The fisherman

I have gotten to know a fisherman. Not the type that fishes for fish, though. He fishes instead for information. An intellectual fisherman, if you like. (that sounds so weird... lol )

He collects scraps and fashions them into bait. With this bait he casts his line...and waits to see whether he gets a bite.

If he gets a bite he can deduce that his bait was effective. But if he doesn't get a bite...does he know whether his bait was not effective, or whether the fish just aren't hungry?

The unfortunate thing is that he sometimes draws the wrong conclusion. (like this)

You see, sometimes when his assumptions aren't refuted (though they're not verified either), he takes them to be true...though I think he has realised by now that he can't conclude that way! :P

But he has made at least one spot-on assumption that I remember... (and which was probably his first assumption too!) and sometimes he doesn't fall too far off the mark. So I guess he can still "cari makan" (catch his food, so to speak)...hahaha

(If you haven't got it by now, the "scraps" are pieces of information, the "bait" is the assumption (or more like guesses) he makes, his "line" is the conversation that he uses to "fish" for more information, and the "bites" (or none) that he gets are the replies to what he says. How's that for analogy? :P )

First a philosopher, now a fisherman...what next?