forum for week of 24 October: Inference to the Best Explanation

This is a tricky one...

It is reasonable to believe that the earth's population cannot continue increasing indefinitely, since the earth's resources cannot possibly sustain an ever-increasing number of people. In this case, the Inference to the Best Explanation would suggest that the pattern (a growing population) would eventually break and that the population would have to start decreasing. Personally, I think that this is a fairly plausible hypothesis, since it is unreasonable to expect that the population will continue increasing indefinitely, even if it has done so in the past. Of course, it is possible we will come up with an invention that will use resources in a way that can sustain everyone, at all times, but it is far more likely that the pattern of the ever-increasing population will have to break and the population will have to start decreasing.

For the second example, I feel that for pattern's that only a maniac would insist on, the Inference to the Best Explanation would ultimately reject such patterns. The best explanation would be to conclude that it is unreasonable to rely on such patterns, since they are not justified or based on any good evidence. I hope that I am on the right track with these questions. -VERONIKA BONDARENKO