Essential Modifiers

In reasoning, we rely heavily on modifying words, or modifiers. These are very important. To understand them better, let’s look at a statement without any modifying words:

Canadians play hockey.

This is true. Hockey began in Canada, and we can always see Canadian teams in international hockey competitions. However, this statement does not tell us how many Canadians play hockey. 

To show how many Canadians play hockey, we need to add a modifier; for example:

All Canadians play hockey.
Most Canadians play hockey.
Many Canadians play hockey.
Some Canadians play hockey.

These sentences are very different. Which one is the same as Canadians play hockey? In everyday English, any of them may be! It depends on the context of the argument, or what we are talking about. To make our ideas clear, we often need modifiers in our argument.

The modifiers above have a hierarchy. In other words, some are more powerful than others. The modifier table below shows some essential, commonly-used modifiers and their strength:

* “Probably” is often used in speaking, but “Likely” is more commonly used in writing.

In the chart above, the strongest modifiers are at the top and the bottom. At the centre of the chart, you can see the word strength “neutral” and the modifier “May or may not”. This does not tell us anything. It does not give us useful information. 

An example can help us to see this. Take the premise “Sharks may or may not have good eyesight.” This does not tell us anything about sharks. Do they have good eyesight or not?

When we make an argument, we want to use the strongest modifier we can. That will give our argument more meaning. However, we must be careful. We can not choose just any modifier. We must choose one that makes our argument logical. 

Science tells us that most sharks do have good eyesight. Let’s use that fact as a premise and form an argument:

Most sharks have good eyesight.
Paul has a pet shark named Polly.
Thus, Polly …

How strong can we make our conclusion? Follow these steps:

First, locate the modifiers in the premises of the argument. We can find one: most.

Next, look at the strength of the modifier in the chart above. You can see that it is strongly positive.

Finally, use a similar strength of modifier in the conclusion. In this case, we can use a strongly positive modifier, like this:

Most sharks have good eyesight.
Paul has a pet shark named Polly.
Thus, Polly likely has good eyesight.

This argument is now logical. The conclusion follows logically from the premises. 

Let’s take a different example:

All the sofas I have sat on have been soft.
I just bought a sofa online.
Therefore, …

There is one modifying word in the premises: All. In the chart above, we can see that “All” is very strongly positive. However, if we use a similar strength of modifier, we run into problems: 

x Therefore, the sofa will be soft. x

This conclusion is not logical. Why not?

I have not sat on the new sofa yet. It is possible that the sofa will be hard.

The argument above is an example of inductive reasoning, and we need to be very careful when we use modifiers for inductive reasoning. To use a proper modifier, we need to know whether an argument is inductive or deductive. How can we do that?

Inductive reasoning often uses observational words (see, hear, feel, smell, taste). Here are some examples you have seen in this course:

All the swans that I have seen have been white.
We have never heard a quiet frog.

Inductive reasoning also uses personal experiences (such as I know a guy who …). These examples appeared in the last lesson: 

Every Japanese person I know walks on the left side of a sidewalk.
I have asked hundreds of children what colour they like.

Let’s look at the argument above once more:

All the sofas I have sat on have been soft.
I just bought a sofa online.
Therefore, …

The first premise has the observational words I have sat on, and therefore, is an inductive reasoning argument. How can we conclude it?

For inductive reasoning, we move one or more steps towards “Neutral” on the modifier chart above. In this case, let’s move one step down and look at the argument. I’ll use the word “likely”:

All the sofas I have sat on have been soft.
I just bought a sofa online.
Therefore, the sofa will likely be soft.

It is logical to think that all sofas will be soft because they always have been in my experience; however, I cannot possibly sit on every sofa in the world, and there may be one that is hard.

If we change the argument above into deductive reasoning, then a stronger conclusion is fine:

All sofas are soft.
I just bought a sofa online.
Therefore, the sofa will be soft.

This argument is valid – the conclusion follows from the premises. However, I’m not sure if it is sound, or true. Are all sofas soft? Has anyone sat on a hard sofa? We only need to find one hard sofa to make this argument unsound.

Let’s take another example:

Most Canadian adults that I have met drink coffee.
Amir is a Canadian adult.
Thus, …

How can we conclude this?

First, let’s look for modifying words. We can find one: Most. Then, find the strength of the word “most” in the chart above: Strongly Positive. Next, identify the argument. Is it deductive or inductive? We can see observational words: “that I have met”. This tells us the argument is inductive. Last, we need to find an appropriate strength of modifier. How do we do that in this case?

For inductive arguments, a strong argument is highly probable, and a weak argument is not very probable. We judge an inductive argument by its strength, so we want to make as strong an argument as we can; however, our argument needs to be logical. 

Let’s look at three possible choices:

Amir drinks coffee. 
Amir likely drinks coffee.
Amir may drink coffee.  

These arguments go from less-probable (Amir drinks coffee) to highly-probable (Amir may drink coffee). We’ll skip the neutral conclusion (Amir may or may not drink coffee) because it doesn’t give us any useful information. 

The first conclusion (Amir drinks coffee) is the least probable and therefore a weak argument. Not all Canadians drink coffee, and Amir may be one of them. Because it is a weak argument, we won’t use it. 

That leaves us two arguments: 

Amir likely drinks coffee.
Amir may drink coffee.

Both of these conclusions are logical. The second is more probable than the first, but I could use either. I would have more confidence in my conclusion if I knew more about Amir – whether his parents drink coffee; what culture he belongs to; etc. That is how science works, too.

Let’s look at a deductive example for a similar argument: 

Most Canadian adults drink coffee.
Amir is a Canadian adult.
Thus, …

To make this argument valid (logical), I can use “may”:

Most Canadian adults drink coffee.
Amir is a Canadian adult.
Thus, Amir may drink coffee.

This is valid. It does not give us much information, but there is not a good modifier that we can use from the Positive group. “Amir may drink coffee” is probably the best valid argument we can make. 

So, our procedure for choosing modifying words is this:

1. Locate the modifiers in the premises.
2. Find the strength of the modifiers in the chart.
3. Identify the argument – deductive or inductive?
4. Use an appropriate modifier in the conclusion.

As you have seen, the fourth step can be tricky. Let’s practice this with a quiz. Remember, you can take the quiz as many times as you like, so think of it as a learning quiz. 🙂

Review:

• In reasoning, we rely heavily on modifying words, or modifiers.
• Modifiers have a hierarchy – they differ in strength.
• When we make an argument, we want to use the strongest modifier we can.
• However, we must choose one that makes our argument logical.
• The strength of the modifier may change depending on whether the argument is inductive or deductive.
• Inductive reasoning often uses observational words or personal experiences.
• We judge inductive arguments by their strength. 
• A weak argument is not very probable; a strong argument is highly probable.
• We can use a procedure to choose a modifier:
  • Locate the modifiers in the premises.
  • Find the strength of the modifiers in the modifier table.
  • Identify the argument – deductive or inductive?
  • Use an appropriate modifier in the conclusion.