The Geography of Thought-Ch.7

For the other chapters i have frequently criticised Nisebett's conclusion being too optimistic to conclude his statements. For example, there was a part where he determined that something was A because 65 percent of the students had A. In this chapter there was a place where Nisebett showed the same kind of behavior but this time being pessimistic.

On page 180 line 26, Nisebett claims that "only 60 percent of Americans preferred Galileo's argument." It was surprising that he used the phrase "only" in spite of the fact that he was telling us that there were "as much as" 60 percent of something in other chapters.

This reminded me of the famous allegory of a cup half filled with water. An optimistic person would comment that there is "still half a cup of water left". In comparison, a pessimistic person would comment that there is "only half a cup of water left". The important thing is that the fact does not change and the only difference is the way a person regards the fact.
Nisebett is trying to control the reader's opinion by using phrases as "only" or "as much as".