November 17, 2018 Saturday
Bedtime Story
Deductive-Reasoning is Rock-Solid
Mere simple observation is of course not
enough in understanding the nature and accumulating right knowledge.
Human sensual perceptions are both
subjective and qualitative (in contrast to quantitative measurements with
numerical values that mechanical and electronic devices provide us with).
Moreover, observation has to be
reproducible which makes it mandatory that measurements made by different
individuals of the same process or phenomena at different times ought to tally
within acceptable range of errors at all times.
Human senses have their serious limitations
and hence the need for devices such as weighing scales, clocks, telescopes,
microscopes, thermometers and so on.
Since the subjectively may still come in
with these devices they are aided in turn by cameras and other data recording
devices which today has gone from analog to completely digital.
Observation must be followed by inductive
reasoning than by deduction.
We all are quite familiar with deductive
form of reasoning but very little with inductive form of reasoning.
Deductive reasoning is the basis of proving
mathematical theorems that is a “top-down logic” that eventually culminates in
absolute certainty.
Either the theorem is proven or if not
proven or leading to contradiction then the assumption or the premise is false.
Deductive reasoning starts with premises,
uses terms that are crystal clear, uses rules of deductive logic that are
explicit and then arrives at a conclusion.
The conclusion thus arrives or reached is
necessarily true as long as those premises are not in dispute and no error was
made in the steps of logical reasoning.
It is absolutely “clean and neat” and
rock-solid as is evident from the proof of age-old mathematical theorems that
were true, are true and always will be true.
It does not matter if new branches of
mathematics or geometries arise and give rise to mathematics or geometries
never known before.
Newer knowledge in mathematics does not
come at the expense of old ones; it just keeps building over and the edifice of
mathematics keeps growing.
Mathematical logic on which Boolean algebra
and now all algorithms are based that is now beginning to rule over our lives is
a shining example of the success and impact of deductive reasoning.
And yet Bacon was being critical of it when
it came to understanding of nature using this technique.
Perhaps we are not familiar with the
inductive reasoning because the very word “inductive” is considered outdated by
some (it is hardly to be found in any textbook of science) though its essence
still remains intact.
Both inductive and deductive forms of
reasoning arrive at some conclusions but the most fundamental manner by which
the inductive reasoning differs from that of deductive is that its conclusions
lack absolute certainty.
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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