The Honor System
I sometimes think of non-birding things while birding, if you can believe it.
Well, I guess the thought I’m writing about here didn’t come to me while birding. I was listening to a birding podcast at the time. Close enough, right?
Anyway, the two birder hosts of this podcast we’re talking about a birding activity known as “The Big Sit.” During The Big Sit, groups of birders park themselves in a specific area and count as many birds as they can see in 24 hours without leaving a roughly 17-foot diameter circle.
Why 17 feet? No one really knows; that’s just the generally agreed upon dimension. And, as one of the podcast hosts pointed out, no birding police are going to come by and arrest you if your circle is bigger, or if you count a bird seen while outside of it. It’s all based on the honor system, like a fair amount of birding is.
The concept of life lists, doing a Big Year (seeing as many birds as you can in a single year), all are based on the honor system. Photos help of course, and may well be required upon the claimed sighting of a super-rare bird. But for the most part, birders will take other birders’ word for it when it comes to reported sightings. The concept, I guess, is self-correcting. No one wants to play with people who cheat. A birder caught regularly making stuff up will no longer be trusted.
It got me thinking how much of society is based on the honor system. Witness testimony in courts of law, for example. Penalties exist for lying under oath, but that to me just drives home the importance we’ve placed on telling the truth. On an individual person’s word against claims otherwise.
That’s always been odd to me, but I really can’t think of a good alternative. I’m sure many smarter than me have tried.
