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Analyzing Sherlock Holmes 'Article Deduction'

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This passage comes from Sherlock Holmes’s article on deduction, the unique process to which he ascribes his success as a detective. He argues that through the power of deduction, or otherwise the process of using clues and details to explain a hypothesis or argument. This passage shows a flaw in Holmes’s reasoning since the method being described is not that of deduction, but induction; the process of making an argument to explain small clues or details. Nevertheless, Holme’s reasoning shows an important ideal in detective fiction of this era, where mundane objects are clues used to aid the detective in solving the mystery. The detective is able to observe the ordinary object and pieces of the scene and from there draw a conclusion based …show more content…

Holmes explains his idea of the human memory as a room with limited storage capacity. This relates to Holmes crafting of his skill and ability to be specialised in knowledge relevant to his work while being unknowledgeable about unrelated topics. Holmes presents an image of the human mind as an open canvas that does not simply absorb information, but you must actively choose what information to remember. Since the amount of information is limited, a person should according to Holmes only select the information which pertains to their profession. The passage identifies a person's ability to craft his own mind and develop skills which will enable him to succeed in any field, something that would have attracted to readers of the middle class and liberals since it means that everyone has the same ability to make something of themselves. The problem presented in the passage is with the limited amount of information, which means that in order to be specialised in certain fields, a person lacks knowledge in other. A conflict which Holmes

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