In the story “Silver Blaze” from our text, Sherlock Holmes tells Watson that when it comes to the art of reasoning many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumptions. The difficulty, he maintains is to detach the framework of undeniable fact from the embellishments of hearsay and reports.
I think what Sherlock Holmes meant by this was that you need valid proof to back up your reasoning. Going off of opinions and unsupported assumptions turns any type of reasoning into a game of telephone and the end result always gets messed up In the end.
I think this concept can be linked to many fights in relationships. I’d like to say I don’t listen to hearsay and rely on my opinion or unsupported assumptions when it comes to reasoning and that I usually go straight to the source before listening to others or crazy scenarios I’ve come up with by over thinking. That hasn’t always been the case though. For examples, a few years ago a good friend and a boyfriend of mine were planning something for my birthday and I saw a message come up on his phone from one of my girlfriends. I didn’t read it or anything; I just saw the name and ignored it. I immediately jumped to conclusions because that particular friend’s boyfriend wasn’t single when they first got together, and I immediately thought the worse. I consulted other friends about the situation which freaked me out even more. It was this huge ordeal and I began avoiding them both. When I finally asked my boyfriend about it he showed me the messages and told me what was going on (before my birthday which ruined the surprise). I felt like such an idiot for going off of unsupported assumptions and not detaching ‘framework of undeniable fact from the embellishments of hearsay and reports’ and not trusting two people who were the closest to me.
I know my example is way different than what Sherlock Holmes solved in our book but when I was trying to link it to a personal experience, that was the first thing that popped into my head =)
Your personal example was quite similar to mine! Instead, I was the one who was planning the surprise. My friends and I decided to throw my best friend a birthday party, since we kept it as a secret, my best friend thought that we were purposely excluding her from our hang outs. But eventually, she realized that it was all a misunderstanding. Much like you, she felt silly for relying on unsupported assumptions. But it's common for many people to jump to conclusions, we usually go with our instincts with what "seems to be reasonable" rather than a more logical reason. It's pretty frustrating when you're the one who is being accused of something rather than the one who is accusing. But I'm sure if your friends are understanding enough they wouldn't hold that against you for long. :)
ReplyDeleteI bet it was super frustrating for you!! Everyone got over it really quickly -- well maybe except me lol, I still cringe thinking about it! It definitely taught me not to jump to conclusions and make assumptions because I looked like a complete fool at the end of it! Thanks for commenting =)
DeleteOh my gosh!!! I would have been so embarrassed. I definitely would have thought the same thing. However, I definitely would have confronted him right away, being as jealous as I am :/ Which might have been better than consulting with friends, because we all know that friends are only looking out for us, but they have a huge influence on our opinions, whether unfounded or not.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is really hard to trust people close to you when your thoughts get the best of you. Even if you think your example was way different, it was a great story to tell, and it really puts importance on excluding unsupported assumptions from reasoning.
LOL I was MORTIFIED! It was terrible and yeah I should have said something right away because instead of clearing the air between who was involved, I brought more people into the problem who saw how foolish I looked in the end. You made a lot of good points in your comment, thanks for replying to my post =)
DeleteI think this kind of situation has happened to everyone. The old, I-thought-one-thing-but-it-is-something-completely-different. I have usually been able to uncover the truth before my mind starts running with possible conclusions. A small embarrassing example would be when for Christmas, I checked my stocking and all it had was two wallets. I was very upset because my siblings had stockings filled with gifts and candy. My mother instantly knew that I was upset about this and I made it clear to her that I was not okay with the stocking gifts. Then, I decided to open the wallets and to my surprise I find Taylor Swift concert tickets. It is when we make assumptions so soon, that we feel embarrassed once we discover the truth.
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