Logic and Life

Logic and Life

Logic is probably one of the key characteristics of human beings. It is well known that humans are living things who can “reason”. People also keep using the word “intuition” quite often in day-to-day life when they answer questions or, more generally, when they make decisions. “Use your common sense” is also a general phrase used to comment on people’s decisions when they seem wrong to the one who used the phrase. What exactly is the difference among these different terms? What are usually the deciding factors in making decisions, and how exactly are the above terms involved in decisions?

Logic, reason, intuition, and common sense are all words in a language. These are words used in several contexts that even contradict themselves in a few cases. Logic and reason are used interchangeably in situations where one tries to solve a practical problem (a problem in one’s social life) in a very structured and rational way. I prefer to stop with the above four terms (the reader can think of many more used in similar contexts in an interchangeable way) as these should serve the purpose. Let us use the example of classifying objects (like deciding between right and wrong, cause and effect, etc.) when discussing these words.

Deciding whether something is right or wrong, good or evil, is a deeper philosophical question that won’t be addressed here. Similarly, you can ask a question about bias when making a decision. As bias is an inevitable factor in human life, everyone is biased to an extent, and it might affect one’s judgment drastically. Bias, like morals, is also a bigger topic that needs deeper thought.

Reason is the basic step in answering a question in a proper, foolproof way. Logic

is, in a way, structured reasoning. It has elements of deduction and also analyses the

reasons one may come up with for a particular answer. Intuition is a highly ambiguous

word, as it is used in a variety of independent ways. The word, when used by people

while deciding things based on experience, is a totally different thing from

the usage of the word in the rest of the article. Intuition as a blind way of guessing a

solution is highly dangerous, and it is usually better to leave the question unanswered

than to answer purely based on intuition. Some ideas indeed come out of the blue, but they should not be blindly used or accepted as the supreme truth. Common sense

is a better form of intuition. It can be gladly used in situations that are lighter and

require a quick decision. Common sense is something that is acquired by a man

in his right mind during the transition from childhood to adulthood, and in some cases, even beyond that.

Any decision can be made based on one particular reason. This is not a good way, as the reason may be any consistent statement that lets your decision pass. The most trivial reason may be the use of intuition. The person may sincerely feel that an option is good and pick that because of their intuition or personal feeling towards the option. Clearly, it will lead to a disaster in case of a bad intuition or inconsistent strong biases. So logic is the necessary tool that analyses and puts together reason and gives it a stronger meaning. Intuition is highly dependent on the individual and may lead to a sticky situation due to the heavy bias it provides. The individual may see a clear logical solution, but if he gives the slightest importance to intuition, it might delay the process of decision-making. Even as the individual finally makes a decision, it is an unsatisfactory one, as there was a contradiction during the course of the process. This contradiction is different from the one that might occur during the course of logical reasoning, as the problematic one is due to intuition. Unless the individual thinks purely logically, in which case intuition will be rejected at first glance, the contradiction cannot be resolved to provide a satisfactory solution.

“Experience helps a man make wise decisions” is also something many people believe. And one might say it is better not to use logic when you are experienced. It has to be noted that if the experience is just a bunch of observations made by the concerned person, then it has nothing to do with decision-making. But if it is a collection of logically studied observations, then one may use that as a starting point while making decisions. It is now arguable, as the reader might say, that such structured experience is wisdom, and it can be used even in the absence of further reasoning. This is something which can be considered similar to the use of common sense. This structured experience can even be thought of as armoured common sense.

“The right use of reason is the inquiry after truth” –Isaac Watts. The use of logic to make decisions (which is a crucial component in life) is certainly the best way, but common sense can be used in a few circumstances. The above conclusion is certainly vague, and it is good to note Russell’s words, “nothing is correct in philosophy. Every philosophical proposition is bad grammar.” But it is quite clear that decisions based on blind intuition and personal feelings should be forbidden.