Deductive Reason
Deductive reason begins with a hypothesis and seeks to confirm it with evidence. This is a basis for science, logic and basic thought processes such as learning by trial and error. For example, an child who thinks a word might be bad so they use it to see what happens.Inductive Reason
Inductive reason is a bottom up approach that begins with evidence and works towards a conclusion. Inductive reason is a formal process that doesn't allow for guesses. For example, an investigation into an aircraft accident that only develops a theory when ample evidence has been collected and analyzed.Abductive Reason
Abductive reason is the same as inductive reason except that it allows for informal guesses that can then be confirmed with deductive reason. For example, a marketing team that looks for evidence to explain a decrease in customer demand that finds evidence that a popular competitor is eating into their business.Heuristics
Heuristics are practical guesses that are made to handle uncertainty, grey areas, complexity and fast moving situations. For example, a driver who sees a blurry image out of the corner of their eye who guesses it could be a bicycle headed into their path such that they quickly apply the brakes of their vehicle.Intuitive Reason
Intuitive reason is a term for natural thought processes that aren't systematized. This can include emotion, logic and heuristics. For example, a flight attendant who instantly feels that a bout of turbulence is likely to be bad.Verbal Reason
The process of thinking with words. This is a primary type of human thought, such that language tends to impact how you think. For example, learning a second language can transform an individual's worldview.Visual Thinking
Humans can understand and think with pictures. For example, a graph or chart is often easier to understand than raw data.Imagination
Imagination is the human ability to think about things in ways that differ from reality. This is a powerful tool of reason. For example, a thought experiment or analogy that allows for the simplification of a complex problem.Motivated Reasoning
Motivated reasoning is the pervasive tendency for motivation to color thought. For example, seeking evidence for what you want to believe as opposed to objectively evaluating all evidence.Fallacies
Fallacies are patterns of failed logic that commonly taint reasoning. These can be remarkably difficult to identify such that reason benefits from a process of critical peer review and debate.Cold Logic
Cold logic is reason that fails to consider human factors such as emotion, language, culture, rights, freedoms, quality of life and the human experience. For example, an company that designs an alternative to high speed rail without any thought to the customer experience such that is incredibly bumpy with passengers becoming fearful and sick even at low speeds.| Overview: Reason | ||
Type | ||
Definition (1) | The human capacity for thinking in a reasonable way with intent to produce good judgement. | |
Definition (2) | An argument that supports a theory, decision, strategy or position.. | |
Related Concepts | ||
