Apart from making knowledge, especially scientific knowledge, more accessible and more "graspable", Grasp-It facilitates in-depth discussions about issues by:
Making (often implicit) assumptions explicit
If two opinions contradict each other, Grasp-It can help you discover that this is because they
are based on different assumptions. So rather than fruitlessly arguing which opinion is right
you will do better to discuss whether or not the underlying assumptions are plausible.
Showing the impact of different assumptions ("What if...?"):
It is useful to know how robust a line of thought is. Will everything change if one of the
assumptions later turns out to have been wrong? Grasp-It allows you to check whether key
assumptions are just hanging in the air or are supported by a lot of arguments.
Minimising misunderstandings:
People often argue about something without realising that they are talking about different
things – even though they are using the same expressions. By highlighting definitions, Grasp-It
avoids such wastes of time and energy.
Avoiding conflict, by keeping facts, opinions and assumptions clearly apart:
If an opinion is not falsely presented as a fact there is no need to prove it wrong or call
anybody stupid. And if assumptions are not falsely presented as opinions there is no need to
try to convince anybody of them. Grasp-It aims to catalyse rational discourse and advance the
spread of knowledge in a non-conflicting manner. |
