Logic, Reason and Critical Thinking, Class 10: Period 4, Thursday, November 12
"This week," Miss Bennet said, "we are going to discuss another tool that will aid us in problem-solving: one that starts at the very beginning and can immediately set us upon the right track. This technique is deceptively simple: we define the problem. We restate it methodically, examine the hidden assumptions and unspoken concerns, and address the exact dimensions of the current difficulty. When properly defined, the problem will lead us toward possible solutions.
She lifted a piece of chalk and headed towards the blackboard. "Let us take a simple hypothetical. Let us say that a certain teacher wished to have office hours on Tuesday, but discovered that the town was filled with vicious, sentient plants." Miss Bennet did, in fact, think she was amusing. "In describing the problem, said teacher might express her frustration in the following manner:"
I cannot go to my office; there are killer vegetables on the loose.
Miss Bennet underlined the sentence before turning back to her students. "This is a rather natural response to the situation, but it is not a well-defined problem, for our purposes. Let us make it into one, then. Where shall we start? Cannot is a rather strong term; in many cases, 'cannot' would be more accurately replaced with 'would rather not.' Similarly, the word 'killer' is quite loaded, and we would do well to replace it with a more accurate and less emotional word. Very well; there are menacing plants about, and the instructor would rather not go to her office. The connection between the two statements is left unspoken. It seems a natural deduction that the teacher is fearful of the dangers presented by those plants, which is a rather more specific problem. Reshaped, the problem now appears to be:"
Dangerous vegetables may harm me if I go to my office today.
"In this form, the dilemma quite readily lends itself to suggestions. For one, perhaps the instructor should not go to her office today. These vegetables may present only a temporary difficulty; perhaps there is nothing in the teacher's office which cannot wait until tomorrow. Another alternative is for the lady in question to arm herself before leaving the house, if she is confident in her abilities. If she is not, she may do well to ask a gentleman to escort her, or to fetch whatever is so urgent from her office that it mustn't wait a day.
Satisfied, Miss Bennet set the chalk down and brushed the dust from her hands. "When we fully understand a problem, we will have an easier time discovering its solution."
She lifted a piece of chalk and headed towards the blackboard. "Let us take a simple hypothetical. Let us say that a certain teacher wished to have office hours on Tuesday, but discovered that the town was filled with vicious, sentient plants." Miss Bennet did, in fact, think she was amusing. "In describing the problem, said teacher might express her frustration in the following manner:"
I cannot go to my office; there are killer vegetables on the loose.
Miss Bennet underlined the sentence before turning back to her students. "This is a rather natural response to the situation, but it is not a well-defined problem, for our purposes. Let us make it into one, then. Where shall we start? Cannot is a rather strong term; in many cases, 'cannot' would be more accurately replaced with 'would rather not.' Similarly, the word 'killer' is quite loaded, and we would do well to replace it with a more accurate and less emotional word. Very well; there are menacing plants about, and the instructor would rather not go to her office. The connection between the two statements is left unspoken. It seems a natural deduction that the teacher is fearful of the dangers presented by those plants, which is a rather more specific problem. Reshaped, the problem now appears to be:"
Dangerous vegetables may harm me if I go to my office today.
"In this form, the dilemma quite readily lends itself to suggestions. For one, perhaps the instructor should not go to her office today. These vegetables may present only a temporary difficulty; perhaps there is nothing in the teacher's office which cannot wait until tomorrow. Another alternative is for the lady in question to arm herself before leaving the house, if she is confident in her abilities. If she is not, she may do well to ask a gentleman to escort her, or to fetch whatever is so urgent from her office that it mustn't wait a day.
Satisfied, Miss Bennet set the chalk down and brushed the dust from her hands. "When we fully understand a problem, we will have an easier time discovering its solution."