Superintendent: The design must be sound — all nine engineers of this division have put their signature to it. Auditor: Eight of the nine work under the ninth, who drew the design; each of the eight signed after seeing his name at the head of the sheet, and not one of them examined the calculations. The auditor answers the superintendent by

Nine agreeing opinions carry weight only when they were formed separately; here eight subordinates endorsed their own superior's drawing without opening the calculations, so what the superintendent counts as nine judgements is one judgement and eight endorsements. The auditor does not say engineers cannot judge designs — he says these eight did not judge this one. He offers no calculation of his own, and he says nothing about what the superintendent would gain.