Using Talk to Reason Together Neil Mercer
Our research shows that when students learn how to use talk to reason together, they become better at reasoning on their own. | Neil Mercer Continue reading Using Talk to Reason Together Neil Mercer
an online book by David Gurteen
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, science, language, mathematics, and art, and is normally considered to be a distinguishing ability possessed by humans. Reason is sometimes referred to as rationality.
Reasoning involves using more-or-less rational processes of thinking and cognition to extrapolate from one's existing knowledge to generate new knowledge, and involves the use of one's intellect. The field of logic studies the ways in which humans can use formal reasoning to produce logically valid arguments and true conclusions. Reasoning may be subdivided into forms of logical reasoning, such as deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and abductive reasoning.
Aristotle drew a distinction between logical discursive reasoning (reason proper), and intuitive reasoning,: VI.7 in which the reasoning process through intuition—however valid—may tend toward the personal and the subjectively opaque. In some social and political settings logical and intuitive modes of reasoning may clash, while in other contexts intuition and formal reason are seen as complementary rather than adversarial. For example, in mathematics, intuition is often necessary for the creative processes involved with arriving at a formal proof, arguably the most difficult of formal reasoning tasks.
Reasoning, like habit or intuition, is one of the ways by which thinking moves from one idea to a related idea. For example, reasoning is the means by which rational individuals understand the significance of sensory information from their environments, or conceptualize abstract dichotomies such as cause and effect, truth and falsehood, or good and evil. Reasoning, as a part of executive decision making, is also closely identified with the ability to self-consciously change, in terms of goals, beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and institutions, and therefore with the capacity for freedom and self-determination.
Psychologists and cognitive scientists have attempted to study and explain how people reason, e.g. which cognitive and neural processes are engaged, and how cultural factors affect the inferences that people draw. The field of automated reasoning studies how reasoning may or may not be modeled computationally. Animal psychology considers the question of whether animals other than humans can reason.
Credit: Wikipedia - reasoningOur research shows that when students learn how to use talk to reason together, they become better at reasoning on their own. | Neil Mercer Continue reading Using Talk to Reason Together Neil Mercer
Productive disagreement depends on how people feel about each other. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to argue, and not enough on how to shape the relationship that will define how the engagement goes. It’s often said that in order to disagree well, people need to put emotions aside and think purely rationally, but this is a myth. … | Ian Leslie Continue reading Productive Disagreement Depends on How People Feel About Each Other Ian Leslie
We each view reality from our own unique perspective, only a community of minds can show us the truth. Credit: Timothy Wilken Books: Timothy WilkenOnly a Community of Minds Can Show Us the Truth Timothy WilkenQuotations: Timothy WilkenOnly a Community of Minds Can Show Us the Truth Timothy WilkenTags: community (47) | mind (36) | … Continue reading Only a Community of Minds Can Show Us the Truth Timothy Wilken
Our spoken language allows us to do more than just share information — it enables us to think and reason together. | David Gurteen Continue reading Our Spoken Language Enables Us to Think Together David Gurteen
video player How can groups make good decisions? | Mariano Sigman and Dan Ariely Mariano closes this talk with the . You can read the transcript below. Partial Transcript Good collective decisions require two components: deliberation and diversity of opinions. Right now, the way we typically make our voice heard in many societies is through … Continue reading How Can Groups Make Good Decisions? Mariano Sigman and Dan Ariely (2017)
The Argumentative Theory of Human Reason | THUNK Reasoning was not designed to pursue the truth. Reasoning was designed by evolution to help us win arguments. Posts that link to this post Two Interesting Theories of Reason Social reasoning and the narrative paradigm What Are Cognitive Biases? Mistakes in reasoning, evaluating or rememberingTags: argument (34) | reasoning … Continue reading The Argumentative Theory of Human Reason Reasoning was designed by evolution to help us win arguments
Gurteen Knowledge Blog May 7, 2021, 15:34. I recently came across a fascinating theory concerning the evolution of human reason known as “The Argumentative Theory of Human Reason”. However, I prefer to use the term “theory of social reasoning” or simply “social reasoning”. The theory proposes that the primary function of reason is not to improve our … Continue reading Social Reasoning The Argumentative Theory of Human Reason
In this book, Conflicted, Ian Leslie draws essential lessons on how to disagree well from world-class experts: interrogators, hostage negotiators, divorce mediators, diplomats, and addiction counselors. It tells inspiring stories of productive disagreements, from the invention of the airplane to the success of The Rolling Stones, and combines them with fascinating insights from the science … Continue reading Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together by Ian Leslie (2021)
Conflicted | Ian Leslie and Russ Roberts Ian Leslie talks about his book Conflicted with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Ian argues that far from being a negative thing, conflict is often the essential ingredient that helps us get to the right answer or best solution. Because some of our best thinking comes in collaboration with … Continue reading Ian Leslie on Conflicted Ian Leslie (2021)
No truth is without some mixture of error, and no error so false but that it possesses no element of truth. If a man is in too big a hurry to give up an error, he is liable to give up some truth with it, and in accepting the arguments of the other man he is sure to get some errors with it. Honest argument is merely a process of mutually picking … | Wilbur Wright Continue reading No Truth Is Without Some Mixture of Error by Wilbur Wright
We don’t have a good word for engaging in a non-hostile disagreement with the shared aim of moving the participants towards a new understanding, better decision or new idea. Debate implies a competition with winners and losers. Argument comes tinged with animosity. Dialogue is too bland. Dialectic is too obscure. We talk about argument as if it is … | Ian Leslie Continue reading We Don’t Have a Good Word for Engaging in a Non-hostile Disagreement Ian Leslie
Imagine a culture where an argument is viewed as a dance, the participants are seen as performers, and the goal is to perform in a balanced and aesthetically pleasing way. In such a culture, people would view arguments differently, experience them differently, carry them out differently, and talk about them differently. But we would probably not … | George Lakoff and Mark Johnsen Continue reading Imagine a Culture Where an Argument Is Viewed as a Dance George Lakoff and Mark Johnsen
Anecdote Circles Brainstorming Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close In challenging conversations, differing viewpoints can lead to tension and misunderstandings. A conversation covenant offers a structured approach to ensure respectful, constructive dialogue. By establishing agreed-upon guidelines, it … Continue reading Conversation Covenant Creating a psychologically safer space for difficult conversations
Knowledge and Information ** The Knowledge Delusion Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The argumentative theory of reasoning proposes that reason did not evolve to help us to reason individually but to reason together – in other … Continue reading The Argumentative Theory of Human Reason We did not evolve to reason individually but to reason socially
Conversare Events The Dérive Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Debates are an essential part of communication, allowing for the exchange of differing viewpoints. However, understanding their various forms and purposes can be challenging. By exploring the … Continue reading Understanding Debates Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it
The Dérive Dialogic Organization Development Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The meaning of dialogue The word dialogue has several meanings depending on the context in which it is used. If you look up the word in … Continue reading Dialogue Dialogue is a disciplined form of conversation
The Power of Team Huddles Ongoing Performance Conversations Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The Oracy Lab is an experimental space for exploring the power and possibilities of conversations and spoken communication for conveying meaning and co-creating … Continue reading The Oracy Lab An experimental space for exploring the power and possibilities of conversations
Speak with Less Conviction Reduce Emailing and Texting ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Disagree constructively: Disagreement is an inevitable part of life. Most of the time, we do it poorly. We need to learn to … Continue reading Disagree Constructively How to disagree well
Become a Conversation Architect Rediscovering Rhetoric Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close In education, considerable emphasis is placed on numeracy and literacy — understanding and working with numbers and reading and writing. But what about the capacity … Continue reading Oracy The ability to express oneself in and understand spoken language