Editing Stranger in a Strange Land (section)

===Fair Witness===
The profession of Fair Witness, invented for the novel, has been cited in such varied contexts as environmentalism,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willard |first1=Daniel E. |title=Ecologists, Environmental Litigation, and Forensic Ecology |journal=Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=14–18 |jstor=20166224 |year=1980 |doi=10.2307/20166224 |s2cid=128702372 }}</ref> psychology,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Erard |first1=Robert E. |title=If It Walks Like a Duck: a Case of Confirmatory Bias |journal=Psychological Injury and Law |date=September 2016 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=275–277 |doi=10.1007/s12207-016-9262-6 |s2cid=148049120 }}</ref> technology,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Martellaro |first1=John |title=Google Glass, SciFi, Robert Heinlein & the Fair Witness Effect |url=https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/google-glass-scifi-robert-heinlein-the-fair-witness-effecthas |website=The Mac Observer |access-date=2 May 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> digital signatures,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gripman |first1=David L. |title=Electronic Document Certification: A Primer on the Technology Behind Digital Signatures |journal=The John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law |date=Spring 1999 |volume=17 |issue=3 |url=https://repository.jmls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1261&amp=&context=jitpl&amp=&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.bing.com%252Fsearch%253Fq%253Delectronic%252Bdocument%252Bcertification%25253A%252Ba%252Bprimer%252Bon%252Bthe%252Btechnology%252Bbehind%252Bdigital%252Bsignatures%2526form%253DEDGNTT%2526qs%253DPF%2526cvid%253D17c712898d134677b5473f1751d7831f%2526refig%253D8793be932ffc4d76ebdddd425603366d%2526cc%253DUS%2526setlang%253Den-US%2526elv%253DAY3%252521uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcbaunDJ7P0tNvbkRtw8BQF9xvnUOGSPov3eg2gnoFgtafsINIQNa4%252521Yh0%252AZpiHMBieCB2Ntnd7Z9m8u3ST3AQ#search=%22electronic%20document%20certification%3A%20primer%20technology%20behind%20digital%20signatures%22 |access-date=2019-05-02 |archive-date=2020-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501123900/https://repository.jmls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1261&amp=&context=jitpl&amp=&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.bing.com%252Fsearch%253Fq%253Delectronic%252Bdocument%252Bcertification%25253A%252Ba%252Bprimer%252Bon%252Bthe%252Btechnology%252Bbehind%252Bdigital%252Bsignatures%2526form%253DEDGNTT%2526qs%253DPF%2526cvid%253D17c712898d134677b5473f1751d7831f%2526refig%253D8793be932ffc4d76ebdddd425603366d%2526cc%253DUS%2526setlang%253Den-US%2526elv%253DAY3%252521uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcbaunDJ7P0tNvbkRtw8BQF9xvnUOGSPov3eg2gnoFgtafsINIQNa4%252521Yh0%252AZpiHMBieCB2Ntnd7Z9m8u3ST3AQ#search=%22electronic%20document%20certification%3A%20primer%20technology%20behind%20digital%20signatures%22 |url-status=live }}</ref> and science,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stoskopf |first1=M. K. |title=Observation and Cogitation: How Serendipity Provides the Building Blocks of Scientific Discovery |journal=ILAR Journal |date=2005 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=332–337 |doi=10.1093/ilar.46.4.332 |pmid=16179740 |doi-access=free }}</ref> as well as in books on leadership<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andersen |first1=Erika |title=Leading So People Will Follow |date=2012 |publisher=Jossey-Bass |isbn=978-1118379875 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IHETyO3NOogC&q=%22fair+witness%22&pg=PA92 |access-date=2020-10-28 |archive-date=2022-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823005458/https://books.google.com/books?id=IHETyO3NOogC&q=%22fair+witness%22&pg=PA92 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Sufism]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bayman |first1=Henry |title=The Station of No Station: Open Secrets of the Sufis |date=2001 |publisher=North Atlantic Books |isbn=978-1556432408 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S6yx_XkW7wwC&q=%22fair+witness%22&pg=PA6 |access-date=2020-10-28 |archive-date=2022-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823005458/https://books.google.com/books?id=S6yx_XkW7wwC&q=%22fair+witness%22&pg=PA6 |url-status=live }}</ref> A Fair Witness is an individual trained to observe events and report exactly what is seen and heard, making no extrapolations or assumptions. While wearing the Fair Witness uniform of a white robe, they are presumed to be observing and opining in their professional capacity.<ref name="still">{{cite journal |last1=Still |first1=Julie M. |title=Librarian as Fair Witness: A Comparison of Heinlein's Futuristic Occupation and Today's Evolving Information Professional |journal=LIBRES Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal |date=March 2011 |volume=21 |issue=1 |url=https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.ntu.edu.sg/dist/8/644/files/2014/06/Vol21_I1_Still_EssOp_LIBRES21n1.pdf |access-date=2019-05-02 |archive-date=2018-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425175438/https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.ntu.edu.sg/dist/8/644/files/2014/06/Vol21_I1_Still_EssOp_LIBRES21n1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Works that refer to the Fair Witness emphasize the profession's impartiality, integrity, objectivity, and reliability.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Atkinson |first1=Ross |title=Transversality and the Role of the Library as Fair Witness |journal=The Library Quarterly |date=April 2005 |volume=75 |issue=2|pages=169–189 |doi=10.1086/431332 |s2cid=143659992 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Andersen |first1=Erika |title=Be Bad First: Get Good at Things Fast to Stay Ready for the Future |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1629561080}}</ref>

An example from the book illustrates the role of Fair Witness when Anne is asked what color a house is. She answers, "It's white on this side." The character Jubal then explains, "You see? It doesn't occur to Anne to infer that the other side is white, too. All the King's horses couldn't force her to commit herself... unless she went there and looked – and even then she wouldn't assume that it stayed white after she left."<ref name="still" />