In reading Evidence, I gained an understanding of how the human mind works when forming beliefs, setting rules, and addressing anything else involving thought. The passage exposed me to an important question surrounding the human mind – are our opinions intentionally biased or is selective attention and inductive reasoning a natural human tendency?
Our opinions have many ways in which they can be influenced or changed. Some of which are the result of inductive reasoning – the use of a small portion of evidence to form a full conclusion. This has many negative impacts on us because we make statements consisting of a very slim amount of knowledge and a large amount of assumption. A reasonable example the author gave of this was the idea that we remember the rule that past tense words end in “-ed” instead of painstakingly memorizing the past tense of every single verb. This works for most words, but eventually we will make the mistake of saying “thinked” or “eated.” This smaller-scale example can then be applied to bigger issues in society, such as sexism or racism. This is an issue because people begin to make assumptions without having facts to back them up – these prejudices make for negative interaction and false accusation. Although, while fundamentally flawed, inductive reasoning still helps us in quick thinking. We are able to form reasonable, logical conclusions based on previous experience and knowledge. This allows us to save time and energy avoiding repetitive memorization. The author connects the drawbacks and positives of inductive reasoning to highlight a significant idea we need to remain conscious of – its strengths also serve as its weaknesses. When we create assumptions based off of little information, we are exercising bias, even sometimes at the subconscious level. It is important to be aware of this so that we can take a step back and re-evaluate our thoughts. We may need to find more evidence to support them or change viewpoints altogether.
Ben's Blog 