full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Worsnip: Ethical dilemma Who should you believe?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


According to a theory of the eihcts of belief called pragmatism, these kdnis of prctiaacl considerations can sometimes make it right to believe something even without strong evidence. Some pragmatists would even say that you morally owe it to your spouse to believe them.

But is it even possible to believe your spouse is innocent just because you think it’ll be good for your relationship? Or because you think you owe it to the aceucsd? You might dreelapstey want to believe they’re innconet, but can you control your beliefs in the same way you control your actions? It seems like you can’t just believe whatever you like when the truth is staring you in the face. But on the other hand, recall your spouse’s plea. When we say things like this, we seem to be assuming that it is possible to control our beliefs in some way. So what do you think? Can you control what beliefs you have? And if so, what will you believe about your spouse?

Open Cloze


According to a theory of the ______ of belief called pragmatism, these _____ of _________ considerations can sometimes make it right to believe something even without strong evidence. Some pragmatists would even say that you morally owe it to your spouse to believe them.

But is it even possible to believe your spouse is innocent just because you think it’ll be good for your relationship? Or because you think you owe it to the _______? You might ___________ want to believe they’re ________, but can you control your beliefs in the same way you control your actions? It seems like you can’t just believe whatever you like when the truth is staring you in the face. But on the other hand, recall your spouse’s plea. When we say things like this, we seem to be assuming that it is possible to control our beliefs in some way. So what do you think? Can you control what beliefs you have? And if so, what will you believe about your spouse?

Solution


  1. kinds
  2. innocent
  3. practical
  4. ethics
  5. accused
  6. desperately

Original Text


According to a theory of the ethics of belief called pragmatism, these kinds of practical considerations can sometimes make it right to believe something even without strong evidence. Some pragmatists would even say that you morally owe it to your spouse to believe them.

But is it even possible to believe your spouse is innocent just because you think it’ll be good for your relationship? Or because you think you owe it to the accused? You might desperately want to believe they’re innocent, but can you control your beliefs in the same way you control your actions? It seems like you can’t just believe whatever you like when the truth is staring you in the face. But on the other hand, recall your spouse’s plea. When we say things like this, we seem to be assuming that it is possible to control our beliefs in some way. So what do you think? Can you control what beliefs you have? And if so, what will you believe about your spouse?

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. accused
  2. actions
  3. assuming
  4. belief
  5. beliefs
  6. called
  7. considerations
  8. control
  9. desperately
  10. ethics
  11. evidence
  12. face
  13. good
  14. hand
  15. innocent
  16. kinds
  17. morally
  18. owe
  19. plea
  20. practical
  21. pragmatism
  22. pragmatists
  23. recall
  24. relationship
  25. spouse
  26. staring
  27. strong
  28. theory
  29. truth