BLOG # 5 - Inductive and Deductive Arguments

For the final blog we are looking at deductive and inductive arguments

 

Deductive arguments are arguments where the goal (to achieve valid arguments) is to provide conclusive evidence for the conclusion - The nature of the inferential claim is such that it is impossible for the premises to be true and that conclusion false (Valid or Invalid)

 

Example:

 

Premises: All snails eat lettuce

Premises: This thing is a snail

Conclusion: This thing eats lettuce

Inductive arguments are arguments where the goal (to achieve strong & reliable beliefs) is to provide the best available evidence for the conclusion - The nature of the inferential claim is such that it is unlikely that the premises are true and the conclusion false (Strong or Weak)

 

Example:

Premise: This snail eats lettuce

Premise: This snail eats lettuce

Premise: This one too etc

Conclusion: All snails eat lettuce. 

Article 1

A suspected terrorist has tried to kill a French soldier in a copycat type attack to the murder of the serviceman in Woolwich a week earlier.  Article by Peter Allen published in the daily mail on May 26^th 2013, 10:56am. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331141/Woolwich-murder-Suspected-terrorist-tried-kill-French-soldier-copycat-attack-caught-security-camera-footage-removing-robes.html  

Inductive Reasoning: 

Premise:       2 suspected radical Islamic men stabbed a serviceman in the throat in a very public place in Woolwich, London

Premise:       a suspected radical Islamic man stabbed a French soldier in the throat in a public place in Paris

Conclusion: Therefore the second attack was a copycat attack and was inspired by the first attack.

The inductive reasoning utilised above would give rise to a valid yet weak argument.

Article 2 

The attack of a serviceman in Woolwich has caused an increase in anti-Muslim incidents.  Article by the Huffington Post UK published on May 25^th 2013, 9:10am.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/25/woolwich-attack-provokes-sharp-increase-in-incidents_n_3335042.html

 

Deductive Reasoning: 

Premise:       The attack on the London serviceman by suspected Islamic terrorists happened

Premise:       State-funded helpline recorded a huge increase in anti-Muslim incidents

Premise:       150 incidents over a 48 hour period occurred; compared to the average 6 – 8 per day since attack

Conclusion: Therefore the murder of the serviceman by the suspected Islamic terrorist has caused a spike in the number of anti-Muslim incidents occurring.  

The deductive reasoning utilised above would give rise to a valid conclusion.

PUNCH BUGGY; NO PUNCH BACKS!

For my fourth blog I have to observe the world around me and reflect on……

 

Habits, ‘truth’ or other phenomenon that have grown from tradition or other source (e.g. family, disciplinary or cultural) and become part of our ‘practice’ that may or not have any evidence base for the practice.

 

Habits: according to the Oxford online English dictionary of 2013 a habit is defined 'as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up'.  When thinking of habits we see them as something we do just because we have always known it to be done that way, for example the way we drive our car, the process we go through each morning when we get to work, the way we attack the supermarkets.  Everybody has habits that they do and don't even realize that it is a habit, some are formed from traditions they have grown up with, experiences they have hand and their own beliefs.

 

Truths: A truth is something that is found to have evidence to back it up, what people believe to be true and what is actual truth can be very different.

 

I have chosen to look at the origin of the 'punch buggy'.  Having grown up with older brothers I have copped many a bruised arm over the years and was intrigued to know who is responsible for this.  For those of you who don't know what the punch buggy is; it is a game that is usually played in cars where one person spots a Volkswagen Beetle, punches the person next to them in the arm and says 'punch buggy; no punch backs'.  There are a few variations to the game depending on who you talk to, some call it 'slug bug', some add the colour of the bug into their saying and certain colours can give you certain points.

 

 

After doing some research I have learnt that it is not known where the punch buggy originated from.  It has been suggested on some forums of players of the game that it started back in the 1960’s, many commenting that their Dad’s played it back when they were young.

 

This is a game that is played all across the world only via habits that started with someone, somewhere that has been passed down from generation to generation, there is no truths available to back up where it started, just one of those games we play because we are taught.