By K. Tran
What’s the difference between one’s reason and one’s evidence? Consider a snippet of a discussion from The Craft of Research, Fourth Edition, between a mother and child:
Child: I need new sneakers. Look. These are too small. Parent: Your feet haven’t grown that much in a month, and they don’t seem to hurt you much.
I think the authors use a well-developed analogy where the mother is trying to reject or fail to reject her child’s reasons and evidence, comparing how a reader is trying to reject the author’s reasons and evidence. Reasons are used to favor for or favor against something, whereas evidence are used to support those reasons. Examining the child’s argument again, the reason here is to get new shoes but the evidence is quickly discredited or disproven by the mother. So for writers, they need to understand that the strongest reasons are worth nothing until strong evidence is provided to back it up. Otherwise, you will be seen as a…
However, strong evidence needs to be legitimate. So in some cases, the appeal of authority is essential to examine. For example, if your best friend tells you that you are sick from a flu virus, telling you good reasons such as sneezing and coughing are symptoms of the flu, then would you agree that you caught the flu? It is indeed plausible but not definite. Now if you went to see your doctor and he or she tells you that you are actually suffering from a bacterial infection (the symptoms between the bacteria and virus are somewhat similar), then you are more inclined to believe your doctor, wouldn’t you? This is due to the fact that your doctor is an experienced physician, so he or she is certified to take care of your health. So make sure you have strong reasons supported by the best evidence, which is backed up by relevant authoritative figures.