When the monitor goes off, of course you have cause for concern. It spurs you into action, you make the necessary checks and act accordingly. I don't know what the fault rate in such equipment is, maybe low to non-existent so is it a valid comparison? I don't know. I prefer the metal detector analogy however, a beep will signify the presence of something worth investigating, however it will not always be treasure. Same as the dogs IMO.
As someone who has claimed (albeit in a round-about-read-through-the-lines kind of way) that you don't believe the parents covered up the death of their child, how do you rationalise the dog alerts to yourself?
You don't
know the true fault rate of dogs either.
I don't
know whether or not the parents covered up the death of their child, I would not lay my purse on the nose either way.
How I rationalise the dog alert is that the dog alerted to what it was trained to alert to until it is shown incontrovertibly that it didn't. Similar to the oxygen monitor: the sensible first reaction is, it's doing what it is supposed to do until you can show it's not.
Metal detectors presumably always detect metal. The monetary value of what they detect is irrelevant. To support your argument I fear they would need to alert to wood sometimes.
