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152 Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?
Logic for Humans
Syllogisms can be used for practical purposes. Take, for example, the
following set of statements, “I want a hot drink.” “Coffee and tea are hot
drinks.” “I always drink milk with tea” “We have no milk” What drink
should I choose? I’m sure you can work it out. This logical problem
follows a simple chain and results in me getting the hot drink I like.
We use Boolean logic on a day-to-day basis. The simplest form
is a checklist. Pilots use checklists all the time; do I have wings, fuel
and a copilot? If they are all there, go ahead and fly. Otherwise do not.
Mathematically speaking, a checklist is simply the product of the options.
If they are all one, then the product is one — in this case we can fly. If any is
false — represented by a zero — the product will be zero and we cannot fly.
Life is often more complicated and we have many logical tools at our
disposal. Let’s take a look at a few, starting with a famous historical one.
Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod and bifocal glasses,
as well as charting the Gulf Stream and all manner of other scientific
discoveries. He described his process for decision-making when there
are many pros and cons to consider.
“. my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two
Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con. Then
during three or four Days Consideration I put down under the
different Heads short Hints of the different Motives that at different
Times occur to me for or against the Measure. When I have thus
got them all together in one View, I endeavor to estimate their
respective Weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that
seem equal, I strike them both out: If I find a Reason pro equal to
some two Reasons con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two
Reasons con equal to some three Reasons pro, I strike out the five;
and thus proceeding I find at length where the Balance lies; and
if after a Day or two of farther Consideration nothing new that is
of Importance occurs on either side, I come to a Determination
accordingly.”
Another important piece of logic is reductio ad absurdum. Reduction
to the absurd allows us to disprove something because, if it were true, it
would lead to an absurd conclusion. An alibi is a familiar form. If I was
seen in the pub when the murder occurred in the ballroom of the manor
house and you claim I committed the murder, I must have been in two
places at once. People can’t be in two places at once — that would be
absurd. Conclusion: I am innocent!
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