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Introduction
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Reasoning often begins with something someone says. Before deciding whether to accept it, we need to understand what kind of statement it is. Is the person describing an event, offering an explanation, expressing a preference, or recommending an action?
These differences affect how we check the statement. A timetable can help establish when a train leaves. It cannot establish which journey you would enjoy most. A person's preferences matter when choosing a trip, but they do not change its departure time.
The aim is to ask the right kind of question. Treating every disagreement as a dispute about facts can be as unhelpful as treating every factual claim as a matter of personal opinion.