1 PART 2 FACTS vs IMPLICATIONS ASSUMPTIONS INFERENCES

1 PART 2: FACTS vs. IMPLICATIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, INFERENCES *OCCAM’S RAZOR*

2 FACTS vs. OTHERS 1) FACTS: • provable, verifiable * • probable • primary evidence: – senses – science • secondary evidence: – testimony = secondary (beliefs, ideas not from senses) – historical evidence (documents, testimony, articles)

3 FACTS vs. OTHERS 2) IMPLICATIONS: • unspoken message • suggestion • with indirect words * SUBTEXTS * Rhetorical Questions, Mincing Words

4 FACTS vs. OTHERS 3) ASSUMPTIONS: • • supposition idea taken for granted based on prior knowledge based on little knowledge

5 FACTS vs. OTHERS 4) INFERENCES: • logical deduction • based on evidence or observation • educated guess

6 FACTS vs. OTHERS • ASSUMPTION vs. INFERENCE: – assumption = based on belief – inference = based on sense data or premises • IMPLICATION vs. INFERENCE: – implication = made by the speaker – inference = made by the listener

7 FACTS vs. OTHERS *Implications, Assumptions, Inferences: • • • not = facts you fill in the gaps you make connections you supply missing data you draw conclusion without all of the information/facts

8 OCCAM’S RAZOR *RULE OF SIMPLICITY* (in textbook) • When there are competing possibilities, choose the answer that requires the fewest assumptions. • “Cut” through the obfuscation (BS) and choose the solution that would not appear on The X-files. *The simplest solution is often the best. *

9 OCCAM’S RAZOR • Typical reactions to wild, “unshaven” conclusions: – “Wow, that came from left field. ” – “Where’d that come from? !” – “Another conspiracy theory? !” • Sherlock Holmes: – “It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. ” – from The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, (p. 315)

END PART 2