“Could not be a fire”1“That there could not be a fire becomes a proof there could be one”2 “That I don’t hear a fire engine does not mean I haven’t started one”3 “whether or not you hear a fire engine has not to do with what you may have done”4 “You could have started a fire” 5 “Prepare in advance for the sound of the engine” 6 “Believe it’s unrelated to what you may have done.”7
1 There is no evidence to support the idea that you have started a fire. The concern that you have done this is groundless.
2 “Nothing in life is certain so the uncertain is likely”; “I strongly believe I haven’t started a fire; therefore, I probably have started one.” “Bad things most often occur unexpectedly; I have no reason to expect a bad thing; therefore a bad thing is more likely to occur.”
3 Were I to hear a fire engine it wouldn’t mean that I had started a fire and were I not to hear one wouldn’t mean that I hadn’t. This is Obvious.
4 The principle on which the previous thought is based. I can’t deduce that my house is on fire (or that I have caused my house to be on fire) merely from the fact that I have or have not seen a fire engine: the fire engine merely puts in mind what I may have done.
5 Nothing is certain: even if there is no reason to think I have started a fire, or even many reasons to think that I haven’t, I may yet have started a fire.
6 Knowing that the sight of a fire engine will put it in mind that you’ve started a fire, you can take precautionary measures and mentally prepare yourself against feeling anxiety on this account. “I may or may not have started a fire” you might tell yourself for example, “but it won’t be because I have seen a fire engine.”
7 Same as the previous thought.
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