Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Facts and Assumptions bearing on a Problem

Facts and Assumptions as they bear on the Problem.

Snow White’s problem is that she needs to decide what to do. Further there are some facts that bear on the problem. …“bear on the Problem,” are the operative words. Since these facts have a major impact on the solution they need to be relative to the problem. In reviewing the facts of Snow White’s problem we see…

1. Snow White Has taken a walk in the forest.
2. Snow White is lost.
3. Snow White was told not to enter the forest.
4. Snow White has meet a strangely dressed character.
5. The hour is growing late.
6. Snow White is carrying a stiletto.

Facts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, appear revelant. Fact 3 however, while true, no longer bears directly on the problem. It bears on an earlier problem of whether or not the young girl should have entered the forest in the first place. That decision has already been made and the fact that her mother told her not to has been overtaken by events and no longer directly applies…maybe one could stretch the matter and say…it does directly bear because when Ms. White fails to turn up they won’t think to search the forest because she was told not to go there…that would be a stretch requiring an assumption that most mothers would not be willing to make. Anyway, since number 3 does not directly apply to the immediate problem it can be disqualified as not meeting the “does not bear criteria.

Taking these facts we draw a solution window. She is somewhere inside a forest. She doesn’t know exactly were and is disoriented. There is this strangely dressed character, it is getting on towards dark and she is armed with a concealed weapon.

This is the situation presented by the hard facts, however there are some soft facts called Assumptions. Assumptions are used as a substitute for a fact when we don’t know exactly what it is or where to find it. There are two basic types. Soft and Futurity. The important thing to keep in mind is that for the purposes of constraining the problem, assumptions are treated as facts. To alert those reviewing the process, soft facts are called assumptions.

A soft fact (Assumption) is one that has already taken place. In other words the fact is out there, it already exists however we can’t seem to find it or get a grip on it . The facts decide an answer and those facts must be defined and valid. If they are not conclusions can be reached that are erroneous and decisions made that are invalid.

Sometimes the Hard facts are difficult to come by. They can be…

1. Concealed
2. Overwhelmed
3. Obscured.
4. Too much trouble to find.

Or…they can be facts that haven’t happened yet, facts with the aspect of futurity… For example we make assumptions on the weather in planning a picnic. So if it hasn’t happened yet and it bears on the outcome of a problem it becomes classified as a futurity assumption. Assumptions are the bane of the problem solver and looking in retrospect at a poor decision based upon reason, invalid assumptions are frequently a factor. Think of assumptions as substitutes for facts that are unavailable at the time. So what are the assumptions that Snow White might make.

1. “If I don’t panic I can find my way out.“
2. “Soon my parents will be worried and start looking.”
3. “I’ll be spending the night in the forest.
4. “This strangely dressed character is a threat.“
5. “This character could help me if he chooses to do so.“
6. “My knife will protect me if I‘m attacked.“

I could go on about assumptions but I sense boredom setting in. Tomorrow the discussion will pause and examine Finnley's poem before moving on to courses of action.