Supplement: Modern conspiracy theories are based on plausibility. In our western cultures, many important things too are based merely on plausibility, e.g. the value of money, the leading position of a manager, close to everything. No big difference from how things work at remote places in Africa.
List,
There are are four traits of likeliness: Necessity, probability, possibility, plausibility, but I think, that possibility is special: It does not have a value, and it goes with the other three, but merely with plausibility it goes hand in hand. With the other two it is for granted. So I propose "necessity-probabiliy-plausibility", assigned to the three kinds of conclusion:
Deduction: It produces necessity, the value of necessity is a binary integer-number- value, so not continuous: Yes or no, or 1 or 0. It is comprehensible, therefore objective.
Induction: It produces a probability, its value always is a quotient, so of a rational number, so not continuous. An induction is comprehensible, therefore objective. But it may be executed by an individual who knows less, more, and/or different things than another individual, thus having an individual result, so it is subjective as well.
Abduction: It produces a hypothesis, a subjective possibility, whose value plausibility can only be estimated. The value plausibility nevertheless is gradual, continuous, so of irrational number. With abduction, this special kind of -in this case- valued possibility, plausibility, is only subjective.
I think it is important to understand, that hypotheses and their value of plausibility are merely subjective. The subject of the plausibility may, besides an individual, be a culture too. In former times and cultures, as well as in some contemporary African cultures, e.g. the reality of witchcraft was and sadly is highly plausible, other than in our western culture(s). Not so long ago, in Germany extremely murderous hypotheses were plausible. Plausibility should be handled carefully, with a fire tongs.
Best,
Helmut
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