How Do You Tell Fact From Fiction?
The line between fact and fiction becomes blurry sometimes. Emphasis and embellishment can lead to flat-out fabrication, and in a world where we are deluged with information, discerning a lie from the truth can prove nearly impossible. That makes it even more important than ever to understand the difference between fact and fiction; it allows us to properly evaluate a given situation, and spot people trying to sway our opinion. Take a skeptical approach to whatever you hear. That doesn’t mean disbelieving everything told to you, only that you shouldn’t take someone’s word at face value. Look for holes in logic or vague claims. Ask questions–respectfully, but with an eye on asking for concrete proof. As you get into this habit, you’ll be more readily able to identify a less-than-factual statement. Understand the difference between deduction and induction. Induction relies mainly on intuition: conclusions inferred from given data rather than proven by testing. Deduction, on the other ha
