Numeracy for Everyone 4. Numeracy in Research Planning

We take a pinch of grains of rice and press to check if the core is soft. If yes, we declare that rice (we mean all grains) is cooked. How do you know? The unstated assumption is that all grains of rice in that pot are alike (in an identical state of being cooked). If this assumption is not true, our conclusion can go wrong. This predicament indeed does occur if the heat is too strong. Then we get multi-tiered performance. The bottom tier is charred and black. The middle layer is edible while the top layer is still raw. Why don't we check every grain to rule out errors? Simply because it is cumbersome, time consuming and usually unnecessary.