It’s surprising how frequently we come to conclusions. Whether it is knowingly or perhaps subliminally, we would not do well on our journey without these summarizations.
Deductive
Here’s an example: Rule - All fruits have seeds. Data or viewpoint - Tomatoes have seeds. Conclusion: tomatoes must be a fruit! (Botanically, tomatoes are a fruit, part of the nightshade family of which peppers and eggplants are also ‘fruits’.
Strong guiding rule - apply the rule - and you can draw a conclusion.
Inductive
In this case there is not a guiding rule from which to make a conclusion. However there is enough surrounding data (evidence) to make a good judgement.
Example: The teacher is not at school today. Yesterday the teacher mentioned that members of their family had the flu. Conclusion - The teacher is absent today because they are sick also.
Considering reasonably related observations (no hard and fast rule present), one may conclude that most likely the teacher is sick also.
There could be many reasons why the teacher is absent; however this teacher never misses a day of school, they are gone today and had talked about sickness in the family, so a natural conclusion is that they are sick also.
Abductive
There is no rule present, seemingly various sorts of observations present, although the observations may not seem to be related, and a tentative conclusion is made. An abductive summary is the best attempt to summarize the observation or data into a reasonable guess. There is no certainty, just the best guess possible.
NOTE: The philosophy world uses these Latin based words: Deduct (to take away), Induct (to make part of), Abduct (to draw away). A bit of humor might be needed here: we are not talking of an alien abduction!
Examples:
• A patient has a fever, sore throat, and fatigue. The doctor quite possibly might believe that the patient is suffering from the flu.
• In a courtroom the jury arrives at a verdict based on their reasoning of the evidence and witness’s testimony.
• The grass is wet this morning, it must have rained last night.
Limitations:
• The simplistic explanation is not always correct.
• There could be personal bias involved.
• Not enough evidence for a clear conclusion.
Summarizing:
Deductive Reasoning: Guiding rule, apply the rule, highly certain of the deduction.
Inductive Reasoning: Observance of related data or evidence, conclusion that is most likely.
Abductive Reasoning: Summarizing various, possibly unrelated, evidence into a ‘most likely’ conclusion. Certainty is questionable.
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• Have you ever based your decisions on something from a rule that is absolutely certain?
• What happened to you when this rule was amended or changed or found to not apply anymore?
• Does the order of “Deductive, Inductive, and then Abductive” tend to parallel our increasing maturity?
• Which reasoning method is the most common one you use?
• When you meet someone new, which method do you use to make conclusions of the new acquaintance?
Deductive
Here’s an example: Rule - All fruits have seeds. Data or viewpoint - Tomatoes have seeds. Conclusion: tomatoes must be a fruit! (Botanically, tomatoes are a fruit, part of the nightshade family of which peppers and eggplants are also ‘fruits’.
Strong guiding rule - apply the rule - and you can draw a conclusion.
Inductive
In this case there is not a guiding rule from which to make a conclusion. However there is enough surrounding data (evidence) to make a good judgement.
Example: The teacher is not at school today. Yesterday the teacher mentioned that members of their family had the flu. Conclusion - The teacher is absent today because they are sick also.
Considering reasonably related observations (no hard and fast rule present), one may conclude that most likely the teacher is sick also.
There could be many reasons why the teacher is absent; however this teacher never misses a day of school, they are gone today and had talked about sickness in the family, so a natural conclusion is that they are sick also.
Abductive
There is no rule present, seemingly various sorts of observations present, although the observations may not seem to be related, and a tentative conclusion is made. An abductive summary is the best attempt to summarize the observation or data into a reasonable guess. There is no certainty, just the best guess possible.
NOTE: The philosophy world uses these Latin based words: Deduct (to take away), Induct (to make part of), Abduct (to draw away). A bit of humor might be needed here: we are not talking of an alien abduction!
Examples:
• A patient has a fever, sore throat, and fatigue. The doctor quite possibly might believe that the patient is suffering from the flu.
• In a courtroom the jury arrives at a verdict based on their reasoning of the evidence and witness’s testimony.
• The grass is wet this morning, it must have rained last night.
Limitations:
• The simplistic explanation is not always correct.
• There could be personal bias involved.
• Not enough evidence for a clear conclusion.
Summarizing:
Deductive Reasoning: Guiding rule, apply the rule, highly certain of the deduction.
Inductive Reasoning: Observance of related data or evidence, conclusion that is most likely.
Abductive Reasoning: Summarizing various, possibly unrelated, evidence into a ‘most likely’ conclusion. Certainty is questionable.
======================
• Have you ever based your decisions on something from a rule that is absolutely certain?
• What happened to you when this rule was amended or changed or found to not apply anymore?
• Does the order of “Deductive, Inductive, and then Abductive” tend to parallel our increasing maturity?
• Which reasoning method is the most common one you use?
• When you meet someone new, which method do you use to make conclusions of the new acquaintance?