Saturday, March 27, 2010
Too vague for assigned reading?
Something i found to be interesting in the chapter but was not assigned was the vague generalities. This is a major issue because it is hard for somebody to draw the line between two commonly used words. For example, words like "almost all" and "most almost have the same meaning when used. It is hard to decipher "Almost all the kids eat lunch at school." or "Most of the kids eat lunch at school." By using these words usually leads to a very weak premise if it is argued backwards. But if it is used in a direct way, the premise is usually pretty strong. Using "almost all" in a reasoning chain also leads to a weak premise. There is a difference between using "almost all" and "all". All clearly states every single one while almost all can me all but one or more. This is what I found interesting in the reading in the chapter.
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I also found this section of chapter 8 to be the most useful for this week's reading assignment. There are many occasions in our everyday lives when we hear things like vague words like almost and a lot. What people who use these words consider is that a lot or almost can have two completely different definitions for two people. This can cause a break down in communication of these two people and a bad judgment of the person interpreting the speaker. Overall I completely see where you are coming from and agree with what you have to say in this case regarding vague generalities.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out a difference between "almost all" and "all." When I was reading it, something didn't look right to me, and I'm glad someone recognized it too. "Almost all" is technically a use of two generalities, which makes the claim harder to fully understand, therefore making it weak. It's interesting seeing this in everyday dialogue, since we all use some type of generality (like the one I just used). I agree with you and TheSituation that vagueness in arguments or statements occurs frequently, and that it messes up the communication between people. Unfortunately, that's the society we live in today, where people aren't always careful about what they're saying.
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