Life, 1883-05-03 · page 5 of 16
Life — May 3, 1883 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Inductive Reasoning" - Life Magazine, Page 207 This cartoon satirizes flawed logic through a dialogue between Mr. Wm. Doodle and Miss Frost. Doodle claims he always wears gloves at night because they keep hands soft. Miss Frost points out the logical flaw: "And do you sleep with your hat on?" — implying his reasoning doesn't account for other factors. The humor lies in exposing "inductive reasoning" (drawing broad conclusions from limited examples) as faulty. Doodle assumes gloves alone cause soft hands, overlooking variables like sleeping position or other habits. The cartoon critiques human tendency toward oversimplified cause-and-effect thinking. The elegantly dressed Victorian figures in an ornate interior emphasize that even educated society members fall prey to such reasoning errors.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
if (OW — ee is (ll _— INDUCTIVE REASONING. Mr. Wm. Doodle: Yes, Miss Frost, I ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES AT NIGHT ; THEY MAKE ONE'S HANDS SO SOFT. Miss Frost: AH! AND DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR HAT ON? It was drunk with great shouts, and then everyone began yelling at once; I never liked after-dinner speaking, and knowing that a man who is speaking after dinner never has his wits about him, I seized the chance of stealing away. When I got in the long pas- sage leading out I again stumbled over something on the floor ; I lighted a match and found it to be the corpse of aman. His throat was cut from ear to ear. I rushed to the outer door, and, as I opened it, I heard a bell ring harshly. With much difficulty I found my way to my hotel, and on arriving at my room, I found my landlord waiting for me holding a letter in his hand. It proved to be from Lirr’s cor- respondent in Vienna, asking me, in Heaven’s name, for a loan. The landlord believed it to be a remit- tance, and, as he had paid half a franc postage on the letter, when it was delivered, he called me a “ Pig of Hell,” and stumped off to bed. I found that he had previously taken all the blankets from the bed. The heartless monster! After a cold, wretched night I awoke to find a placard fastened by a dagger to the head of my bed. “ You have been chosen to blow up the Czar. Sor Russia immediately.” I am writing you in a cold perspiration! Heaven knows whether you may hear from me next week or not ! Start MR. ABRAHAM W. Marks, of Austin, got a divorce from Rachel Wells, one week after he married her, and led to the altar Kate Wells, her sister.— Virginia City Chronicle. He loved not wisely, but 2 Wells, as it were. Mr. Joun L. Suutivan’s friends were greatly shocked to learn that he had a severe hemorrhage from the nose yesterday. —Boston Post. The friends of Mr. Paddy Ryan were likewise great- ly shocked a year ago to see that 4e had a hemorrhage from the nose. Mr. Sullivan, we believe, was present on the dismal occasion. comicbooks.com