Everything about Duck Test totally explained
The
duck test is a humorous term for a form of
inductive reasoning. It can be explained this way:
If a bird looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
The test implies that a person can figure out the true nature of an unknown subject by observing this subject's readily identifiable traits. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something isn't what it appears to be.
The duck test is common to the
United States and the
United Kingdom, where it's sometimes called the "
British Standard (BS) Duck Test" in imitation of the system of national standards.
History
It is unclear who coined the saying. Early references include:
Patterson explained his reasoning as follows:
"Suppose you see a bird walking around in a farm yard. This bird has no label that says 'duck'. But the bird certainly looks like a duck. Also, he goes to the pond and you notice that he swims like a duck. Then he opens his beak and quacks like a duck. Well, by this time you've probably reached the conclusion that the bird is a duck, whether he's wearing a label or not."
To Patterson and other United States officials, many traits of the Arbenz government showed that it was determined to implement revolutionary reforms. In their view, the Arbenz government's
censorship of the dissident press, preference of state
investment over private capital investment,
agrarian reform,
anti-imperialist measures, and democratic reforms (such as the legalization of
labor unions) qualified it as communist.
The term
duck test is still frequently used in the United States to describe the process of attributing the identity of an unknown based on its traits, especially in certain forms of
computing.
The test is often used to identify something that's supposedly bad, and to justify the use of inductive logic in meting out punishment.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Duck Test'.
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