FACTS vs. IMPLICATIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, INFERENCES

1. PART 2: FACTSvs.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 solutionis 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)

10. END PART 2