Editor,

This is an uncalled for attack, through comparison, on the ancient and honourable profession of sorcery and honest hard-working sorcerers. The whiff of slightly seedy reputation that attaches to them stems only from failure to adequately invest in public relations spin – perhaps by commissioning a well-known think-tank to produce a favourable report affirming the undeniable benefits of sorcery – to counter the dastardly attacks of competitors, mostly in the religious industry.

In truth, the overwhelming majority of reports and indices purporting to provide objective comparisons on different soft issues of disparate societies across the globe are always subjective and not worth the paper they are printed on.

The wider the geographic and the more disparate the social settings which such studies claim to cover applying the same measures and standards the more erroneous the outcome may be.

That is because such studies apply standard criteria and the same weightings for each of those criteria to societies and countries where such criteria do not have the same meaning or importance or even any meaning at all!

Even such seemingly well-established and widely accepted indices as IQ and GDP are not the infallible metrics they are made out to be and should be accompanied with appropriate caveats. 

Mwene Kalinda, KigaliRwanda

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I’m pretty sure that if one asked for a complete breakdown of the criteria used to come up with these reports, one would probably go a little crazy. However, I believe we should not lend their findings any credibility by bemoaning the results in the press or anywhere else.

After all, I doubt you’ll find Iceland using its first place ranking by the little known Institute for Economics and Peace to attract tourists or investors. While reports like these can influence perception, the effect is so negligible in the bigger scheme of things.

Fervent expressions of displeasure will only serve to raise the profile of a think-tank that only rears its head once a year to publish a somewhat insignificant report. 

Anne, KigaliRwanda

Reactions to Joseph Rwagatare’s opinion, "Reports, indices as sorcery – the hidden truth”, (The New Times, June 25)