Tip 662: Claims with Some Natural Variation

From the Critical Thinking Workshops: Claims with Some Natural Variation 

A principle in archeology is to “look for straight lines.” By “looking for straight lines,” archeologists have found— 

The Nazca Geoglyphs in Peru.

The city of Leptis Magna in the Libyan desert. 

The city of Port Royal in the waters off Jamaica. 

Straight lines indicate construction. Deliberate effort. Planning and calculation. Nature doesn’t follow straight lines.

So be wary of straight-line, verbatim1 recitation of a claim.  

Some variation—within limits—on a claim demonstrates a natural integrity. Observations vary. Memories shift. Absolute and verbatim repetition may indicate a prepared (and thus an open-to-question) claim.      

So some variationenhancescredibility.

This variation in credible reports enters our culture as the “Rashomon Effect” (based on the 1950 Akira Kurosawa film) as the same event is described in different ways by different people yet who closely observed the same event.

Think of two people facing each other and seeing a numeral in the sand between them. One sees a six; the other a nine. The difference in their perception does not invalidate their observation. The numeral is still there.   

What are your questions? 

Let us know. 

We love this stuff.

This is fun.

An Appreciation: Darrell Harmon's questions prompted this five-week series. Thank you, Darrell.   

_____

1Verbatim joined the language in the late 1400s from the Medieval Latin verbum and meaning “word for word.” No variation.