Did you know the key to success in most of the competitive exams is logical reasoning? Be it UPSC, BPSC, NET, GATE, CAT, or a railway exam, if you’ve conquered reasoning topics well, your chance of success becomes pretty high. Also, if you are an employee aiming for professional achievements, you will need to use logical reasoning to complete your daily tasks efficiently.
In short, whether you are aiming for academic success or professional development, logical reasoning is your way to go. But the question now comes: what are the types of logical reasoning, and how do I learn them and implement them in my daily life?
So lo and behold, we will answer all these questions in this blog. Make sure to read it till the end.
So, let’s get started.
WHAT IS LOGICAL REASONING?
Logical reasoning can be defined as the ability to analyze and interpret the information in a structured manner to draw conclusions. It includes the ability to recognize patterns, identify relationships between various elements and variables, and apply problem-solving abilities to deduce judgments and rational solutions. These cognitive abilities allow individuals to form sensible conclusions based on the given information.
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IMPORTANCE OF LOGICAL REASONING AND WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN IT
Logical reasoning plays a crucial role in problem-solving scenarios, enabling individuals to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable components. By applying logical thinking, individuals identify potential causes and hidden connections to propose plausible solutions.
These abilities are a must in fields like mathematics, computer programming, and various analytical professions.
TYPES OF LOGICAL REASONING
There are four types of logical reasoning. Let’s go through them one by one.
1.Deductive Reasoning
As the name suggests, deductive reasoning includes deducing a conclusion by assessing the given information. It includes evaluating different scenarios in a single frame to determine the evidence of truth.
Through the given facts, this type of logical reasoning helps us to draw an error-free conclusion.
Example:
Statement A: To apply for admission to a good management college, you must at least score 80% on the CAT exam.
Statement B: Sara scored 83% in the CAT exam.
Conclusion: Sara can apply to a good management college.
Uses:
1. Scientific research: The provided facts and data are used to deduce further conclusions in research. It is also used in determining relationships between various variables, values, and elements for new hypotheses.
2. Legal arguments: Legal arguments contain a lot of information to be deduced and draw evidence to conclude a sound legal judgement.
3. Problem-solving and decision-making: Solving problems and making decisions in daily life or academics requires the deductive reasoning approach to minimize errors.
4. Workplace application: It included troubleshooting, strengthening teamwork, and ensuring compliance with organizational standards.
2. Inductive Reasoning
It is the most important type of reasoning, which involves a careful analysis of specific observations to find out a possible conclusion. This type of reasoning included the generalization of statements to reach a conclusion.
Read More: Time Management Tips for Logical Reasoning Section
Example:
Statement A: Sara carries an umbrella everywhere to protect herself from rain.
Statement B: Sara stayed dry today.
Conclusion: Sara didn’t stay dry today just because she has an umbrella. It could be it didn’t rain today as well.
Explanation: She had an umbrella to stay dry, but we don’t have any information regarding rain. So, the evidence is missing, and we deduced a probable conclusion from the given factual statements.
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USES:
1. Formulate a generalization: Since the conclusion lacks evidence, this type of reasoning is used to formulate a generalization of theories of animal and human behavior.
2. Formulate hypothesis: Hypothesis also lacks evidence and is formed by the generalized theory.
3. Identify pattern: Inductive reasoning is also used in identifying numbers and patterns to reach a conclusion.
4. Business and marketing: business owners use inductive reasoning to predict consumers’ choices and purchasing patterns. It helps them to plan effective marketing strategies.
3. Abductive Reasoning
Abductive reasoning includes the use of existing data to draw a solid conclusion in the existing context. This form of logical reasoning includes forming a hypothesis, which is then tested by the additional data.
Example:
Statement A: Sara watches a movie every Saturday.
Statement B: Sara watched a movie yesterday.
Conclusion: Yesterday was a Saturday, and today is a Sunday.
USES:
1. Medicine: a doctor observes the symptoms and infers the probable illness to prescribe the best medicine.
2. Detective work: The detective gathers evidence from the crime scene and forms a plausible scenario of how the crime occurred.
3. Design and innovation: Creating new products and designs requires designers to meet the users’ needs and solve their problems.
4. Scientific discovery: Researchers use the abductive reasoning type to formulate hypotheses to explain what they observe about a certain element or phenomenon.
4. Analogical Reasoning
As the name suggests, analogical reasoning refers to drawing analogical conclusions through identifying similarities between two similar situations. Using analogical reasoning, we predict the outcome of an unfamiliar situation from the previous knowledge of events or situations.
Example:
Statement A: Eating too much sugar is harmful to you.
Statement B: Smoking cigarettes is harmful to your health.
Conclusion: Both sugar and cigarettes are harmful to your health.
Explanation: Even though sugar and cigarettes are very different, their consumption over a prolonged period of time will be harmful to you.
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USES
1. Teaching: Analogical reasoning helps educators to relate the concepts with the similar concepts and examples.
2. Legal precedent: legal case rulings of similar cases help judges to give judgments easily.
3. Political persuasion: Analogical arguments help political leaders to convince people by drawing parallels between known situations, new ideas, and proposals.
CONCLUSION:
Logical reasoning is an integral part of academics, professional life, and daily life. It helps you to navigate through challenges easily. It also guides you to make informed decisions by letting you easily assess the pros and cons of your chosen outcome.
All the best!
