Dear HCN,


In your Sept. 4 issue, writer Peter Heller was quoted as labeling some of my thinking “the drug dealer defense.” His comment didn’t really make sense, but it had a connotation. With due respect to Peter, I have to say it was a thoughtless analogy.


People cannot make sound decisions without good information. Outside’s readers love the outdoors, and they depend on us for information that can help them experience it responsibly and work for its preservation. The magazine’s success is testimony to the quality of its service to them.

Greg Cliburn


Santa Fe, New Mexico

Greg Cliburn is executive editor of Outside magazine.

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Thoughtless analogy

by Greg Cliburn, High Country News
October 2, 1995

<h1>Thoughtless analogy</h1> <p class="byline">by Greg Cliburn, High Country News <br />October 2, 1995</p> <p>Dear HCN,</p> <p>In your Sept. 4 issue,<br /> writer Peter Heller was quoted as labeling some of my thinking “the<br /> drug dealer defense.” His comment didn’t really make sense, but it<br /> had a connotation. With due respect to Peter, I have to say it was<br /> a thoughtless analogy.</p> <p>People cannot make sound<br /> decisions without good information. Outside’s readers love the<br /> outdoors, and they depend on us for information that can help them<br /> experience it responsibly and work for its preservation. The<br /> magazine’s success is testimony to the quality of its service to<br /> them.</p> <p>Greg<br /> Cliburn</p> <p>Santa Fe, New<br /> Mexico</p> <p>Greg Cliburn is<br /> executive editor of Outside<br /> magazine.</p> </p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=186983">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">Thoughtless analogy</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-44/thoughtless-analogy/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=116480&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-44/thoughtless-analogy/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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