Practice question · Select all that apply
The Thomas theorem states that situations defined as real are real in their consequences. Which claims follow from it?
Hints
- Three of these describe what follows if beliefs enter the causal chain; one confuses consequences with truth.
- A bank run is the standard illustration.
Show the answer
- B. A false belief that is acted on can produce the outcome it describes
- C. What people take to be the case is part of the causal story, not merely a distortion of it
- D. A researcher needs to reconstruct how participants understand a situation, not only how it looks from outside
Why
A rumour that a solvent bank is failing produces a run that empties it: the belief was false and the consequence real. The first option makes the theorem self-refuting, since the point is precisely that a definition can be wrong and still do work.
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