When Alice first meets the Cheshire Cat, she asks what sort of people live in Wonderland. The Cat explains that everyone in Wonderland is mad. What conjecture might the Cat make since Alice, too, is in Wonderland? Is this an example of DEDUCTIVE or INDUCTIVE reasoning? Explain.
CONJECTURE:
DEDCUTIVE or INDUCTIVE? Explain.
1 answer
The Cat might conjecture that Alice is also mad, since she is in Wonderland where everyone is supposedly mad. This is an example of inductive reasoning because the conclusion is based on a general observation (everyone in Wonderland is mad) and the assumption that Alice is also mad is made based on that observation. However, this conjecture might not be completely accurate as it is possible for Alice to be the exception or for the generalization about everyone in Wonderland being mad to be incorrect.