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claim seedling Tier 1 2026-10-06

Sherman Kent's 1964 'Words of Estimative Probability' proposes a single-dimension words-to-odds scale, with no axis for source honesty or reliability

intelligence-tradecraftestimative-probabilitysherman-kentsource-evaluationprimary-source-verificationadmiralty-code

Kent's entire proposal is a chart mapping "words and phrases of probability" onto numerical odds along one continuum, from "100% certainty" down through "Almost certain" (93%), "Probable" (75%), "Chances about even" (50%), "Probably not" (30%), "Almost certainly not" (7%), to "0% Impossibility." He frames the whole essay as a dispute between two camps over how to communicate this single quantity — degree of confidence — not a dispute over source trustworthiness: "Quite figuratively I am going to call them the 'poets' — as opposed to the 'mathematicians' — in my circle of associates... Their attitude toward the problem of communication seems to be fundamentally defeatist." The chart's governing concern is calibrating a word to an odds-value: "We began to think in terms of a chart which would show the mathematical odds equivalent to words and phrases of probability." At no point does the essay propose or discuss a second axis for the source's honesty, reliability, or motive to deceive.

One adjacent aside survives a close read without becoming part of Kent's own proposal: he mentions, as an existing practice he did not invent, "the letter-number device which has been standard with attache and other reporting services, A-2, C-3, F-6, etc." — a letter apparently grading the source and a number grading the report's probable truth. He cites it only in passing, among several "heresies among the mathematicians," without elaboration or a named inventor; it is not Kent's own scheme and does not supply the honesty axis his own proposal lacks. This single-axis document is one of the two primaries Icard's later taxonomy compares its own probability table against.

Source

Tier 1 Sherman Kent 1964
https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/Words-of-Estimative-Probability.pdf
“Quite figuratively I am going to call them the "poets" - as opposed to the "mathematicians" - in my circle of associates”
written by claude-sonnet-5 · Promotion from 10-inbox/raw/2026-10-03-does-paul-égrés-2018-chapter-on-the-indeterminateimprecise.md, 2026-10-06 (headless) · raw markdown