Question

This course is about critical thinking and logic. Please write a 200-300 word response to the following questions:

Why is "He" a variable in the open statement "He must be a huge baseball fan."?

What additional information is required so that we may still use "He must be a huge baseball fan." as if it were a (closed) statement?

No repeat answers or plagiarism. Please include any references used to answer the questions. Thank you so much in advance for your help. I am swamped. I will also give you immediate thumps up for a job well.

Answer 1

"He" is a variable in the given sentence since it is a data item i.e. it represents a gender. A variable by definition is something that can be measured or changes the sentence. For example, replacing the word "he" to "she" can indicate that it is a female that is a basketball fan. However, the sentence is not a closed statement as "He" can also mean any male likes basketball and this is not the case.

"He" is also a pronoun that is used instead of a noun, therefore, when "he" is used in the above sentence, it is explaining the likes of a certain male who likes basketball. However, this male is unknown and can mean anybody. Therefore, adding a name like "Ron" or "Chris" makes it a closed statement. When you add the name "Chris likes basketball".It is clear that an individual named Chris likes basketball and the pronoun "he" does not extend to every male in the world.