called the interpretant before one can say that the sign is true of its object to its interpreting agent or sign.

Several qualifications must be kept in mind with respect to any such radically simple scheme of classification, as real practice seldom presents any pure types, and there are settings in which it is useful to speak of a theory of truth that is "almost" k-adic, or that "would be" k-adic if certain details can be abstracted away and neglected in a particular context of discussion. That said, given the generic division of truth predicates according to their arity, further species can be differentiated within each genus according to a number of more refined features.

The truth predicate of interest in a typical correspondence theory of truth tells of a relation between representations and objective states of affairs, and is therefore expressed, for the most part, by a dyadic predicate. In general terms, one says that a representation is true of an objective situation, more briefly, that a sign is true of an object. The nature of the correspondence may vary from theory to theory in this family. The correspondence can be fairly arbitrary or it can take on the character of an analogy, an icon, or a morphism, whereby a representation is rendered true of its object by the existence of corresponding elements and a similar structure.

Peirce
Very little in Peirce's thought can be understood in its proper light without understanding that he thinks all thoughts are signs, and thus, according to his theory of thought, no thought is understandable outside the context of a sign relation. Sign relations taken collectively are the subject matter of a theory of signs. So Peirce's semiotic, his theory of sign relations, is key to understanding his entire philosophy of pragmatic thinking and thought.

In his contribution to the article "Truth and Falsity and Error" for Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology (1901), Peirce defines truth in the following way:

Truth is that concordance of an abstract statement with the ideal limit towards which endless investigation would tend to bring scientific belief, which concordance the abstract statement may possess by virtue of the confession of its inaccuracy and one-sidedness, and this confession is an essential ingredient of truth. (Peirce 1901, see Collected Papers (CP) 5.565).

This statement emphasizes Peirce's view that ideas of approximation, incompleteness, and partiality, what he describes elsewhere as fallibilism and "reference to the future", are essential to a proper conception of truth. Although Peirce occasionally uses words like concordance and correspondence to describe one aspect of the pragmatic sign relation, he is also quite explicit in saying that definitions of truth based on mere correspondence are no more than nominal definitions, which he follows long tradition in relegating to a lower status than real definitions.

That truth is the correspondence of a representation with its object is, as Kant says, merely the nominal definition of it. Truth belongs exclusively to propositions. A proposition has a subject (or set of subjects) and a predicate. The subject is a sign; the predicate is a sign;  and the proposition is a sign that the predicate is a sign of that of which the subject is a sign. If it be so, it is true. But what does this correspondence or reference of the sign, to its object, consist in? (Peirce 1906, CP 5.553).

Here Peirce makes a statement that is decisive for understanding the relationship between his pragmatic definition of truth and any theory of truth that leaves it solely and simply a matter of representations corresponding with their objects. Peirce, like Kant before him, recognizes Aristotle's distinction between a nominal definition, a definition in name only, and a real definition, one that states the function of the concept, the reason for conceiving it, and so indicates the essence, the underlying substance of its object. This tells us the sense in which Peirce entertained a correspondence theory of truth, namely, a purely nominal sense. To get beneath the superficiality of the nominal definition it is necessary to analyze the notion of correspondence in greater depth.

In preparing for this task, Peirce makes use of an allegorical story, omitted here, the moral of which is that there is no use seeking a conception of truth that we cannot conceive ourselves being able to capture in a humanly conceivable concept. So we might as well proceed on the assumption that we have a real hope of comprehending the answer, of being able to "handle the truth" when the time comes. Bearing that in mind, the problem of defining truth reduces to the following form:

Now thought is of the nature of a sign. In that case, then, if we can find out the right method of thinking and can follow it out — the right method of transforming signs — then truth can be nothing more nor less than the last result to which the following out of this method would ultimately carry us. In that case, that to which the representation should conform, is itself something in the nature of a representation, or sign — something noumenal, intelligible, conceivable, and utterly unlike a thing-in-itself. (Peirce 1906, CP 5.553).

Peirce's theory of truth depends on two other, intimately related subject matters, his theory of sign relations and his theory of inquiry. Inquiry is a special case of semiosis, a process that transforms signs into signs while maintaining a specific relationship to an object, which object may be located outside the trajectory of signs or else be found at the end of it. Inquiry includes all forms of belief revision and logical inference, including scientific method, what Peirce here means by "the right method of transforming signs". A sign-to-sign transaction relating to an object is a transaction that involves three parties, or a relation that involves three roles. This is called a ternary or triadic relation in logic. Consequently, pragmatic theories of truth are largely expressed in terms of triadic truth predicates.

The statement above tells us one more thing: Peirce, having started out in accord with Kant, is here giving notice that he is parting ways with the Kantian idea that the ultimate object of a representation is an unknowable thing-in-itself. Peirce would say that the object is knowable, in fact, it is known in the form of its representation, however imperfectly or partially.

Reality and truth are coordinate concepts in pragmatic thinking, each being defined in relation to the other, and both together as they participate in the time evolution of inquiry. Inquiry is not a disembodied process, nor the occupation of a singular individual, but the common life of an unbounded community.

The real, then, is that which, sooner or later, information and reasoning would finally result in, and which is therefore independent of the vagaries of me and you. Thus, the very origin of the conception of reality shows that this conception essentially involves the notion of a COMMUNITY, without definite limits, and capable of a definite increase of knowledge. (Peirce 1868, CP 5.311).

Different minds may set out with the most antagonistic views, but the progress of investigation carries them by a force outside of themselves to one and the same conclusion. This activity of thought by which we are carried, not where we wish, but to a foreordained goal, is like the operation of destiny. No modification of the point of view taken, no selection of other facts for study, no natural bent of mind even, can enable a man to escape the predestinate opinion. This great law is embodied in the conception of truth and reality. The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate, is what we mean by the truth, and the object represented in this opinion is the real. That is the way I would explain reality. (Peirce 1878, CP 5.407).

James
William James's version of the pragmatic theory is often summarized by his statement that "the 'true' is only the expedient in our way of thinking, just as the 'right' is only the expedient in our way of behaving." By this, James meant that truth is a quality the value of which is confirmed by its effectiveness when applying concepts to actual practice (thus, "pragmatic"). James's pragmatic theory is a synthesis of correspondence theory of truth and coherence theory of truth, with an added dimension. Truth is verifiable to the extent that thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, as well as "hangs together," or coheres, fits as pieces of a puzzle might fit together, and these are in turn verified by the observed results of the application of an idea to actual practice. James said that "all true processes must lead to the face of directly verifying sensible experiences somewhere." He also extended his pragmatic theory well beyond the scope of scientific verifiability, and even into the realm of the mystical: "On pragmatic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, then it is 'true.' "

"Truth, as any dictionary will tell you, is a property of certain of our ideas. It means their 'agreement', as falsity means their disagreement, with 'reality'.  Pragmatists and intellectualists both accept this definition as a matter of course.  They begin to quarrel only after the question is raised as to what may precisely be meant by the term 'agreement', and what by the term 'reality', when reality is taken as something for our ideas to agree with."

Pragmatism, James clarifies, is not a new philosophy. He states that it instead focuses on discerning truth between contrasting schools of thought. “To understand truth, he argues, we must consider the pragmatic ‘cash-value’ of having true beliefs and the practical difference of having true ideas." By using the term ‘cash-value,’ James refers to the practical consequences that come from discerning the truth behind arguments, through the pragmatic method, that should yield no desirable answer. In such cases, the pragmatic method must “try to interpret each notion by tracing its respective practical consequences." William James uses an analogy of a squirrel on a tree to further explain the pragmatic method.

James imagines a squirrel on a tree. If it clung to one side of the tree, and a person stood on the other, and as the person walked around the tree so too did the squirrel as to never be seen by the person, would the person rightly be walking around the squirrel? “’Depends on what you practically mean by ‘going round’ the squirrel. If you mean passing from the north of him to the east, then to the south, then to the west, then to the north of him again, obviously the man does go round him… but on the contrary if you mean being first in front of him, then behind him, then on his left, then finally in front again, it is quite obvious that the man fails to go round him." In such arguments, where no practical consequences can be found after making a distinction, the argument should be dropped. If, however, the argument was to yield one result which clearly holds greater consequences, then that side should be agreed upon solely for its intrinsic value. Although James never actually clarifies what “practical consequences” are, he does mention how the best way to find division between possible consequences is by first practically defining what each side of the argument means. In terms of James’s example, he says: “You are both right and both wrong according as you conceive the verb ‘to go round’ in one practical fashion or the other." Thus the pragmatic theory seeks to find truth through the division and practical consequences between contrasting sides to establish which side is correct.

William James (1907) begins his chapter on "Pragmatism's Conception of Truth" in much the same letter and spirit as the above selection from Peirce (1906), noting the nominal definition of truth as a plausible point of departure, but immediately observing that the pragmatist's quest for the meaning of truth can only begin, not end there.

"The popular notion is that a true idea must copy its reality. Like other popular views, this one follows the analogy of the most usual experience.  Our true ideas of sensible things do indeed copy them. Shut your eyes and think of yonder clock on the wall, and you get just such a true picture or copy of its dial. But your idea of its 'works' (unless you are a clockmaker) is much less of a copy, yet it passes muster, for it in no way clashes with reality.  Even though it should shrink to the mere word 'works', that word still serves you truly; and when you speak of the 'time-keeping function' of the clock, or of its spring's 'elasticity', it is hard to see exactly what your ideas can copy."

James exhibits a knack for popular expression that Peirce seldom sought, and here his analysis of correspondence by way of a simple thought experiment cuts right to the quick of the first major question to ask about it, namely: To what extent is the notion of correspondence involved in truth covered by the ideas of analogues, copies, or iconic images of the thing represented? The answer is that the iconic aspect of correspondence can be taken literally only in regard to sensory experiences of the more precisely eidetic sort. When it comes to the kind of correspondence that might be said to exist between a symbol, a word like "works", and its object, the springs and catches of the clock on the wall, then the pragmatist recognizes that a more than nominal account of the matter still has a lot more explaining to do.

Making truth
Instead of truth being ready-made for us, James asserts we and reality jointly "make" truth. This idea has two senses: (1) truth is mutable, (often attributed to William James and F.C.S. Schiller); and (2) truth is relative to a conceptual scheme (more widely accepted in Pragmatism).

(1) Mutability of truth

"Truth" is not readily defined in Pragmatism. Can beliefs pass from being true to being untrue and back? For James, beliefs are not true until they have been made true by verification. James believed propositions become true over the long term through proving their utility in a person's specific situation. The opposite of this process is not falsification, but rather the belief ceases to be a "live option." F.C.S. Schiller, on the other hand, clearly asserted beliefs could pass into and out of truth on a situational basis. Schiller held that truth was relative to specific problems. If I want to know how to return home safely, the true answer will be whatever is useful to solving that problem. Later on, when faced with a different problem, what I came to believe with the earlier problem may now be false. As my problems change, and as the most useful way to solve a problem shifts, so does the property of truth.

C.S. Peirce considered the idea that beliefs are true at one time but false at another (or true for one person but false for another) to be one of the "seeds of death" by which James allowed his pragmatism to become "infected." For Peirce the pragmatic view implies theoretical claims should be tied to verification processes (i.e. they should be subject to test). They shouldn't be tied to our specific problems or life needs. Truth is defined, for Peirce, as what would be the ultimate outcome (not any outcome in real time) of inquiry by a (usually scientific) community of investigators. William James, while agreeing with this definition, also characterized truthfulness as a species of the good: if something is true it is trustworthy and reliable and will remain so in every conceivable situation. Both Peirce and Dewey connect the definitions of truth and warranted assertability. Hilary Putnam also developed his internal realism around the idea a belief is true if it is ideally justified in epistemic terms. About James' and Schiller's view, Putnam says:

Rorty has also weighed in against James and Schiller:

(2) Conceptual relativity

With James and Schiller we make things true by verifying them—a view rejected by most pragmatists. However, nearly all pragmatists do accept the idea there can be no truths without a conceptual scheme to express those truths. That is,

F.C.S. Schiller used the analogy of a chair to make clear what he meant by the phrase that truth is made: just as a carpenter makes a chair out of existing materials and doesn't create it out of nothing, truth is a transformation of our experience—but this doesn't imply reality is something we're free to construct or imagine as we please.

Dewey
John Dewey, less broadly than William James but much more broadly than Charles Peirce, held that inquiry, whether scientific, technical, sociological, philosophical or cultural, is self-corrective over time if openly submitted for testing by a community of inquirers in order to clarify, justify, refine and/or refute proposed truths. In his Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938), Dewey gave the following definition of inquiry:

Inquiry is the controlled or directed transformation of an indeterminate situation into one that is so determinate in its constituent distinctions and relations as to convert the elements of the original situation into a unified whole. (Dewey, p. 108).

The index of the same book has exactly one entry under the heading truth, and it refers to the following footnote:

The best definition of truth from the logical standpoint which is known to me is that by Peirce: "The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate is what we mean by the truth, and the object represented in this opinion is the real [CP 5.407].  (Dewey, 343 n).

Dewey says more of what he understands by truth in terms of his preferred concept of warranted assertibility as the end-in-view and conclusion of inquiry (Dewey, 14–15).

Criticisms
Several objections are commonly made to pragmatist account of truth, of either sort.

First, due originally to Bertrand Russell (1907) in a discussion of James's theory, is that pragmatism mixes up the notion of truth with epistemology. Pragmatism describes an indicator or a sign of truth. It really cannot be regarded as a theory of the meaning of the word "true". There's a difference between stating an indicator and giving the meaning. For example, when the streetlights turn on at the end of a day, that's an indicator, a sign, that evening is coming on. It would be an obvious mistake to say that the word "evening" just means "the time that the streetlights turn on". In the same way, while it might be an indicator of truth, that a proposition is part of that perfect science at the ideal limit of inquiry, that just isn't what "true" means.

Russell's objection is that pragmatism mixes up an indicator of truth with the meaning of the predicate 'true'. There is a difference between the two and pragmatism confuses them. In this pragmatism is akin to Berkeley's view that to be is to be perceived, which similarly confuses an indication or proof of that something exists with the meaning of the word 'exists', or with what it is for something to exist.

Other objections to pragmatism include how we define what it means to say a belief "works", or that it is "useful to believe". The vague usage of these terms, first popularized by James, has led to much debate.

A viable, more sophisticated consensus theory of truth, a mixture of Peircean theory with speech-act theory and social theory, is that presented and defended by Jürgen Habermas, which sets out the universal pragmatic conditions of ideal consensus and responds to many objections to earlier versions of a pragmatic, consensus theory of truth. Habermas distinguishes explicitly between factual consensus, i.e. the beliefs that happen to hold in a particular community, and rational consensus, i.e. consensus attained in conditions approximating an "ideal speech situation", in which inquirers or members of a community suspend or bracket prevailing beliefs and engage in rational discourse aimed at truth and governed by the force of the better argument, under conditions in which all participants in discourse have equal opportunities to engage in constative (assertions of fact), normative, and expressive speech acts, and in which discourse is not distorted by the intervention of power or the internalization of systematic blocks to communication.

Recent Peirceans, Cheryl Misak, and Robert B. Talisse have attempted to formulate Peirce's theory of truth in a way that improves on Habermas and provides an epistemological conception of deliberative democracy.

title: Pragmatic theory of truth


text:
Qinetiq

QinetiQ ( as in kinetic) is a multinational defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabilities for air, land, sea and target systems.

As a private entity, QinetiQ was created in April 2001; prior to this its assets had been part of Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), a now-defunct British government organisation. While a large portion of DERA's assets, sites, and employees were transferred to QinetiQ, other elements were incorporated into Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), which remains in government ownership. Some former DERA locations have thus become key sites for QinetiQ. These include Farnborough, Hampshire; MoD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire; and Malvern, Worcestershire.

In February 2006, QinetiQ was floated on the London Stock Exchange. The privatisation process was subject to an inquiry by the UK's National Audit Office, which was critical of the generous incentive scheme available to the company's management. QinetiQ has completed numerous acquisitions of defence- and technology-related companies, primarily those that are based in the United States, and is a trusted supplier to the US government. QinetiQ USA operates under a Special Security Arrangement which allows it to work independently and separately on some of the most sensitive United States defense programs despite its foreign ownership. It has also spun off some of its technologies into new companies, such as Omni-ID Ltd. It is currently a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Name
"QinetiQ" is an invented name. "Qi" is supposed to reflect the company's energy, "net" its networking ability, and "iq" its intellectual resources. The name was adopted in early 2001 as a marker of Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) privatisation; the rebranding reportedly cost £400,000.

Creation and early years
In early 2001, defence minister Lewis Moonie announced the creation of QinetiQ via the privatisation of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). At the time, Moonie stated that the entity would remain a British business, being based in the UK, and that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would retain a 'special share' in the company, while safeguards would be in place to prevent conflicts of interest.

By April 2002, while QinetiQ had taken steps to operate on a commercial basis and saw third parties as its key growth area, 80% of its annual sales was reportedly being derived from the UK MoD. It was observed that QinetiQ's close relationship with the MoD gave it a competitive edge over most private-sector rivals.

Initially, QinetiQ was entirely owned by the British government; it was planned for a stock market flotation of the firm to be conducted sometime during 2002. However, this flotation was postponed; according to aerospace industry periodical Flight International, a lack of investor confidence was the principal reason for the delay.

In late 2002, the Carlyle Group, an American private equity firm, publicly declared its intention to purchase a large stake in QinetiQ. In February 2003, the Carlyle Group completed the acquisition of a 33.8% share for £42 million. Prior to QinetiQ's flotation years later, ownership of the firm was divided between the MoD (56%), Carlyle Group (31%) and staff (13%). The Carlyle Group was expected to remain invested in QinetiQ for between three and five years, after which a stock exchange float would take place.

In September 2004, QinetiQ acquired the US defence companies Westar Corporation and Foster-Miller, maker of the Talon robot. Also in 2004, it acquired HVR Consulting Services a leading UK-based engineering consultancy.

In early August 2005, the company announced it would acquire Apogen Technologies, Inc., pending regulatory approval; according to QinetiQ's website, the purchase came at a cost of $288.0m (£162.7m). In September 2005, the company acquired a 90% share of Verhaert Design and Development NV (VDD), a Belgian space systems integrator. In October that year, it acquired Broadreach Networks Limited, a supplier of Wi-Fi internet equipment to the European rail industry, and in February 2006, it bought Graphics Research Corporation Ltd, developer of the Paramarine software suite of ship and submarine design tools.

Stock exchange listing
On 12 January 2006, an announcement was made in Parliament by John Reid, Secretary of State for Defence, regarding the pending floatation of QinetiQ. Reid stated that the Carlyle Group 'will continue to retain a significant stake in the company', and that the government would continue to hold a 'golden share' to protect the UK's security and defence interests. On 10 February 2006, QinetiQ was floated on the London Stock Exchange. The valuation of the company, and of how much taxpayers would benefit from QinetiQ's privatisation, was a subject of considerable debate and controversy.

The company had been valued at between £1.1bn and £1.3bn, with the MoD holding estimated to be worth £616m – £728m, the Carlyle Group's holding £341m – £403m, and staff/management's holding worth £143m – £169m. Controversy was generated by the very large returns generated for both the Carlyle Group and senior managers at the company; reportedly Sir John Chisholm is speculated to have benefitted by over £20 million alone. Lord Moonie, who handled the initial sale, stated in 2006 that the government's 31 per cent stake should not have been sold when equity markets were languishing in 2002. Moonie said that he had argued for the sale to be delayed, but was over-ruled by the Treasury, which had convinced the Ministry of Defence to go ahead.

Controversy also arose around the fact that retail investors were excluded from the initial public offering (IPO) due to QinetiQ's complexity and that institutional investors would require less complicated marketing and financing. This led to contrasts with the 'Sid' campaign for British Gas plc in 1986, where retail investors were encouraged to buy shares, with discounts and a large advertising campaign. The issue was partially resolved by allowing some brokerage firms to place orders in the IPO as part of a combined order, allowing the firm to purchase as though an institutional investor but on behalf of clients. While this did not result in a public campaign or retail investor discounts, it did allow many investors to purchase shares. Upon its floating on 10 February 2006, QinetiQ had an IPO of 200p per share, resulting in a market value of £1.3bn. On 13 February 2006, shares closed at 219.5p, valuing it at over £1.4bn.

Speculation that a consortium including QinetiQ was about to win a £10bn MoD training contract helped push their share price back above 190p in early November 2006. It was announced on 17 January 2007 that the QinetiQ-led Metrix consortium was the preferred bidder for package one of the MoD's Defence Training Rationalisation programme, worth approx £16bn.

NAO inquiry
In 2007, the National Audit Office conducted an inquiry into the privatisation to determine whether UK taxpayers received good value for money. The inquiry looked at the following issues: In November 2007, the NAO reported that taxpayers could have gained "tens of millions" more and was critical of the incentive scheme given to QinetiQ managers, the 10 most senior of whom gained £107.5m on an investment of £540,000 in the company's shares. The return of 19,990% was described as "excessive" by the NAO. The role of QinetiQ's management in negotiating terms with the Carlyle Group while the private equity company was bidding for the business was also criticised by the NAO. Carlyle bought a third of the business for £42m, which grew in value to £372m in less than four years. However, the Ministry of Defence defended the sale:
 * the choice of privatisation strategy;
 * management of the process (the split of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency into two, the sale to Carlyle and the flotation);
 * costs incurred and the proceeds achieved; and
 * whether the deal met its objectives.
 * "It has delivered excellent value for money, generating more than £800m for the taxpayer, while protecting UK defence and security interests," said Baroness Taylor, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support.

Expansion
In January 2007, the company bought Analex, a US corporation that provides high technology professional services, principally to the US government and its agencies. It was originally incorporated in 1964 under the name Biorad and evolved into Hadron, a US government systems consulting firm.

In February 2007, the acquisition of ITS Corporation, a provider of IT services to the US government and its agencies, was announced. The disposal of Aerospace Filtration Systems (formerly part of Westar) was announced at the same time. In June of that year, QinetiQ announced that Apogen Technologies Inc., its US subsidiary, had completed the acquisition of 3H Technology LLC, a specialist IT company with US government and commercial clients. In October, the company completed the acquisition of Boldon James Holdings Limited, a UK-based provider of software for high end secure messaging, primarily for military, government and security customers worldwide.

In March 2007, QinetiQ spun off a new company, Omni-ID Ltd; this entity specialises in the commercial opportunities for passive UHF radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. Prior to the spin off, a research team at QinetiQ had been active since the 1990s to develop new and more effective RFID technologies.

On 9 February 2007, the Carlyle Group sold its remaining 10.3% stake in the group at 205p per share, resulting in a £290 million return on its original investment. During September 2008, the MoD sold its remaining 18.9% holding in QinetiQ at 206p per share, raising £254 million. The British government retained its 'special share', giving it control over any potential takeover. In February 2020, QinetiQ acquired military training specialist Newman & Spurr Consultancy Ltd for £14 million.

In November 2022, it was announced QinetiQ had completed the acquisition of the McLean-headquartered provider of cybersecurity and data analytics software to US government agencies, Avantus Federal for $590 million USD.

Cyber security
During mid-2013, reports emerged that Chinese hackers had allegedly compromised sensitive military research being performed by QinetiQ. It was claimed that, between 2007 and 2010, QinetiQ's North American business was the subject of a cyber-attack. At the time of the incidents, the company said it disclosed all of its breaches to the responsible government agencies and these were resolved to their satisfaction. The Pentagon has stated that it still entrusts QinetiQ with sensitive defence technology. The issue of cyber security affected other organisations; a Pentagon report stated that various US government agencies had been victims of cyberattacks.

QinetiQ provides auditing and consultancy services on cyber security to third party businesses. In 2011, the company announced the launch of a strategic collaboration with information security firm Nexor to pool their cyber security portfolios. During 2016, QinetiQ released a whitepaper on the topic, which identified employee behaviour as a major contributing factor in the majority of security breaches. QinetiQ has partnered with mobile phone network provider Vodafone to support end-to-end internet security services.

Operations
QinetiQ provides technology-based products and services to numerous government and commercial customers. More than 2,000 of QinetiQ subsidiary Foster-Miller's Talon robots have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, most used to remotely locate and disable roadside bombs. QinetiQ's SPO stand-off threat detection system has been sold to the US Transportation Security Administration for railway stations and airports.

During August 2008, QinetiQ's Zephyr, a solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), performed a non-stop flight spanning 14 days; this was a world record for the longest duration unmanned flight. Over the following years, Qinetic performed further record-breaking flights of the UAV. During summer 2018, an improved model of the Zephyr conducted an even-longer flight, lasting nearly 26 days. The Zephyr UAV has been offered as a commercial product, the programme having been acquired by multinational aerospace company Airbus Group. QinetiQ have been involved in the further development of the Zephyr, such as the provision of LIDAR payload for the type.

QinetiQ has a 25-year T3E (Test, Trials, Training and Evaluation) agreement formerly called the Long Term partnering Agreement (LTPA) with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide test and evaluation services and manage military ranges. It is a major stakeholder in the UK Defence Technology Centre, which places military research contracts on behalf of the MoD.

QinetiQ has a 25-year Maritime Strategic Facilities Agreement (MSCA) with the MoD to provide strategic maritime facilities and capabilities, including hydromechanic facilities at Haslar, biomedical facilities on the UK's South Coast, and submarine structures, survivability and shock testing facilities at Rosyth.

Organisation
The QinetiQ Group comprises QinetiQ EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Australasia) and QinetiQ North America. QinetiQ North America, which was set up after the takeover of Foster-Miller, is a wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ, but remains independent and separated from the QinetiQ group by a proxy agreement with the US to comply with US laws that prevent sensitive technology coming under the control of a foreign venture that takes over a US company. The major UK sites are at Farnborough, Hampshire (the historical Royal Aircraft Establishment) and Malvern, Worcestershire (the historical RSRE/RRE/TRE).

Workforce
QinetiQ is one of the ten largest UK employers of science and engineering graduates, recruiting around 150 per year. Between 2002 and 2006, it has appeared in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list. During 2005, QinetiQ was accused by union officials of its employees exhibiting higher than average levels of stress-related depression, a finding that was strongly denied by the company. On March 25, 2021, a worker was seriously injured at a QinetiQ-run Ministry of Defence facility in Pendine, Carmarthen.

Services and products
The company's services and products include:

Defence

 * LAST Armour
 * Talon Robot
 * ALARM radar (Alerter of Approaching Rocket Munitions)
 * Family of Advanced Cost Estimating Tools (FACET)
 * Operating and Support Cost Model (OSCAM)
 * Q-Net a armour attachment.

Airships and balloons

 * QinetiQ 1

Unmanned aircraft system

 * QinetiQ Banshee (purchased from Meggitt in 2016)
 * Qinetiq Mercator
 * Zephyr (sold to Airbus in 2013)

Security

 * Cyveillance
 * Optasense – Distributed acoustic sensing
 * X-Net

Aviation

 * Acoustic testing
 * Wind tunnel testing

Notable staff and directors

 * George Tenet, former Central Intelligence Agency Director, was an independent non-executive director between October 2006 and January 2008.
 * David Sharp was a mechanical engineer who worked for the company until 2005 when he resigned.
 * Ben Wallace later an MP and the UK Secretary of State for Defence, worked for the company from 2003 to 2005 as Overseas Director in the Security & Intelligence Division.

title: Qinetiq


text:
Elmer Layden

Elmer Francis Layden (May 4, 1903 – June 30, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where he starred at fullback as a member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield. Layden played professionally in the original AFL in 1925 and 1926 with three clubs, the Hartford Blues, the Brooklyn Horsemen, and the Rock Island Independents. He began his coaching career during the same two seasons at Columbia College in Dubuque, Iowa, now known as Loras College. Layden then served as the head coach at Duquesne University from 1927 to 1933 and at his alma mater, Notre Dame, from 1934 to 1940, where he also held the position of athletic director. From 1941 to 1946, Layden was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1951.

Playing career
Layden was born in Davenport, Iowa, where he attended Davenport High School, now Davenport Central High School. At Notre Dame, he played fullback alongside quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, and right halfback Don Miller; the four collectively earned the nickname of "The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame" from legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice, and are still considered one of the best backfields in college football history. Named an All-American during his senior year, Layden culminated his collegiate career in the 1925 Rose Bowl against Stanford, returning two interceptions for touchdowns in Notre Dame's 27–10 victory. The Four Horsemen were reunited for a professional football game in 1925 by the Hartford Blues as they played the Cleveland Bulldogs. The game though resulted in a 13–6 Hartford loss, with the Blues reportedly spending $5,000 on the Horsemen for just one game.

Coaching career
After his playing days, Layden was head football coach at Columbia College (Dubuque, Iowa) in 1925–26, where he compiled an 8–5–2 record. From 1927 to 1933 he was head coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, going 48–16–6 and winning the 1933 season's Festival of Palms Bowl (a precursor to the Orange Bowl) on New Year's Day, 1934.

Also in 1934, he became head coach and athletic director at Notre Dame, three years after his legendary mentor Knute Rockne was killed in an airplane crash on March 31, 1931.

Layden led the Irish for seven years and posted an overall 47–13–3 docket. His 1935 squad posted one of the greatest wins in school history by rallying to defeat Ohio State 18–13. His 1938 team finished 8–1, losing only to USC in the season finale. This loss cost them a possible consensus national championship, but the team was named national champion by the Dickinson System.

Like Rockne before him, Layden was a goodwill ambassador for Notre Dame. He was able to schedule a home-and-home series with Michigan after meeting with Fielding H. Yost, healing a rift between the two schools. The two teams had not met since 1909, when, after eight straight losses to the Wolverines, the Irish posted their first win. They were scheduled to meet again in 1910, but Michigan canceled the game and refused to play the Irish again. By the time they met again in 1942–43, Layden had left Notre Dame and Frank Leahy had taken his place. Unlike the easygoing Layden, Leahy was intense, and after the Irish had thrashed Michigan by a score of 35–12 in 1943, Wolverine coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler never scheduled the Irish again.

While Layden was a solid, competent coach, he was subjected to criticism during his later years at Notre Dame. Critics felt that his teams played too conservatively and lacked scoring punch. Consequently, it was felt that they lost games they should have won.

Commissioner
In 1941, the National Football League franchise owners voted to change the league's constitution in an attempt to bring all professional football leagues under the authority of one commissioner, who would have similar powers to that of Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Chicago Tribune journalist Arch Ward was offered the position of commissioner, but he turned it down and suggested Elmer Layden for the position.

Layden was appointed commissioner in February 1941. His appointment was not voted on by the entire league, which upset owners Alexis Thompson, Bert Bell, and Dan Topping. Chicago Bears owner George Halas contended that Layden's hiring was legal because it had been agreed upon by a majority of owners. Layden was signed to a five-year contract with an annual salary of $20,000.

In five years as Commissioner, Layden saw the NFL through the World War II years, in which teams had to use many men of inferior abilities as replacements while most of the regulars were fighting in the war (as did Major League Baseball). During this period a few teams temporarily merged due to lack of manpower, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers with the Philadelphia Eagles (who were nicknamed the Steagles). The Cleveland Rams ceased operations for the 1943 season.

As NFL commissioner, Layden had once conducted an investigation into a betting scam, without advising the owners, which did not reveal any conspiracy.

At the end of the war, after Japan announced it would surrender, NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden called for all of the league's teams to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at their games, arguing, "The National Anthem should be as much a part of every game as the kick-off. We must not drop it simply because the war is over. We should never forget what it stands for." Prior to this proclamation "The Star-Spangled Banner" had not been officially required to be sung before the start of any NFL games.

Layden's tenure as NFL commissioner came to an end in January 1946. After Brooklyn owner Dan Topping withdrew his team from the league to join the new All-America Football Conference, the remaining owners agreed not to renew Layden's contract, feeling that he was too much of a gentleman and not forceful enough. Layden was succeeded by Bert Bell.

Later years

After leaving the NFL, Layden embarked on a successful business career in Chicago, where he died at the age of 70. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 as a charter member.

Personal life
Layden married Edythe Davis on October 25, 1926, who preceded him in death.

title: Elmer Layden


text:
Talk:Hyper engine

How is this engine hypothetical if it's already been built? Heck, a production Dodge Viper is pretty close at 505 cu.in. displacement and 500 hp at the crank.

 * The hyper engine was a hypothetical aircraft engine design,... - was-being in the 1930s. Ian Dunster 12:46, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

In my involvement with the Aircraft Engine Historical Society Finding Aid for records of the Engineering Division at the US National Archives, I have read tens of thousands of pages of original correspondence and reports having to do with all of the so-called "hyper" engines. In no case does the term "hyper" appear except in connection with the initial Air Corps experimental cylinders and with the XO-1430 and IV-1430 engines and test components thereof built by Continental. Because of this, I conclude that application of the term "hyper" to the engines of Allison, Ford, Chrysler, Lycoming, Wright Aeronautical and Studebaker is incorrect. -- Kimble D. McCutcheon 2007-07-31 23:02

 * I think the article is fairly clear on this, should it be made even more obvious? Maury 12:42, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on User talk:Buster40004/Sandbox/Projects/Hiper engine/Hyper engine which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RM bot 01:15, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

 * I have abandoned the move request and have copied my new article to the article and talk pages here. Regards,  Buster40004  Talk 00:03, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Copied from my sandbox
This is a complete revision to the existing article. The existing article is nothing more than a lede, as all of the contents were deleted due to lack of citations, which are now included.  Buster40004  Talk 21:32, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Or history-merge? Anthony Appleyard (talk) 08:35, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

, is that directly referenced in
 * Comment - bit early to be moving/merging. While you have made an admirable attempt at resurrection, at the moment most of the article is a list of powerful engines with their specification and use. The last two elements are largely redundant, as we have articles on them. And unless authors have compared them to the hyper project, it would be OR/SYNTH to include them. There seems to also be too much detail on how the engine p/w ratio could be improved. GraemeLeggett (talk) 09:18, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

 * Thanks for your work in restoring and citing this, after its recent brutal deletion. However as Anthony suggests, I think there needs to be something clever done here, not just a move, so as to preserve contribution history. Andy Dingley (talk) 09:19, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

 * No need for a move but the scope of the article title does need to be very clearly defined before it is expanded. I have also read that it related to a new type of cylinder design as mentioned in this sandbox lead, Bill Gunston mentions only a couple of American engines that may have been described as 'hyper' (it is true that he is not the only source out there though). This statement Over time, "high performance" was shortened to "hyper", a term that came to represent all engines capable of meeting the above design criteria... would need to have a solid reliable source. Have to agree that repeating specs sections from engine articles is unnecessary, it's content forking or duplication. Nimbus  (Cumulus nimbus floats by)    09:58, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

I applaud your intention to find refs for this subject and expand the article on the basis of them! I have to indicate that I don't see any reason to move anything here, why not just add new text to the existing article at Hyper engine? Also I have to agree with the comments above, your current draft has a lot of specs in it. I don't think we need a large number of specs, as these should be in the individual aircraft engine type articles and this article under discussion should be an overview of the subject, with a list of engines that are considered to be hyper engines, with links to the individual engine type articles. - Ahunt (talk) 11:35, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

 * My thanks to all who took a look at this work in process. I will streamline it as suggested, and add that pesky cite for what may be the most significant point in the whole "hyper engine" debate.  I will ring the bell again when I try my best to bring this back from the dead.  Regards,  Buster40004  Talk  14:51, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

 * I have streamlined the article by reducing the detail in the development section, removed the specifications and applications from the engines directly connected to the project, and removed those engine not specifically in the project. I fear that any deletions or major revision to the development section will detract from the overall value of the article. I invite all concerned to jump in and smooth the rough edges as necessary. Regards,   Buster40004  Talk  16:02, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

 * Commenting after talk page request. Much better, just some brief points as time is not on my side; a competition is mentioned, it's not quite clear to me when and how that competition ran, it's not mentioned in the lead. Were all the engines listed in that competition and classed officially as hyper engines? Possibly on the too technical side in places for lay readers. Cites should be the author name, not the book title, and 'designations.net' would be deemed a non-reliable source. Web sources used as references are not generally repeated in the external links section. Cheers Nimbus (Cumulus nimbus floats by)    17:34, 15 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Ditto. As per Nimbus, I'd like the article to say how the project/"competition" ran, plus what those in the USAAC thought of the engines produced and when the project was wound up (I'm guessing once every man and his dog was able to turn out a engine with a high p/w and p/displacement ratios). There's some stylistic stuff, but I'd leave that until the work hits mainspace. GraemeLeggett (talk) 18:31, 15 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Other than the small points raised above I have to say it looks quite good - almost ready to merge into the existing article. - Ahunt (talk) 00:06, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

My sincere thanks for the above advice. I sat back, took a few deep breaths, and added a whole lot about what I should have written in the first place. I have taken each of your comments and applied them as I wrote. I ask you take a second look. Thanks again for the splendid advice, and the lessons in improving my editing skills. Regards,  Buster40004  Talk 01:57, 16 July 2011 (UTC)
 * A thought, there are only a few hyper engine designs - have you considered a table showing their overall characteristics? Nothing too detailed - name, configuration, no of cylinders, displacement. 08:25, 16 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I think a table would be a great idea and would show which individual articles had been written or needed writing, though the link colour. - Ahunt (talk) 11:29, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

I brought the most important data to this page, divided into FY 1940 and FY 1940 tables. From there, one can go on to the pertinent engine article. Missing engines are red linked as suggested above. Again, thanks to all of you for helping me to become a better editor. Regards,  Buster40004  Talk 21:41, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

 * Comment: Why don't you just replace the contents of the current article with the contents of your article? Makes it easier all around and preserves contribution history. The only thing you'll lose is the timing and content of each individual edit of yours. (If that's important, then a history merge is the only alternative.) --rgpk (comment) 19:02, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

 * Done. Regards,  Buster40004  Talk 23:38, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hyper engine


text:
Carmine Giovinazzo

Carmine Dominick Giovinazzo (, born August 24, 1973), is an American actor, writer, painter and musician, known for his role as Detective Danny Messer in CSI: NY.

Early life
Giovinazzo was born and raised in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, the son of Nancy and Dominick Giovinazzo, a retired NYPD police officer. Growing up, Giovinazzo was an avid athlete. He played baseball for 4 years at Port Richmond High School where he was an Advance all-star as a senior, eventually graduating in 1991, and went on to attend Wagner College on a baseball scholarship. He had hoped to become a professional baseball player, but a serious back injury dashed his career plans; with the support of his family, he turned to acting. He studied acting at Wagner College and HB Studios, and spent four years working mostly non-paying roles in the New York area.

Career
In 1997, Giovinazzo moved to Los Angeles. Not long afterward, he successfully landed his first Hollywood role in the pilot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which his character was the show's first on-screen victim. Afterwards, he appeared in numerous guest-starring roles on television and in film, including the Learning Curve, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, For Love of the Game, The Big Brass Ring, and Black Hawk Down. He was also cast as one of the stars of the short-lived UPN sitcom Shasta McNasty, which was nominated for a People's Choice Award. Other films in which he had starring roles include In Enemy Hands with William H. Macy, and Players with Freddy Rodriguez and Peter Dobson. He played Tony Galper, the victim in the final episode of the TV series Columbo.

Giovinazzo was cast as forensic scientist Danny Messer on the hit TV series CSI: NY and is the first actor to appear in all three CSI series; his character was introduced in the CSI: Miami episode "MIA/NYC NonStop" (along with the other CSI: NY cast members), and he guest-starred in season three of the Las Vegas-based original series as street racer Thumpy G in the episode "Revenge is Best Served Cold" (though it is never specified that this guest spot was in any way related to his character on CSI: NY). Giovinazzo penned season six's vampire-themed episode "Sanguine Love", joining series leads Melina Kanakaredes and Gary Sinise who have also written episodes for the series.

In 2014, Giovinazzo portrayed the recurring role of Sid Markham in season two of the USA television series Graceland. In this series, he reunited with his former CSI: NY co-star Vanessa Ferlito.

Personal life
Giovinazzo plays the guitar, and writes songs and poetry. He is also a painter, mostly in oils, and one of his paintings appeared in the "Tri-Borough" episode of CSI: NY. He is currently a lead vocalist in the band Ceesau, which released one album, Era of the Exposed (2008). The song "Tear To Spare", from this album, was played in the CSI: NY sixth-season episode "Sanguine Love", which Giovinazzo wrote.

Giovinazzo is a cousin of Buddy Giovinazzo and Larry Romano.

Giovinazzo married actress Vanessa Marcil on July 11, 2010, in a private ceremony in New York City. Marcil filed for divorce in August 2012 on the basis of irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in March 2013.

title: Carmine Giovinazzo


text:
Mabuiag

The Mabuyag (plural Mabuygilgal) are an Indigenous Australian group of Torres Strait Islander people united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and survived as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers and horticulturalists in family groups or clans living on and around Mabuiag Island, in Torres Strait in Queensland, Australia. They are ethnically Melanesian.

They in common with all Torres Strait Islanders had a mixed reputation for hostility as well as eagerness to develop trading links with outsiders before they became Christian over the 1870s. The language of the island is Gœmulgaw Ya, alt. Mabuygilgaw Ya, a dialect of Kala Lagaw Ya.

The society consists of two moieties, the Koey Buway "Senior Buway" and Moegi Buway, "Junior Buway"; the terms relate to the senior (older brother) and junior (younger brother) leaders of the Zugubal "Sky Gods". The Moegi Buway include The Mabuygilgal of Wagedagam ("Rear-Side") on the northwest (kukidagam) side of Mabuyaagi (their totem wind and direction) and the Goemulgal of the mid-South-East side, while the Koey Buway include the Mabuygilgal of Panay-Dabangay ("Near-Side") on the north-east side (naygayidagam) and the Kaygas (shovel-nose "shark") people of the south-west (zeydoegam).

Mythology
One of the great culture heros of the Mabuyaagi people was Kuyam (alt. Kuiam, Kwoiam). He was described as having a long, narrow head with both a bulging brow and a protuberant occipital lobe, capped by a high crown. Paradoxically, these are the features the Mabuiag associated with the mainland Australian Aborigines they occasionally encountered, a people they otherwise despised. Further, the Mabuiag identify the origins of Kuyam with Cape York: Kuyama, Kuyam's father, armed only with a spear and woomera, followed a downdrift of blades of grass northwards from Kuuku Ya'u territory on north-east Cape York, walked across the sea and set foot on Mabuyaagi in Dugong buway territory (north-east Mabuyaagi), where he married Kuinama, of the South-West Goemu people, though she was originally from Muri. Unable to accept their ways, Kuyamu then returned to Australia. His abandoned wife gives birth to a son who she called Kyuam (Kuyama), who taught himself how to use his father's woomera and spear. When one day his aged, half-blind mother, failing to recognise him, cursed him for stepping on the strands she was using to weave a mat, he stabbed her eyes and mouth with a three-pronged spear, and runs amok on head-hunting raids on Boigu, mainland Papua, and back, until he was finally on Mabuyaagi killed by warriors from Moa. He was not beheaded, a typical part of Torres Strait headhunting culture; famous warriors were not beheaded. However, Kuyam was one of a few Culture Heros, others including Wayath and Amipuru.

History
Mabuaig Island, along with many other islands of Torres Strait, was annexed by the State of Queensland in 1879, giving the Queensland Government control over the east-west shipping passage through the Torres Strait, plus some control over movements between Papua and Australia. Before the legal recognition of native title indigenous land ownership was assumed to be non-existent, and therefore the Mabuiag people, who maintained continual buwai-based land holding ownership patterns, were in legal limbo, with no traditional rights recognised, but also no citizenship rights either.

However, the traditional ownership patterns were unofficially recognised by various European officials. For example, when the Acting Government Resident, Hugh Milman, who was based at Thursday Island), visited Mabuiag Island in 1886 he reported that: "there is no doubt that every acre has a reputed owner, that every grove or single tree of any value has its proper and legitimate hereditary owner.

After the federation of Australia in 1901, Torres Strait Islanders including the people of Mabuaig island became subject to "protection," and it was not until well after World War Two, in the 1960s, that they could get married or travel to mainland Australia or other islands without Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs (DAIA) approval.

Since that time, while many are often absent working in industries such as Torres Strait Islander fisheries (pearling industry, crayfishing, etc.) or have moved to Badu Island, Thursday Island, or mainland Australia, some (now estimated at approximately 250) have continued and continuously held on to their traditional tenure ("native title") occupying, using, and enjoying the island and its surrounds in a manner prescribed by traditional law and custom.

People gathered... on this island, like their ancestors before them, have occupied it and maintained the connection with it for hundreds of years. Today they continue to speak their traditional language, they practise fishing, hunting and collecting and in doing that, they make use of the specialised historical knowledge accumulated over centuries. They perform customary dances and songs, they manage sacred sites. They utilise their traditional kinship system to organise social and economic life. They are in all respects the owners of this land. (Page 9))

Local lore
The home seas, islands, and reefs occupied, used, and criss-crossed by the people of Mabuiag Island for many generations, have been described as follows:

What first appear to be undifferentiated patches of coral and salt water are Islanders' exclusive marine domains - a vast, intricate water library where history dwells in places, not in time, and all the sea is named. Islands, reefs, channels and the resources they contain belong to.. Mabuiag people because mythical ancestors like Sesere, Zigin, and Wad caught turtles, dugong, or fish there

The people of Mabuiag Island, for instance, believe their afterworld lies in Kibu to their northwest. It is believed that when an Islander dies, their mari (life spirit) first goes to Boigu, leaves word for the Boigu marimulaimabaigal spirit talkers to report how they died, and then becomes a markai (heavenly spirit) and sails to Kibu at sundown with the prevailing winds

If the spirit of the deceased cannot join other ancestors at Kibu, they may stay and cause problems among the living. Before the arrival of missionaries, when someone died, the people of Mabuiag, as was the case for all other Islanders and neighbouring Papuans, would assist the deceased into Kibu by performing a mortuary ritual consisting of sacred dances and feasting at a particular point a few weeks after the death of the person. The arrangements for the rituals and feast were always carried out by the marigeth spirit-hand, the special term used for the in-laws, whose responsibility this was.

Subsequent to the arrival of missionaries, this original commemoration has been Christianised as the Kulaw Gudpudai tombstone opening. The important pre-Christian tradition still exist, only those with clearly pagan meaning being disused or disguised in various ways. The role of the marigeth is still very important: 'in-laws dig deep into their pockets to present the deceased's family with an engraved headstone, brought all the way from Cairns, Townsville or even Brisbane, shrouded in hundreds of yards of colorful cloth and money envelopes'.

Within Mabuaig Island local lore, families may only exercise control over land and sea rights around Mabuaig Island if children have island residences and if relatives can be guaranteed a proper tombstone opening. Migration away from the island complicates people's ability to carry out these burial practices (above), and makes it difficult for the descendants of people living away from Mabuaig Island to establish legal title to family estates.

Amenities
The Torres Strait Island Regional Council operate the Ngalpun Ngulaygaw Lag Resource Centre in Main Street.

The Mabuiag Indigenous Knowledge Centre (IKC), named Ngalpun Ngulaygaw Lag Resource Centre, is the oldest IKC operated by Torres Strait Island Regional Council. Opened 9 August 2002 to provide library services to the island community, the IKC has partnered with State Library of Queensland to deliver many programs and projects over the years. Two of these projects include Away with Words (2008) and Culture Love (2010). Culture Love was a continuation of Away with Words and led to the creation of a digital story, retelling Amipuru, one of the myths recorded in Margaret Lawrie's book, Myths and Legends of Torres Strait. In the Away with Words workshop, local children created artwork based on the Amipuru. In the Culture Love workshop, the children created clay sculptures, images, and recorded animated story in the local Kalaw Lagaw Ya language.

Notable people
The notable Torres Strait Islander singer of "My Island Home", Christine Anu, descended from the Mabuiag people, as well as the people of Saibai Island).

title: Mabuiag


text:
Talk:Hobgoblin (disambiguation)

I don't see why this disambiguation page is at all necessary. Surely hobgoblin (fairy) should be at this page, with a notice on that page pointing out the Hobgoblin (comics) article. -Sean 21:35, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Oh, well.   ‡   Jarlaxle   02:35, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

Druids?
The stuff about the druids is complete trash. The word 'goblin' is anglo norman, probably originally from latin, as is 'Robin'. Belief in fairy-type folk isn't confined to the celts! Hobgoblin's are a purely medieval English conception of a type of fairy folk, the house-fairy, although that type is found in almost all indo-european folklore.

title: Talk:Hobgoblin (disambiguation)