Examples of Logic

The term "logic" refers to the science that studies the principles of correct
reasoning. Logic requires the act of reasoning by humans in order to form thoughts
and opinions, as well as classifications and judgments. The foundation of a logical
argument is its proposition, or statement. The proposition is either accurate (true)
or not accurate (false). The argument is then built on premises. The premises are
the propositions used to build the argument. Then an inference is made from the
premises. Finally, a conclusion is drawn.

Understanding Logic Through Examples

There are two types of logical arguments - deductive and inductive. Examples of
these are:

Deductive This type of reasoning provides complete evidence of the truth of its
conclusion. It uses a specific and accurate premise that leads to a specific and
accurate conclusion. With correct premises, the conclusion to this type of argument
is verifiable and correct.
Inductive - This type of reasoning is "bottom up," meaning that it takes specific
information and makes a broad generalization that is considered probable, allowing
for the fact that the conclusion may not be accurate. This type of reasoning usually
involves a rule being established based on a series of repeated experiences.
Examples of Deductive and Inductive Logic

Deductive Logic

All squares are rectangles. All rectangles have four sides. Logic, therefore, tells you
that all squares have four sides.
It is dangerous to drive when it is snowing. It is snowing now. Logic tells you that it
would be dangerous to drive right now.
All dogs have a good sense of smell. Bailey is a dog. Therefore, deductive reasoning
logic tells you that Bailey has a good sense of smell.
All seniors are bad drivers. Mr. Jones is 70 years old and you won't let him drive your
car because you think he is an unsafe driver.

When it rains the trees get wet. The trees are wet this morning, so it rained last
night.
All trees have trunks. An oak tree is a tree. Therefore, deductive reasoning tells you
that the oak tree has a trunk.
Inductive Logic

An umbrella prevents you from getting wet in the rain. Ashley took her umbrella and
she did not get wet. In this case, you could use inductive reasoning to offer an
opinion that it was probably raining. Your concluson, however, would not necessarily
be accurate because Ashley would have remained dry whether it rained and she
had an umbrella, or whether it did not rain at all.
Every three year old you see at the park every afternoon spends most of their time
crying and screaming. Your conclusion is that all three year olds spend their
afternoon screaming.
Every house that burned down on the block was caused by faulty wiring. You
conclusion is that all homes on the block have faulty wiring.
Red lights prevent accidents. Mike did not have an accident, therefore Mike stopped
at a red light. This is an example of inductive reasoning; but, it is faulty reasoning
because Mike might not have encountered any traffic signals at all. Therefore, he
might have been able to avoid accidents even without stopping at a red light.
As these examples show, you can use logic to solve problems and to draw
conclusions. Sometimes those conclusions are correct conclusions and sometimes
they are inaccurate. When you use deductive reasoning, you arrive at correct logical
arguments while inductive reasoning may or may not provide you with a correct
outcome.

Common sense, roughly speaking, is what people in common would agree: that which they "sense"
in common as their shared natural understanding. Some use the phrase to refer
to beliefs or propositions that in their opinion they consider would in most people's experience
be prudent and of sound judgment, without dependence upon esoteric knowledge or study or
research, but based upon what is believed to be knowledge held by people "in common".

A One Page Guide to Common Sense According to Merriam Webster, Here is a list of
traits that can help you increase your with common sense: Take time to react: Make
sure to think everything through. People with common sense take the time to ask
themselves questions like what will happen if I do this or what will happen if I don't?

Reacting immediately to events will result in bad choices and judgment. Get
experience: In order to have common sense, you have to need experience. Dont be
afraid to try and do things for yourself. Have faith in your decisions and just go for it.
The more experience you have, the more confident you will be in your decisions.
Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down by the
mind. -Albert Einstein For more information, visit
http://jdstiles.com/games/smartstest.html http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Efficient What
Is Common Sense? Observe: Common sense means paying attention to the obvious.
If you observe what is going on around you, you will be paying attention to the
obvious and thus able to have more common sense. Be efficient: Performing or
functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort
(Dictionary.com) is also a way to have common sense. Make sure to stay focused;
dont get side tracked or distracted. Do one thing at a time, and prioritize what
needs to get done first.

DEDUCTIVE VERSUS INDUCTIVE REASONING

Inductive and deductive reasoning are two methods of logic used to arrive at a
conclusion based on information assumed to be true. Both are used in research to
establish hypotheses.
Deductive reasoning arrives at a specific conclusion based on generalizations.
Inductive reasoning takes events and makes generalizations
Deductive reasoning is reasoning that involves a hierarchy of statements or truths.
Starting with a limited number of simple statements or assumptions, more complex
statements can be built up from the more basic ones. For example, you have probably
studied deductive geometry in mathematics; in it you start with a few principles and
prove various propositions using those principles. To prove more complicated
propositions, you may use propositions that you have already proved plus the original
principles. In more formal logic terms deductive reasoning is reasoning from stated
premises to conclusions formally or necessarily implied by such premises.
Deductive reasoning can be described as reasoning of the form if A then B. Deduction
is in some sense the direct application of knowledge in the production of new
knowledge.
If-then deductive reasoning is how scientists (and other people!) can test alternate
hypotheses. Making deductions is important when we cannot directly observe a cause,
and can only observe its consequences. This kind of reasoning can be modeled by the
following:

If ...
Then...
But...
Therefore...
For example, we might hypothesize that "The color of a mineral is determined by its
crystal structure."
And so we could test this hypothesis using deductive reasoning:
If the color of a mineral is determined by its crystal structure; then all purple minerals
should have the same crystal structure. But purple amethyst has a hexagonal structure
and purple fluorite has an isometric structure (determined by observations). Therefore,
the hypothesis is not supported or strengthened.
Inductive reasoning is essentially the opposite of deductive reasoning. It involves
trying to create general principles by starting with many specific instances. For
example, in inductive geometry you might measure the interior angles of a group of
randomly drawn triangles. When you discover that the sum of the three angles is 180
regardless of the triangle, you would be tempted to make a generalization about the
sum of the interior angles of a triangle. Bringing forward all these separate facts
provides evidence in order to help support your general statement about the interior
angles.