Inductive and Deductive Logic

All thought processes can be broken down into two subunits; both of which are based upon the order and heirarchy of thought involved in constructing a logical decision. The term heirarchy implies that each thought not only has its own importance, but that its importance ultimately dictates its position in the logical cascade. Thus, two patterns of logic emerge. Deductive logic involves arranging thoughts in a manner that utilizes general knowledge in making specific conclusions. Think of it in this manner: the end result has to be deduced, meaning that some greater, overarching thought must be concentrated in order to form a more finite cognitive product. For example, you are using inductive logic to understand what my definition of deductive logic truly means. The large, overarching thought is simply "logic." The understanding of logic has thus been broken down from one generalization into two specified categories. Then, one of the categories (in this instance, deduction) has been further concentrated down into its roots and defining terminology to better your personal understanding of this abstract phenomenon. Inductive logic, on the other hand, works in the exact opposite manner. The fact that the logical progression is reversed causes the argument/logic to lose most of its integrity. A fine example comes from the database of common knowledge, otherwise known as Wikipedia. Consider the following: I always hang pictures on nails. Therefore: All pictures hang from nails. This progression is obviously flawed since it is based on a precondensed* experience that graduates to an overarching logical pattern. In this scenario, the only experience that I have is with the pictures that I have hung on a wall using a nail. I have barred all other methods of posting pictures, including facebook, on a stand, or with a screw. Thus, the overarching logic becomes just as limited as its preceeding basis. Bias would be the appropriate term to assign to this fallacy. In other instances, however, inducive logic can be considered useful. I guess you'll just have to apply this single experience to understand the big picture for yourself!


*reference the use of the word condense in my earlier statements to understand its implicit meaning here