If you have a problem, make sure to acknowledge and accept it, then find a way to correct or learn from it. Watch for logical leaps. Logical leaps are leaps in judgment, where you make assumptions about people or situations that are not based in reality.
People make logical leaps all the time without realizing it. For example, if a cashier is rude to you, you may assume, "I bet she doesn't like me because of my appearance, weight, attire, etc. For example, you may assume your roommate knows you want him to let your dog out as you'll be home late, but if you do not express this he may not realize it.
Try to be conscious of logical leaps in your day-to-day life and catch yourself making them. Recognize "all or nothing" judgments. All or nothing judgments are a common form of irrational thought patterns. People are unable to see the gray in situations and see situations, people, and outcomes as either entirely positive or entirely negative. Make an effort to accept that most things in life are neither entirely positive or negative. Method 3.
Eat brain food. The food you consume can have a profound affect on your brain power. Strive for a healthy diet, rich in brain food.
A Mediterranean diet can increase your brainpower. This is a diet comprised of mainly fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, healthy fats, and fish. Healthy fats include monounsaturated fats and are found in foods like fish, avocados, olive oil, and canola oil. Transitioning into a more Mediterranean-based dietary plan can help you increase your overall brain power. Eating three or more servings of spinach or other leafy greens like kale each day slows mental decline and increases overall brain function.
Saturated and trans fats, the kinds of found in red meat and dairy, have a negative effect on your mental level as well as overall health. Enriched, bleached, or refined flour, the flour found in white breads, white rices, and white pastas, also has a poor affect on the brain. Improve your sleep schedule. Getting a solid 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night can increase brain power and promote logical thinking. To improve your sleep schedule, have a set bedtime and wake time that you do not deviate from, even on weekends.
Stay away from electronic screens close to bedtime. Do not eat heavy meals late at night and work on engaging in a relaxing activity, like reading, in the hour before bed. Breathing increases brain power by increasing oxygen flow in the brain. Practice deep breathing exercises in the morning and before bed.
Practice yoga, meditation, Pilates and other activities that focus on healthy breathing patterns. Exercise frequently. Physical exercise has a profound effect on cognitive abilities. In addition to being great for the body, a regular exercise routine can boost your mind's capacity for logic.
Make exercise a priority. Many people push exercise to the peripheral of their lives, not making the time necessary to go to the gym or go for a run. If you make a schedule for yourself, and stick to it, exercise will eventually feel as vital a part of your routine as brushing your teeth in the morning or showering.
Running, jogging, biking, and engaging in workout routines that get the heart pumping 4 or 5 times a week can increase your brainpower. Spend time in nature.
Spending time outside will help you clear your thoughts and ground yourself. Aim to spend at least a couple hours every week in nature. You can go for a walk or hike, fish or hunt, explore the mountains or forest, swim in lakes or the ocean, or simply sit underneath a tree. Take breaks. People tend to see downtime as an indulgence. However, this is not the case. Taking the occasional break is vital for your brain's ability to process information.
Give your brain the occasional mental rest. Have a relaxing ritual you engage in each day. Designate one day a week as your "day off" and take the day to spend time by yourself engaging in leisurely activities you enjoy.
Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Consider this example:. Brother and sister, Sydney and Harrison are arguing about whose turn it is to clean their bathroom. Harrison tells Sydney she should do it because she is a girl and girls are better at cleaning. Sydney responds that being a girl has nothing to do with whose turn it is. She reminds Harrison that according to their work chart, they are responsible for cleaning the bathroom on alternate weeks.
She tells him she cleaned the bathroom last week; therefore, it is his turn this week. Harrison, still unconvinced, refuses to take responsibility for the chore.
Sydney then points to the work chart and shows him where it specifically says it is his turn this week. Defeated, Harrison digs out the cleaning supplies.
Throughout their bathroom argument, both Harrison and Sydney use logical arguments to advance their point. You may ask why Sydney is successful and Harrison is not. This is a good question. We will consider syllogisms in a few minutes. We know that Sydney is a girl, so the second premise is true. This leaves the first premise that girls are better at cleaning bathrooms than boys.
The only way his entire argument will work is if we agree with the assumption girls are better at cleaning bathrooms than boys. We will look at inductive reasoning in depth below. We can define evidence as anything used to support the validity of an assertion.
Evidence includes: testimony, scientific findings, statistics, physical objects, and many others. Sydney uses two primary pieces of evidence: the work chart and her statement that she cleaned the bathroom last week. Deductive reasoning refers to an argument in which the truth of its premises guarantees the truth of its conclusions. In order for his final claim to be valid, we must accept the truth of his claims that girls are better at cleaning bathrooms than boys.
The key focus in deductive arguments is that it must be impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. The classic example is:. All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. We can look at each of these statements individually and see each is true in its own right.
It is virtually impossible for the first two propositions to be true and the conclusion to be false. Any argument which fails to meet this standard commits a logical error or fallacy. Even if we might accept the arguments as good and the conclusion as possible, the argument fails as a form of deductive reasoning. A few observations and much reasoning lead to error; many observations and a little reasoning to truth.
Another way to think of deductive reasoning is to think of it as moving from a general premise to a specific premise. The basic line of reasoning looks like this:. This form of deductive reasoning is called a syllogism. A syllogism need not have only three components to its argument, but it must have at least three.
We have Aristotle to thank for identifying the syllogism and making the study of logic much easier. The focus on syllogisms dominated the field of philosophy for thousands of years. It is easy to fall prey to missteps in reasoning when we focus on syllogisms and deductive reasoning. Logic: the art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding. Considered in this manner, it should be clear how the strength of the conclusion depends upon us accepting as true the first two statements.
This need for truth sets up deductive reasoning as a very rigid form of reasoning. In the debates over whether the United States should take military action in Iraq, this was the basic line of reasoning used to justify an invasion. This logic was sufficient for the United States to invade Iraq; however, as we have since learned, this line of reasoning also shows how quickly logic can go bad. Inductive reasoning is often though of as the opposite of deductive reasoning; however, this approach is not wholly accurate.
Inductive reasoning does move from the specific to the general. However, this fact alone does not make it the opposite of deductive reasoning. An argument which fails in its deductive reasoning may still stand inductively. Unlike deductive reasoning, there is no standard format inductive arguments must take, making them more flexible.
We can define an inductive argument as one in which the truth of its propositions lends support to the conclusion. The difference here in deduction is the truth of the propositions establishes with absolute certainty the truth of the conclusion. When we analyze an inductive argument, we do not focus on the truth of its premises.
You are my target audience. Or perhaps the opposite is true, as the former are the people that could benefit from letting some critical thinking into their lives. So what exactly is critical thinking? This bit by Linda Elder in a paper on CriticalThinking. Through critical thinking, as I understand it, we acquire a means of assessing and upgrading our ability to judge well. It enables us to go into virtually any situation and to figure out the logic of whatever is happening in that situation.
It provides a way for us to learn from new experiences through the process of continual self-assessment. Critical thinking, then, enables us to form sound beliefs and judgments, and in doing so, provides us with a basis for a 'rational and reasonable' emotional life.
XVI, No. The rationality of the world is what is at risk. Too many people are taken advantage of because of their lack of critical thinking, logic and deductive reasoning.
These same people are raising children without these same skills, creating a whole new generation of clueless people. Recently I needed a new transmission for the family van. The warranty on the power train covers the transmission up to , miles. The van has around 68, miles on it. Therefore, even the logic-less dimwit could easily figure that the transmission was covered.
Well, this was true until the dealership told me that it wasn't, stating that because we didn't get the scheduled transmission service which is basically a fluid change at 30, and 60, miles the warranty was no longer valid.
Now, there are many people that would argue this point, but many more that would shrug, panic, and accept the full cost of repairs. I read the warranty book. I had a receipt that said the fluid was checked at 60, but not replaced. A friend on Twitter pointed out the fact that they were using , mile transmission fluid.
So logically, the fluid would not have to be replaced under , miles if it wasn't needed, right? There are many ways you can invest time in building relationships, from participating in an activity you both enjoy to simply eating lunch or meeting over coffee together on a regular basis.
The more logically you can handle problems at work, the more easily you will be able to advance in your career. Learning a new skill can also help you sharpen your logic skills. When you take the opportunity to learn as often as possible, you can apply the same level of thinking to your job. For example, you might decide to start learning a new coding language, a process that requires careful thinking and planning.
Not only will practicing every day help to put you in the mindset of thoughtfully approaching problems at work, but it will also develop a new skill that will help you advance your career. When working to strengthen your logical thinking skills, it is helpful to consider what impact your decisions might have in the future.
The closer you pay attention to the results of your decisions, the easier the process will become. When you come up with a solution to a problem at work, try to think about what the outcome may be. Eventually, you will find it easier to think of the immediate and long-term results of your decisions, which is an important aspect of logical thinking. Logic skills can be easily strengthened with daily practice. When you apply these exercises regularly, you will start to naturally approach everyday decisions at work with a more logical perspective.
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