John,

Interesting discussion...

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>But your statement above is only "always" true in a notional debate. It falls apart in the harshness of the real world.
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>Notional being defined as speculative or theorhetical? I would have to disagree with your assessment here. In the real world, especially in the business world, how one arrives at a conclusion is far more important than the conclusion itself. If you wish to apply knowledge, you need to understand the foundations.

Not always I'd think.. There is a lot of historical and/or cultural "memories" (traditions?) that come into play as well. IOW.. Cultural habits that cause folks to arrive at conclusions that perhaps at one point were thought out but now the logic and reasoning has been lost or discarded. The reasoning may or may have not been valid but it is the antecedant to the current position(s).

"Why is that wrong daddy?"

"Because.."

<g>

IOW.. Accept the conclusino but I'll give you no rationale..

Now, in the business world a business had dang well make sure they know why they are making the decisions they are but it seems you quickly get into using cultural memories rather than current logic/reasoning.

I'm thinking that in your particular set of current studying that this is being emphasized to prepare you for your new future as a legal maven. In that arena in particular I'd think you are absolutely spot on. That arena isn't a completely accurate representation of the totality of the 'real world', though it certainly has a huge impact.

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>As far as your comments below are concerned, all I can say is that a lot depends on the context. In this context - the alleged technical world - I believe an understanding of the reasoning counts for something...

You bet.. I'm wondering how many CEOs you have had technical discussions with lately? < BG >

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>>Eg: The light goes on when I flick the switch. That is the conclusion that concerns me. How and why "the journey" happened to cause photons to illuminate my dark office does not matter a jot. Same with a Big Mac- actually if you actually checked how that thing came to be, you might not be so pleased to tuck in.
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>>HTH < g >
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>>Regards
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>>JR