To expound a bit further on this topic - whenever students start to ask a question with "Is it possible ..." I jump in and say, "Stop right there. Without even hearing the rest of the question, I can tell you the answer: yes, it is possible. Here's the real question: Is it probable?"
Note that I teach in the area of religious studies, so the "possible" in this case has to do with piecing together history and the interpretation of texts. Since we don't have a videotape of what happened 2000 years ago (the era of history with which I am generally concerned), and we don't have access to the mind or intentions of long-dead authors, it is generally difficult-to-impossible to rule anything in or out with certainty. Could Paul have meant such-and-so in his letter to the Corinthians? Could Jesus have secretly been married? Could ... (fill in the blank). Sure, nearly anything is possible ... but is it probable? How well does it fit with the other (however much or little) evidence we have?
The logical error that so many people tend to make is, if it can't be ruled out, then it must be true - right? This is the foundation for conspiracy "theories." One can nearly always come up with some way of explaining contrary evidence - it's a conspiracy to hide the truth from us, so of course "they" have manufactured that contrary evidence! And if it is possible that there is a vast conspiracy at work, if you can't disprove it, and it all hangs together, then surely it must be true!
I actually find it helpful to affirm the possibility when talking to someone who is oriented this way. Simply pushing back - "That's ridiculous!" - results in the person digging in. But saying, "Sure, that's possible. But let's think for a minute - what else is possible?" can - at least sometimes - open up a fruitful discussion.
Sorry - way more discussion of this than anybody wanted ... what was the original topic of this thread??
