Institute of General Semantics

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... (Some) Common language traps


  1. We often confuse statements which sound like facts, as facts. Rather than maintain a sense of tentativeness and uncertainty, we're quick to accept statements, comments, judgments, opinions, beliefs, etc., as facts or truth. This lack of discrimination, this disregarding of key differences, results in our acting and behaving as if we're responding to facts, when we're really responding based on assumptions, inferences, beliefs, etc.

    Professor Irving J. Lee (1909-1955) of Northwestern University, proposed a high standard for considering something as a "fact", vs. an "inference":


Characteristics of "Facts" vs. "Inferences"

Facts
Inferences
  • Can be made only after an observation, experiences, etc.
    		•
  • Can be made anytime, including the present and future
    		•
  • Stays with what can be observed, does not speculate or presume
    		•
  • Goes beyond what is observed, speculates as to intent, motivation, meaning, etc.
    		•
  • As close to certainty as humanly possible - would you bet your life on it?
    		•
  • Expressed in degrees of probability, potentiality, etc.
    		•


          Try a simple test to see how well you distinguish facts from inferences.

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