The Ladder of Inference

Have you ever been accused of “putting 2 and 2 together and making 5”, meaning that the other person thinks you have jumped to the wrong conclusion? Or even vice versa?

In today’s fast-moving world, we are always under pressure to act now, rather than spend time reasoning things through and thinking about the true facts. Not only can this lead us to a wrong conclusion, but it can also cause conflict with other people, who may have drawn quite different conclusions on the same matter.

I was on the receiving end of this equation some time ago which affected both my friendship and business relationship with someone whom I thought would be a friend for life. Unfortunately, its a sad reality that business can get in the way of good friendships.

Pity though, cos I'd taken a real shine to this very decent chap who was in the same age-group and on the same wavelength as me (I thought), and came across as being very mature in his thinking, but I guess he went so far up the Ladder of Inference that before he knew it, there was no turning back...

Ah well... c'est la vie...