As we all know, China is a world-famous ancient civilization, and four great inventions have influenced the world. China ancient science and technology is also very developed. However, since the middle of17th century, China's science and technology has gone from bad to worse. According to relevant data, from the 6th century to the beginning of17th century, the proportion of China in the world's major scientific and technological achievements has been above 54%, but by19th century, it dropped to 0.4%. Why is there a big ups and downs in science and technology between China and the West, which has opened such a big gap?

Why did capitalism and modern science originate in Western Europe instead of China civilization? This is the famous riddle of Needham. Joseph Needham, a British scholar, formally raised this question in his 15 volume History of Science and Technology in China. 1976, American economist Kenneth Paulding called it Needham puzzle.

Needham's answer from the perspective of scientific method is:

First of all, China has no view of nature suitable for scientific development;

Second, China people are too practical, and many discoveries remain in the experience stage;

Third, China's imperial examination system stifled people's interest in exploring the laws of nature, and their thoughts were tied to ancient books and fame and fortune. "Learning to be an excellent official" has become the first pursuit of scholars.

Needham also pointed out that China people don't know how to manage by numbers, and China's Confucian academic tradition only pays attention to morality but not quantitative economic management.

Einstein also believes that "the development of western science is based on two major achievements: one is the formal logic system invented by Greek philosophers; The other is to find causality through systematic experiments. The ancient philosophers in China did not take these two steps. "

Logic has greatly promoted the development of western science, and the United Nations has listed it as one of the seven basic disciplines. UNESCO's discipline classification, the basic disciplines include mathematics, logic, astronomy and astrophysics, geography and space science, physics, chemistry and life science.

In our work and life, people often speak, and they can't speak clearly for a long time, and their thinking is confused and illogical, so many people can't speak. In fact, these are all manifestations of lack of logical thinking. What is logical thinking? How to improve logical thinking? How to clearly demonstrate your point of view? It is a thinking skill that every modern person must master.

China is undergoing great rejuvenation, and China is entering modern civilization. The establishment of modern civilization needs qualified citizens, and unqualified citizens rely on authority and strength to solve problems. Lack of independent thinking, confusion between black and white, easy to be incited and misled.

Qualified citizens solve problems according to reasons and procedures, and have their own independent thinking and judgment.

If there is no logical thinking, what about rational and independent thinking? At the same time, logical thinking is also a prerequisite for becoming a future citizen. Future citizens need to have five skills: critical thinking, information processing ability, problem solving ability, learning ability and global awareness. These skills require logical thinking.

Logical thinking, also known as abstract thinking, is a rational cognitive process in which people actively reflect objective reality by means of concepts, judgments, reasoning and other forms of thinking in the process of understanding things. It is the way of thinking that people grasp the essential laws of concrete things and understand the objective world. It is the advanced stage of human cognition-rational cognition stage.

The forms of logical thinking mainly include concepts, propositions and judgments, reasoning and argumentation.

1, concept

It is a form of thinking that reflects the essence or unique attributes of things. Concept is the cell of knowledge. The most basic building unit in human cognitive thinking system. It is an abstraction and generalization of the common essential characteristics of perceived things.

Human cognition is mainly composed of three parts:

First, things that exist objectively;

The second is the reflection of things in the brain;

The third is the language we create for it, so that we can communicate with others. Concept is a language created by human beings to facilitate communication.

This concept has two basic characteristics, namely, the connotation and extension of the concept.

Connotation: the unique or essential attribute of the object reflected by the concept. Answer the question "What is it?" Explain the nature of objects.

For example, commodities are labor products produced for exchange.

Extension: the object with unique or essential attributes reflected by the concept. Answer: "How much? What objects are included? What is the scope?

For example, goods include clothes, food, furniture, home appliances, real estate and so on.

Concepts are expressed in words or phrases.

For example: animals, furniture, real estate, commodities, etc.

Humans can only think when they have concepts. Otherwise, to express the concept of "animals", it is necessary to say all the animals once to express clearly, which is time-consuming and laborious, and it is not convenient for communication and thinking. Therefore, clarifying the concept is to clarify the connotation and extension of the concept, which is the basis of human thinking and communication.

2. Proposition

A proposition is a sentence that expresses judgment.

For example, China is a developing country.

Generally speaking, a declarative sentence that judges something is called a proposition. Among them, statements judged to be true are called true propositions, and statements judged to be false are called false propositions. The expression of a proposition is a sentence.

For example, "China is an ancient civilization" is a true proposition. "China is not an ancient civilization" is a false proposition.

Step 3 demonstrate

Inference is the process of deriving a new judgment (conclusion) from one or several known judgments (premises).

For example, everyone will die-Socrates is human-so Socrates will die.

Reasoning plays a special role in various modes of thinking.

Generalizing universal and general new knowledge from numerous perceptual phenomena must rely on reasoning, which is inductive reasoning.

Deducing new knowledge from existing knowledge also requires reasoning, which is called deductive reasoning.

Inferring from the attribute of one object that another object may also have this attribute also requires reasoning. Such reasoning is called analogical reasoning.

For example, according to the connection of neurons in the human brain, artificial intelligence has been developed. Human observation of dragonflies inventing helicopters and research of bats inventing radars are all analogical reasoning.

The research center of logic is reasoning, which is the most important part of logical thinking. All arguments and proofs are based on reasoning, and concepts and propositions are also obtained through reasoning. Concepts and propositions are the most basic units of thinking. Generally speaking, we can adopt the doctrine of taking. The formation of ideas and judgments belongs to the category of cognition and is generally influenced by religion, culture and ethics.

There are three basic laws of logic, namely, the law of identity, the law of contradiction and law of excluded middle, plus a law of sufficient reason. This is the basic law formed by human beings after hundreds of millions of times of thinking tests, and it is the most basic objective law. Therefore, anyone must abide by these three laws when carrying out thinking activities. Only by observing these basic laws of thinking can the concept be clear, the judgment be appropriate and the reasoning be convincing. Otherwise, the conceptual judgment will be ambiguous, inconsistent and ambiguous, and it is impossible to think and express one's thoughts and opinions correctly.

1, identity?

(1) The content of identity: the concepts or judgments used in the same thinking process should maintain their own consistency. In other words, an apple is an apple, and an apple can't be an orange.

(2) Identity requirements:

First, in the same thinking process, the concept must remain unchanged and cannot be changed;

Second: the judgment must also remain unchanged and cannot be transferred casually.

(3) Logical mistakes in violating the law of identity: First, confusing concepts or stealing concepts; Second, change the subject or change the subject.

Of all things in the world, man is the most precious. I am human. Therefore, I am the first precious thing in the world.

Here, the former person refers to the vast human collective, and the latter person refers to the individual. These are two completely different concepts, and their extension and connotation are completely different. If we equate them, it will violate the logical unity and deliberately steal the concept.

2. Law of contradiction

(1) The content of the law of contradiction: In the same thinking process, two mutually negative thoughts cannot be true, and one must be false;

(2) Requirements of the Law of Contradiction: If you can't affirm contradictory or opposing ideas at the same time, one of them must be false;

(3) the logical error of violating the law of contradiction: "self-contradiction"

For example, no one has ever entered this cave, and no one has ever come out. That is to say, "no one has ever been in" and "someone has been in" This is a contradiction.

3. law of excluded middle

The judgment of anything under certain conditions must have a clear "yes" or "no", and there is no intermediate state. A thing, it either exists or does not exist, and there is no intermediate state. there is a lamp on the table. This sentence is either right or wrong. There is no other possibility.

(1) law of excluded middle's content: In the same thinking process, contradictory thoughts cannot be false, but there must be a truth;

(2) law of excluded middle's demand: contradictory or contradictory ideas cannot be denied at the same time, and there must be a truth;

(3) law of excluded middle's logical error: "ambiguity".

For example, when discussing whether smoking should be banned, someone said, "I don't approve of smoking." Tobacco is an important industry in this country. I don't agree not to ban smoking. After all, smoking is harmful to people's health. " Whether you are in favor of banning smoking or not, the idea expressed in this way is vague and makes ambiguous mistakes.

Identity, Law of Contradiction and law of excluded middle are all laws about the certainty of thinking. They ensure the certainty of thinking from different aspects.

Reasoning is a thinking form that deduces another proposition from one or several propositions. Reasoning consists of three elements: premise, conclusion and reasoning form. According to the characteristics of thinking process, it can be divided into deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning and analogical reasoning.

1, inductive reasoning

Induction is to infer a rule from n known data or phenomena. Induction is a way of reasoning from special to general. It is a scientific method for us to observe the objective world, find the commonness behind the phenomenon and refine the knowledge theory.

Experimental science is induction. By doing experiments, scientists have discovered laws from countless observations. Most of our current knowledge is obtained by this method.

For example: gold expands in volume after being heated; Silver expands in volume when heated; Copper expands in volume when heated; Iron expands in volume when heated;

Because gold, silver, copper and iron are all metals; Therefore, all metals expand in volume when heated.

From Bacon to Russell, and then to logical positivism, empiricists all believe that scientific knowledge is based on induction, that is, scientific induction is carried out on the basis of a large number of observations and experiments, so as to get a general understanding. Such as physics, chemistry, astronomy and other laws, laws and formulas are drawn in this way.

The value of induction lies in finding the commonness behind the phenomenon, but due to the limitation of sample size and experimental conditions, it also has its limitations, such as

First, induction can only lead to insufficient and reliable conclusions.

Second: induction may not be able to grasp the essence of things.

Third: induction can only summarize the past of things, not the future.

Russell, a famous British philosopher, has a famous turkey story. On a turkey farm, a turkey was found, and its owner fed it at 9: 00 the first morning. Feeding it at 9 o'clock the next day, after many days, it collected a lot of observations about the experience and facts of feeding it at 9 o'clock in the morning; In addition, it makes these observations in various situations: rainy and sunny days, hot and cold days, Wednesday and Thursday ... It adds new observation sentences to its records every day. Finally, inductive reasoning is carried out and the following conclusion is drawn: "My master always feeds me at 9: 00 in the morning." However, things are not as simple and optimistic as it imagined. On Christmas Eve, the owner didn't feed it at 9 o'clock, but slaughtered it to make a delicious roast chicken.

So induction has its advantages and limitations. The conclusion of induction is generally influenced by three factors.

1, representativeness of observation: whether the observation of an event can represent all of this category.

2. Observation quantity: whether the observation quantity is enough.

3. Validity of evidence: whether the source of evidence is reliable, etc.

Logical induction can be divided into complete induction and incomplete induction (simple enumeration induction and scientific induction)

(1) Complete inductive reasoning?

The premise of complete inductive reasoning is to investigate all the objects of a class of things without omission, and draw the conclusion that every object in this class has (or does not have) some attribute, and the conclusion is that the whole class of things has (or does not have) this attribute. So the connection between premise and conclusion is inevitable. As long as the premise is true and the evidence and form are valid, the conclusion must be true.

For example: ① The Pacific Ocean has been polluted; The Atlantic Ocean has been polluted; The Indian Ocean has been polluted; The Arctic Ocean has been polluted; The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Arctic Ocean are all oceans on the earth. Therefore, all the oceans on the earth are polluted.

There are three requirements for complete inductive reasoning.

First, the premise must exhaust all the objects of a class of things;

Second, all the judgments in the premise are true;

Third, there must be a genus relationship between the subject of each judgment and the subject of the conclusion.

Although complete inductive reasoning can draw correct conclusions, it needs to completely exhaust the amount of research, so some reasoning is difficult to do. For example, you can't search all the swans in the universe to see what color they are.

(2) Simple enumeration and inductive reasoning?

Simple enumeration inductive reasoning refers to the reasoning that enumerates some objects in a certain kind of things and makes general conclusions about this kind of things according to the situation that there is no contradiction.

For example, swans can fly, sparrows can fly, crows can fly, and all birds can fly.

Although the observation is not enough, it is not necessarily wrong. As long as it finds a bird that can't fly, the conclusion is wrong and it can provide new knowledge. If the number and range of observation objects can be increased, the reliability of the conclusion can be improved. Simple enumeration inductive reasoning plays a very important role in people's daily life and scientific research because it is easy to understand and use. For example, many proverbs (snow and good harvest) are drawn by simple enumeration and reasoning.

Using simple enumeration and inductive reasoning, we should pay attention to overcoming the logical errors of "generalizing by partiality" or "rashly generalizing".

(3) Scientific inductive reasoning?

On the basis of scientific analysis, scientific inductive reasoning deduces that all objects in a certain class have certain attributes from the causal relationship between some objects and their attributes.

For example, there is a limestone cave near Naples, Italy. Small animals such as cats and dogs will fall to the ground and die when they enter caves. It is observed that there is a lot of carbon dioxide deposition on the ground of the cave, and there is no oxygen near the ground, so small animals with heads close to the ground, such as cats and dogs, will fall to the ground and die when they enter the cave. Based on this, people come to the conclusion that any small animal with its head close to the ground will fall to the ground and die as soon as it enters the hole.

Scientific inductive reasoning focuses on finding the causal relationship between objects and attributes. On the basis of simple enumeration inductive reasoning, this paper analyzes the causal relationship between objects and attributes and draws a conclusion. The typicality, quantity and validity of the samples are very high, so the scientific inductive reasoning is incomplete, but its conclusion will be more reliable.

2. Deductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning is a reasoning method from general to special. The connection between reasoning premise and conclusion is inevitable, and it is a kind of conclusive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is to prove that others are relatively correct axioms, and then deduce the following conclusions. The advantage of it is that if your premise is correct, the following result is also correct.

Deductive reasoning has two very important tools, the first principle and syllogism. The first principle is a self-evident axiom, and syllogism takes the first principle as the premise and deduces new conclusions.

Einstein believed that the work of a theorist was divided into two steps. The first step is to discover axioms, and the second step is to draw conclusions from axioms. Finding axioms is the process of finding first principles. Conclusion is the process of acquiring new knowledge, which can be used to explain more phenomena and promote the further progress of human knowledge.

Deductive reasoning has the forms of blunt syllogism, hypothetical syllogism and selective syllogism.

(1) truth syllogism

Syllogism is a general model of deductive reasoning, which consists of three parts: major premise-known general principle, minor premise-special situation of research, conclusion-judging special situation according to general principle.

For example:

Everyone will die.

Socrates was a man,

So Socrates will die.

The major premise is that everyone will die, the minor premise is that Socrates is human, and the conclusion is that Socrates will die. As long as the premise is true and the argument is valid, it is a reliable argument. But there is a problem, how to ensure that this major premise is correct? Everyone will die, which also comes from inductive reasoning. The premise is a common sense or self-evident axiom. Everyone will die, which is a common sense that has been verified for millions of years.

In scientific argumentation, axiom method is generally adopted as the major premise, and axiom is a self-evident truth. For example, Euclid sorted out the axiomatic method, five axioms, five postulates, 1 19 definitions and 465 propositions in Geometry Elements, and deduced the first mathematical axiom system in history, thus laying the foundation for the whole geometry.

(2) Hypothetical syllogism

It is reasoning based on hypothetical judgment. Also called conditional argument, it is a kind of argument with the structure of "if … then ……". In this argument, the brain will first set certain conditions, and if this condition is reached, a definite conclusion will appear.

If you work hard, you will eventually achieve your goal.

If I want to be rich, I will take you on holiday. I have money now. I'll take you on vacation.

If the stock market falls, people will jump off buildings. The stock market has fallen, so people will jump off buildings.

The point of hypothetical syllogism is that if premise A (whatever it is) is true, then B must also be true.

(3) Selective syllogism

It is reasoning based on the judgment of word selection.

For example, you can vote for or against tobacco control regulations. Since we voted against it, we should support tobacco control and not smoking.

The plane is either in the sky or on the ground. Now the plane is not in the air, so it is on the ground.

Inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning complement each other, and inductive reasoning draws a conclusion. Deductive reasoning deduces a new conclusion based on this conclusion.

3. Analogical reasoning

Analogical reasoning is based on the fact that two or two objects have some of the same properties, so it is inferred that their other properties are also the same.

For example:

A has the characteristics of r, s, t, u, v, w, x and y.

B has the characteristics of r, s, t, u, v, w, x and y.

A has the characteristic z.

Therefore, b also has the characteristic z.

This conclusion is not inevitable, but it is very possible. Because two things have many similar characteristics, when one thing has some other characteristics, it is likely that the other thing also has them.

Many important scientific theories are put forward by analogy. The model method and simulation method in modern scientific and technological methods are based on analogical reasoning.

For example: from the analogy of experimental model to the prototype-model test of modern engineering technology.

From Natural Prototype to Technical Model —— Modern Bionics

Kant said: "whenever reason lacks reliable argument, analogy can often guide us forward."

Analogical reasoning is a method of scientific discovery and one of the symbols of creative thinking.

For example, Lu Ban saw the saw grass and invented the hand saw. Scientists studied the characteristics of fish and invented submarines. It's all analogical reasoning Analogical reasoning is to draw inferences by analogy. Cross-disciplinary and marginal disciplines are all produced by analogy.

The disadvantage of analogical reasoning is that it is easily influenced by "representative deviation". It is easy to make a wrong decision based on superficial similarity.

For example, Xiao Zhang, like me, comes from the same place and graduated from the same school. He opened a small restaurant recently and made a lot of money, so I believe I can definitely make money by opening a restaurant.

In fact, whether you can make money depends on the similarity between you and Xiao Zhang. After all, making money is in the right place at the right time, and the market is ever-changing. When you open a restaurant, you may find that you can't make money.

1, what is an argument?

Argumentation is a thinking process of determining the truth of another proposition with one or several propositions that are known to be true.

The main components of argumentation include topics, arguments, arguments and argumentation methods.

2, the structure of the argument

Argument: the argument advocated by the discussant that needs to be proved in the process of argument. Generally speaking, the sentences behind the prompts such as "therefore", "accordingly", "explanation", "thinking", "speculation" and "suggestion" are usually arguments.

Argument is a clear judgment, a complete statement of the author's point of view, a judgment sentence expressing affirmation or negation, and a clear statement sentence. It is a person's subjective judgment. The topic refers to the topic of discussion, and the argument is formed on the basis of the topic.

For example, On Reading is a topic. "Reading makes people progress" is an argument.

Argument: It is the reason used by the discussant to support or refute an argument. It answers the question of "What to prove the argument". Generally speaking, the words "because", "because", "if" and "reason is" usually have arguments behind them. In investigation and research, hints such as "investigation", "statistics", "experiment" and "research" are often followed by arguments.

There are two kinds of commonly used arguments, factual arguments and theoretical arguments.

Factual arguments are representative and conclusive examples, facts and statistical data.

Theoretical arguments refer to correct theories that have been tested by people's practice and recognized by society, including social science theories, such as philosophical theories; It also includes the principles, laws and formulas of natural science and widely circulated proverbs, famous sayings and epigrams.

The more reasons to support the argument, the better. Reasons should have four characteristics: different (arguments are different from arguments), consistent (arguments are not contradictory), consistent (arguments are consistent with arguments) and relevant (arguments are related to arguments).

Demonstration mode: it is the connection mode of argument and argument, which answers the question of "how to demonstrate argument with argument"

Argumentation is a supporting relationship between reason and argument, which is embodied by some form of reasoning. Therefore, the way of argument is essentially a kind of reasoning relationship. Because there are many reasons for argument, and each reason may have different supporting relations to the argument, there are many ways to demonstrate an argument, such as inductive argument, deductive argument and analogy argument.

For example, the golden pyramid principle is a strict argument structure.

3. Five rules of argumentation

(1) theme

Rule 1: The topic should be clear and accurate.

The expression of the topic cannot be ambiguous; If necessary, you need to define keywords. Before fully developing the argument, it is necessary to investigate or clarify the true meaning of the topic.

Violating this law is the fallacy of "unclear topic"

Rule 2: The theme should remain the same.

The argument depends on the topic. A topic corresponds to an argument. In the same demonstration process, there can only be one topic, and the topic cannot be changed before the end of this demonstration process.

Violating this law is the fallacy of "changing the subject".

Therefore, in the process of argument, we need to stop from time to time to check whether the argument deviates from the topic, so as to ensure that the topic remains unchanged.

(2) arguments

Rule 3: Arguments should be true propositions.

From common sense, no matter whether an assertion is true or false, it can only be based on the true proposition. Sometimes, an argument can also be a proposition that is more likely to be true, that is, the probability is greater.

Violating this rule is the fallacy of "false reasons"

Rule 4: Arguments are more credible than topics.

The proposition used as a reason must be more credible than the topic.

There are three propositions that cannot be used as arguments: the proposition with low probability (uncertain authenticity), the proposition that is even less credible than the topic, and the proposition that is equivalent to the topic.

(3) the way of argument

Rule 5: You should be able to deduce the theme from the argument.

According to the truth value of the argument and the logical relationship between the argument and the topic, the acceptability of the topic can be explained. This mainly depends on the strength of the logical connection between the argument and the topic, and whether the reasoning form adopted by the argument is effective or reliable.

Errors that violate this rule: it is impossible to infer, including "irrelevant", "insufficient arguments", "generalizing by one side", "appealing to ignorance", "appealing to pseudo-authority" and "appealing to everyone".

Summary:

The principle of solving problems mentioned in the book McKinsey Method is based on facts, hypothesis-oriented, rigorous in structure, and uses the golden pyramid principle to analyze and think about problems, which is actually logical thinking. Logical thinking is a basic way of thinking that modern people must master, and it is also an essential ability for a manager. In Stephen? Robbins, Mary? Kurt's book Management holds that conceptual ability is the most important ability among top management abilities, which exceeds interpersonal skills and technical skills. This kind of conceptual ability is abstract thinking ability and logical thinking ability.

Logical thinking is a basic tool for a person to understand the objective world, natural phenomena and social phenomena. It is also an important thinking tool for thinking expression and communication. It can help us to solve problems better and cultivate critical thinking and innovative thinking. A series of theories, tools and methods provided by logical thinking not only improve our cognitive ability and thinking ability, but also improve our knowledge structure, enhance our philosophical literacy and cultural literacy, and lay a solid foundation for us to become qualified social citizens in the future.

References:

Simple logic

May McLenny

Renmin University of China Press

logic

Editor-in-Chief: Song Wenjian, Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Guo Shiming

People's publishing house

cognitive psychology

Goldstein? Zhang Ming and others.

chinalight industry press

think

Megarry Kabi Jeffrey Goodpaster

Renmin University of China Press