Zama: The Battle That Never Was?

[Renatus]

A decent investigtor should be looking for the commonalities in those statements, not picking apart the discrepancies.

A 'decent investigator' will ignore discrepancies at his peril. If he fails to recognise that there are weaknesses in his arguments, he will find those weaknesses exploited by those who disagree with him and his thesis undermined, if not destroyed. If he is any good at his job, he will look at the issue from both sides and will consider how any discrepancies might be explained. If they cannot be explained, he should own up to the fact. Ultimately, he may conclude that the case that he seeks to put forward does not stand up to close examination.