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2-1 (Intro): Mata Hari

Last updated almost 2 years ago
8 questions
Note from the author:
Read the first section, which explains the concept of assumptions. Then, read the short excerpt about Mata Hari (the woman pictured below) and answer the questions that follow.
Read the first section, which explains the concept of assumptions. Then, read the short excerpt about Mata Hari (the woman pictured below) and answer the questions that follow.
Assumptions are our unexamined beliefs. "Unexamined" means that we have never fully analyzed or questioned these beliefs. They are things that we think are true without even realizing it.

We all make assumptions. In fact, we need to make assumptions because it would be impossible to question every belief that we hold.

We make assumptions based on the way that we think the world works. We often expect certain things to be true even if we have no proof that they actually are. Once a belief has been questioned and proven true, then it stops being an assumption.
Mata Hari was a Dutch-born woman who, at age 18, moved to Indonesia, where she studied culture and dance. By the early 1900s, she had turned herself into the world's most famous exotic dancer, entertaining men on stages all around Europe prior to the outbreak of WWI. Not only did she perform exotic dances for men but she also became a mistress to some of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Europe at the time.

"This unusual behavior, particularly after the onset of World War I, also attracted French and German intelligence agents. Both countries commissioned Hari to spy on their behalf, although the French likely did so in an attempt to reveal her as a German double agent, Siegal writes. But while Hari did take a commission from German intelligence, she only delivered newspapers articles and gossip to them. Meanwhile, the one act of espionage she did for the French—which involved seducing a German officer in Madrid—did not succeed in gathering any new information.

In February 1917, French officials arrested Hari and charged her with espionage. Despite a lack of evidence, authorities turned the suspected scheming seductress into the perfect scapegoat for their country’s wartime defeats and condemned her to death by firing squad.
Now, during the centenary year of Hari’s execution, Siegel of the Washington Post reports that recently released documents relating to her trial, along with personal and family letters that have come into circulation, have largely exonerated her.

As an untrained recruitee, she never learned information of real value. Instead, as the records that have come to light show, Hari was a scapegoat, targeted because of her brazen promiscuity, exotic allure and defiance of societal norms of the day."

Source: Revisiting the Myth of Mata Hari
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An assumption is always true.

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An assumption can be proven true.

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If you make an assumption, it means you are a poor thinker.

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What are assumptions based on?

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Assumptions can be proven true.

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We always recognize when we are making assumptions.

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Historical research has largely exonerated Mata Hari (meaning that many historians believe she should not have been found guilty and executed for espionage). Which of the following phrases from the Mata Hari article hints at the idea that Mata Hari may have been convicted based on assumptions, not fact?

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During Mata Hari's trial, the prosecutors who were trying to prove her guilt said "she is the type of woman who is born to be a spy." What assumption might the prosecution have been making with this statement?