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5You should point out the fallacy of "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". Sure, it's a famous Sherlock Holmes quote, but it ironically points out how flawed Holmes (and probably Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's) thinking is. How can a mere human (even one as supposedly brilliant as Holmes) think of every single conceivable situation and evaluate whether they're possible or not? And what if the solution is possible but inconceivable until revealed? Basically, it's impossible to know if you've eliminated the impossible.CJ Dennis– CJ Dennis2022-06-12 00:39:19 +00:00Commented Jun 12, 2022 at 0:39
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20I think you're taking this all rather too seriously. Sherlock's 'inspirational quote' is just a re-cast of Occam's Razor but with more emphasis on the 'possible'. It's a part of Holmes' character that if the world doesn't conform to his viewpoint, then it's the world that must be wrong.Tetsujin– Tetsujin2022-06-12 08:38:05 +00:00Commented Jun 12, 2022 at 8:38
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8Here in The USA, the game is called Clue, and the victimis is Mr. Boddy.M. A. Golding– M. A. Golding2022-06-12 18:29:54 +00:00Commented Jun 12, 2022 at 18:29
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1How many people are aware how deeply flawed Sherlock Holmes is? He's a fascinating and entertaining character, but he's not nearly as smart as his reputation suggests. Occam's Razor is usually expressed as "the simplest solution is usually correct", but it's actually "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity" which means "the solution with the fewest assumptions is to be preferred". The simplest solution could be "magical pixies did it", but it assumes the existence of pixies, it assumes they're magical, and that they have the motivation to do the thing, all of which are unwarranted.CJ Dennis– CJ Dennis2022-06-14 02:01:52 +00:00Commented Jun 14, 2022 at 2:01
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3@CJDennis: not really a fallacy. If you are certain that a hypothesis is false, you can rule it out. Mathematicians and scientists do it on a daily basis. The problem is that it is, in many situations, extremely difficult to list all possible hypotheses. The irony is that Sherlock often doesn't follow this method. For example, when Watson and Sherlock meet for the first time, there could be a million scenarios explaining John's leg and the state of his cellphone.Taladris– Taladris2022-06-14 04:00:09 +00:00Commented Jun 14, 2022 at 4:00
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