Some here may remember poster Meara’s description last year of deductive and inductive reasoning and logical fallacies. I wanted to add a little to that excellent post with some additional thoughts about the manner in which we reach different conclusions.
BBM
This sounds logically correct, to me. I concede I don’t have a background in classical rhetoric or in utilizing logic in the “Skeptic” problem-based presentations.
However, even scientists will concede some limits to logic. I’ll get into that in a minute.
The thing about behavior is that it can almost always be rationalized, by use of alternative premises and with alternative conclusions. Here’s an example you may recall from the “Breaking Bad” series: Walt the main character who becomes a meth dealer has been behaving somewhat strangely. Walt’s wife Skylar claims she heard his cell phone ring. Skylar’s brother in law, a DEA agent with access to phone records, checks Walt’s number, to see if they can find a trace to someone (like to a woman with whom Walt may be having a tryst). There’s no cell phone call discovered. The conclusion the BIL and the wife deduce is that Walt has 2 cell phones.
However, Walt has an explanation: Attempting to explain away her suspicions about his second cell phone, Walt tells Skylar she might have mistaken his phone's alarm — a reminder, he claims, to take his medication — for an incoming call. In an instant, she doesn’t buy it and walks out. Walt’s explanation is logical. Why doesn’t she buy that explanation? Well, actually, she doesn’t have to use Logic. It’s the many other strange instances of odd behavior which inform her he’s lying. The totality of her experiences tells her when something does not ring true.
The system the wife uses is different than the system a logical brain uses. It is the system known as the Intuitive Brain. (Sometimes people reference the Intuitive Brain as just ‘common sense’, but it actually has a lot more capacity; for example, it is the Intuitive Brain which can understand language and semantics, or how to adjust the body to move a limb.)
So, if UKGuy thinks the idea of an intruder staying in the home so long is untenable, he is likely using his Intuitive Brain, vs. a logic based reasoning system. Sorry for dragging you into this, UKGuy,
eace: but the variables in reasoning struck me so obvious that this was a convenient illustrative example.
I know Logic is used a lot in the hard sciences, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Logic can make amazing long-term predictions like planetary orbits, etc. But logical methods require idealized conditions, and Logic just doesn’t handle bizarre systems in the life sciences, nor does it always handle everyday problems which are constantly adapting to an environment from which they can’t be separated. Imo, (Intuitive Brain reasoning here) this crime presented a bizarre set of circumstances, and the participants winged it and adapted to it as they went.
I appreciate the use of Logic and understand why Tricia asked for the application of logic in constructing questions or conclusions. But I’m pretty sure when she gave that instruction she intended not simply/only application of reasoning found in classical rhetoric, but also the reasoning revealed through the Intuitive Brain, through common sense. So, please don’t misinterpret that I am suggesting a “deviation of"
the utilization of our reasoning skills. This is just my 2 cents about the applications of different “systems” used in the forum.
Did I say that I appreciate good reasoning skills? I meant to say that.
