Unlikely to be Correct Vs. False Vs. Not Plausible

[JD180]

What is the difference (if any) between these three conclusions:

(1) "his hypothesis, therefore, is unlikely to be correct." is this the same as (2)?

(2) "his hypothesis, therefore, is likely to be false."

(3) "I cast doubt on his hypothesis." Is this the same as (4) and (5)?

(4) "his hypothesis is not plausible." *** Plausible is an interesting one for me. If something is not plausible, then it is not probable or likely. If the hypothesis is not likely, then that's a claim in and of itself and is akin to (1) and (2). Could this be verified?

(5) "I reject his hypothesis." Does this mean that the critic is not opposing the hypothesis, but is simply rejecting the claim that it is correct based on the evidence/reasoning provided?

(6) "his hypothesis is absurd!" Is this the same as (1) and (2)?

(7) "he has this hypothesis, but unfortunately, he is mistaken." Does this mean that his hypothesis is purported to be false, or is his hypothesis being purported to be dubious. I would say the former.

(8) "I disagree with your hypothesis." Is this the same as I think your hypothesis is false?

[Dave Killoran]

What is the difference (if any) between these three conclusions:

(1) "his hypothesis, therefore, is unlikely to be correct." is this the same as (2)?

(2) "his hypothesis, therefore, is likely to be false."

(3) "I cast doubt on his hypothesis." Is this the same as (4) and (5)?

(4) "his hypothesis is not plausible." *** Plausible is an interesting one for me. If something is not plausible, then it is not probable or likely. If the hypothesis is not likely, then that's a claim in and of itself and is akin to (1) and (2). Could this be verified?

(5) "I reject his hypothesis." Does this mean that the critic is not opposing the hypothesis, but is simply rejecting the claim that it is correct based on the evidence/reasoning provided?

(6) "his hypothesis is absurd!" Is this the same as (1) and (2)?

(7) "he has this hypothesis, but unfortunately, he is mistaken." Does this mean that his hypothesis is purported to be false, or is his hypothesis being purported to be dubious. I would say the former.

(8) "I disagree with your hypothesis." Is this the same as I think your hypothesis is false?

Hi JD,

One of the things that makes this test so hard is that English as a language has a lot of gray areas and nuances. It's not likely there are perfect answers to all of these, in part due to vagaries in the language and in part due to contextual factors that might affect meaning in instances beyond what is stated below. So, I'll give you my take, but I wouldn't consider it some canonical pronouncement. As one of my attorney friends likes to say, "If there weren't gray areas, there's be no need for lawyers."

1+2. With the above two, just as an exercise in attempting to bring perfect definition into play, if we looked at "correctness" on a 0-100 scale, the first one would suggest to me that "correct" = 51-100, and so "unlikely to be correct" would be 0-50. The second one (where "false" would be "incorrect") would be the same (or at worst 0-49, depending on how you interpret "50").

3. No. "Cast doubt" just means to hurt a bit but it still allows for an outcome where the hypothesis is valid.

4. Plausible to me is the same as "seemingly true or reasonable." So, if a hypothesis is not plausible, the speaker is saying it's not true or doesn't have the appearance of truth. The strength of this makes it closer to one and two instead of three.

5. As stated, it's just the hypothesis being rejected but inside that is the typical belief that a reasonable speaker is rejecting the hypothesis on viable truth grounds—as opposed to something like self-interest.

6. This is stronger than both since it's saying it has no truth at all—a zero on the correctness scale above

7. I agree that it's the former.

8. Yes, agreed, this is like saying, I think your hypothesis is false/incorrect.

Thanks!