When you are implying something, you are basically leaving the conclusion unsaid. When you infer something on the other hand, you assume the unstated claim must be the conclusion.
This topic really caught my interest because I can refer to it so much in my personal life. With my friends, it seems like we are always having a mix up on what people say or do, based on the fact that everyone seems to either catch or miss the implication someone else makes. This can go the other way as well, when someone draws their own conclusion on something someone else says.
For example, the other day I told my friend "Hey, lets grab some coffee before work." It is implied that if we were to grab coffee, then he would have to be ready a little bit earlier so that I could pick him up and still have time to get some coffee before work started. He ended up not being ready at all, so we couldn't get any coffee because he assumed that we would still be leaving at the same time. I guess I should refer him to this class so he could use some critical thinking in order to catch my implications in the future haha!
hey m3, your experience with this subject with your friend not being ready on time as you expected is a perfect example of implying/inferring things. i like how you included the fact that if you were to make it a little more clear instead of implying that he should be ready before the usual time you guys leave for work, he wouldn't have thought otherwise. it is indeed true that most people "catch or miss" most implications. although one thing coming from person A seems clear as day, person B may take it in as something totally different. i too have experienced something like this: telling my friend something as simple as meeting online to talk about an assignment turned out to be a misunderstanding: she was on facebook waiting for me to chat with her through that, while i was using AOL AIM waiting for her to sign on.
ReplyDelete