Vocab 7

bi·as: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment.

Howard Zinn, a self proclaimed Marxist and author of the quasi-historical "A People's History of the United States" is the perfect example of someone with a bias. In his defense, the author is very open and frank about the prejudices his includes in his work, having once said “Objectivity is impossible,and it is also undesirable. That is, if it were possible it would be undesirable, because if you have any kind of a social aim, if you think history should serve society in some way; should serve the progress of the human race; should serve justice in some way, then it requires that you make your selection on the basis of what you think will advance causes of humanity.” This "ends justifies the means" mentality has served as his rationalization for deceiving the public through the omission of historical facts that do not support his radical claims, and the outright fabrication of statistics and information. Instead of pursuing objectivity, and providing the reader with nothing but the facts, and allowing them to draw their own conclusions based on the evidence, as any respectable historian would do, Mr. Zinn actively attempts to indoctrinate the reader in his radical ideology at every opportunity.

de·duct: to reach a conclusion through logical reasoning
Loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master of deductive reasoning, Sherlock Holmes; the character Dr. Gregory House, protagonist of the eponymous television program House M.D. uses outlandish tactics and unorthodox procedures to diagnose his patients and rid them of whatever malady they may have contracted. An expert diagnostician, House uses logic to deduce the solution to whatever problem he may be facing, be it a seemingly random set of symptoms being displayed by a patient, or unnecessary medical regulations.


ob·jec·tive: expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations.
Many find science appealing due to its objectivity. The fact that there is only one correct interpretation, dictated by the logical chain between cause and effect is a much needed reprieve from the subjective world that surrounds us. However, science and its mandatory objectivity can also be applied to other fields, such as history and journalism, as they both deal with distilling hypotheses and theories into hard facts and conclusions.