What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?

What Are the Descriptive Assumptions? CSIT 58 Chapter 6

Descriptive (Reality) Assumptions • Unstated beliefs about the way the world IS or will BECOME. • Reminder: Value (prescriptive) assumptions are beliefs about the way the world SHOULD be. You will be happy with your Internet access if you sign up with Comcast. They are the world’s largest ISP with over 12 million subscribers.

What is being assumed? Is biggest always the best? Just because Comcast is the largest ISP in the world, does it mean that they will provide the best Internet service? These kinds of assumptions are also called reality assumptions

Is the assumption reliable? The argument holds together only because this assumption was made. Should you accept it? Comcast is the largest ISP. Number of subscribers indicates quality of service. You will be happy With Comcast +

Both at once • Examine the following statement. Can you find both a value and a descriptive assumption? Trials and executions should be televised-the public has the right to know what’s going on in our courts. Information about the judicial system needs to be more widely disseminated. From Becoming a Critical Thinker p. 66

The Value Assumption • Freedom of information is important Trials and executions should be televised-the public has the right to know what’s going on in our courts. Information about the judicial system needs to be more widely disseminated.

The Descriptive Assumption • Televising the trials and executions would inform the public about the judicial system. Is this a valid assumption? Would people really watch trials and executions on TV?

Clues for Identifying • Think about the gap between the conclusion and the reasons. • Look for ideas that support reasons • Identify with the writer and/or with the opposition • Recognize the potential existence of other means of attaining the advantages referred to in the reasons. • Get as much information about the issues as you can.

Gap between Reasons and Conclusion You look for assumptions because you want to judge how well the reasons support the conclusion. Ask: How do you get from the reason to the conclusion? If the reason is true, what else must be true for the conclusion to follow? Supposing the reason(s) were true, is there any way in which the conclusion nevertheless could be false?

Look for ideas that support reasons A reason is presented with no clear support; yet the believability of the reason depends on the acceptability of ideas that have been taken for granted. From http://www.osopinion.com/ Oct 7 In thumbing through the classifieds, it becomes apparent that despite the sagging economy, there is real demand for customer service reps. That's the good news. More disheartening, though, is that an alarming number of companies listed people skills and personality -- not computer skills -- as the most sought-after qualities for candidates. The last people you want as your first -- maybe your only -- customer touchpoint are personable dimwits who are working for you because they can't get jobs anywhere else.

The Idea? Conclusion: Companies should hire customer service reps for technical skills, not people skills. Reasons: Candidates with people skills are dimwits. Personable candidates can’t get jobs anywhere else. Customer service reps are the customer touchpoint. Assumption: Job seekers with good personalities do not have computer skills.

Identify with the opposition First take the role of the writer. Crawl into his skin. If you can’t locate assumptions that way, reverse roles. Ask why anyone might disagree.

Are there other means of attaining the advantages? A conclusion is often supported by reasons that indicate the various advantages of acting on the author’s conclusion. What if there are many ways to reach the same advantages? An important assumption linking the reasons to the conclusion is that the BEST way to obtain the advantages is through the one advocated by the communicator.

Other Means? Excerpt from: L.A. Schools Can Soda Officials Ban Soda to Combat Student Weight Problem By Louinn LotaThe Associated Press An audience of about 100 people burst into applause as the ban was adopted after 2 ½ hours of debate Tuesday night. It will take effect in January 2004. Board member Julie Korenstein, who co-sponsored the measure, said it was needed to fight obesity among students.

A Student Reply From: Press-Telegram, Sunday Forum, p. A21 Soda Ban As a high school student and soda fanatic, I find the idea of banning sodas from campus useless. I realize that studies show most children are overweight or malnourished, but that doesn’t have much to do with what they consume at school. It has much more to do with home cooking and lack of exercise. If they don’t sell on campus, then students will buy the sodas outside of school. Natalie Aleman Long Beach

Incomplete Reasons When you try to find assumptions you may locate a reason, because the reason has not been adequately established. The government should restrict public access to information to protect the nation from terrorists.

Incomplete Reasons Conclusion: The government should restrict public access to information. Reason: It will protect the nation from terrorists. This is an incomplete reason that needs to be supported by some evidence, not an assumption.

Your Own Writing and Speaking You will make numerous assumptions. Communication requires them. You should: • Acknowledge those assumptions • Provide a rationale for why you are making the assumptions Try to locate the descriptive assumptions on the next 2 slides (answers follow)

Find Descriptive Assumptions • This is a receptionist position, so we need a mature woman for the job. It's important that our clients feel comfortable as soon as they walk in here. • You can't go to the party in that outfit. Everyone will think you're completely clueless about how to dress, and no one will want to been seen with you. • The death penalty is proof that we value revenge more than we value people. We should save and rehabilitate people rather than giving up on them. • Latoya is really successful-she's only 28 and she's making $70,000 a year. • There is good news in that rape is on the decline in this country-there are 20% fewer police reports this year than last year at this time. • The people in that city don't care about the homeless-their city council voted against contributing $2,000 to a county fund to help the homeless. • Drugs and prostitution should be legalized. They are legal in Amsterdam and they solve more problems than they cause. From Becoming a Critical Thinker by Sherry Diestler.

Descriptive Assumptions by the Jury? ACQUITTAL OUTRAGES WOMEN: Jury Blames Provocative Miniskirt for AssaultBrian Murphy, Associated Press LAUDERDALE, FLA-Sexual assault counselors and women's groups reacted with anger and disbelief Thursday to a jury's acquittal of a rape suspect on the grounds that the woman wore a lace miniskirt without underwear. "It's a fairly horrendous verdict," said Ellen Vargyas at the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. "No one, regardless of how they are dressed, should be allowed to be raped under a knife." The three male and three female Broward Circuit Court jurors publicly justified their verdict Wednesday to acquit a 26-year-old drifter, who then was ordered returned to Georgia to face several other rape and assault charges. "We felt she asked for it by the way she was dressed," said jury foreman Roy Diamond. "The way she was dressed with that skirt, you could see everything she had. She was advertising for sex." "She was obviously dressed for a good time, but we felt she may have bit off more than she could chew," said juror Mary Bradshaw. The 22-year-old woman testified that Steven Lord abducted her at knifepoint from a Fort Lauderdale restaurant parking lot in November 1988 and raped her repeatedly during a trip north on Interstate 95. She said she escaped five hours later. Defense attorney Tim Day told jurors the woman agreed to have sex with Lord in exchange for $100 and cocaine, but later changed her mind. Jurors said they also were swayed by the woman's calm demeanor in court, compared to the emotional testimony of a 24-year-old Georgia woman who claims Lord raped her at knife-point last year. "When the Georgia woman testified, my heart sank," said juror Dan Medeiros. "But when the other one testified, she didn't appear to be shaken up. Basically, we didn't believe the story. ..."The whole idea that a woman is asking for it is horrendous," said Dorothea Gallagher of the National Organization for Women's Broward County chapter.

Did you get it? • Clients only feel comfortable around mature women (ambiguous too, what does “mature” mean?) • The speaker knows how everyone will respond to the outfit or everyone at the party judges you by your clothing • People who favor the death penalty only want revenge or every criminal can be rehabilitated • Money is the measure of success • All rapes are reported. • Spending public money is the way to care for the homeless. • What worked in Amsterdam will work in the U.S. You may have worded yours a little differently.

The Jury Assumed: • Women who wear seductive clothing are advertising for sex. • Once a woman agrees to sex it’s too late to change her mind. • A calm, unemotional witness is not believable. End of Lecture

What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?