Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Fact or Fiction
When Sherlock Holmes is explaining to Watson that "when it comes to the
art of reasoning, many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumption",
he is saying that many people believe that their own knowledge, built up from
rumors or poorly constructed conclusions, is true. He emphasizes the difficulty
to "detach the framework" of facts from assumptions. Being a woman
having gone through high school and middle school, I am well aware of this
issue. Most recently, I asked a close friend of mine what her boyfriend’s
sister was like. I almost immediately got a negative response. My friend
described her as vulgar, sleazy, and
conniving. She had minimal evidence to back her up, so I had a difficult time
being convinced. Upon meeting her boyfriend’s sister, I could assume that she
was not a very nice person from what my friend had informed me, or I could
conclude for myself what kind of person she really is. Until then, I do not
have an official opinion of her. It would not be fair to just believe what my
friend had to say about her, just because my friend believed it to be true.
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I agree with you Miss Summer I believe that growing up you go through many theories and opinion that crosses your mind. In the end, its hard to let go of those theories because it has came across their minds many times. people need to start looking for the truths themselves and discover what is fact or fiction. So many factors affect us today especially the media which puts a huge threat to our facts. We shouldn't let these factors change what we know is real and what is the truth. I understand what you mean, cant really judge a person without meeting them. People always have different judgements and we shouldn't let their decisions affect ours. If we do we will become another person that were not.
ReplyDeleteIn your post you bring up an interesting point when you described your friend giving you her opinion of what she thinks of her boyfriend’s sister. When one woman gives an opinion about another woman, whether it is positive or negative, the women being told this has to decide if she is going to adopt that opinion or form her own opinion. I think most women can say that they have been in a situation like this at one time or another in their lives. Without actually meeting the person could you actual have an opinion of them? I agree with you that it would not be fair to just believe what a friend has told you just because a friend believes it to be true. It is important to make decisions based on facts not on opinion and unsupported assumptions.
ReplyDeleteMarty