Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Murder on the Abductive Express

I think abductive reasoning is the most effective tool we have when faced with the myriad uncertain, ambiguous issues and decisions that everyday life throws our way.  Here are some links:
  • Here's a paper (pdf) that explains why I disagree with our textbook's explanation of the scientific method. It's important to consider and test multiple possible explanations rather than a single hypothesis. 
  • (NOTE: Platt uses the word "inductive" in a more general way than we do in class, to refer to any non-deductive kind of reasoning--that is, arguments that don't attempt to absolutely prove their conclusion.) 
  • I'm 75% through reading this book: Inference to the Best Explanation by Peter Lipton
  • Remember when I was talking about Einstein's theory of general relativity having predictive power? This is what I had in mind.  
  • Everything you ever wanted to know about William of Ockham and his famous razor.
  • Lastly, here's a dinosaur comic murder mystery.
What's the best explanation for those curtains?!?

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