Quotes About Reasoning

All that determinists are asking you to accept is that there cannot be effect without cause.

what do I need philosophy for? My answer is: In order to be able to deal with concrete, particular, real-life problems — i.e., in order to be able to live on earth.

From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from a single attribute of man—the function of his reasoning mind.

There are no evil thoughts, Mr. Rearden," Francisco said softly, "except one: the refusal to think.

If one asks him the reasons of his convictions, one will discover that his convictions are a thin, fragile film floating over a vacuum, like an oil slick in empty space—and one will be shocked by the number of questions it had never occurred to him to ask.

No hay pensamientos malvados, señor Rearden —dijo Francisco suavemente—, excepto uno: negarse a pensar.

Desde la necesidad más simple hasta la más alta abstracción religiosa, desde la rueda hasta el rascacielos, todo lo que somos y todo lo que tenemos procede de un solo atributo del hombre: la función de su mente razonadora.

There's a way to solve every dilemma of that kind, Mr. Rearden. Check your premises.

There are no contradictions. When you think you found one. Check your premises.

Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.

Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." ? Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

if you look hard enough you can always see reasons, but you'll go crazy if you think it's all punishment for your sins.

We try to reason with one another, but only manage to tear ourselves apart.

Abductive reasoning is neither deductive nor inductive. Abductive reasoning, even when done properly, doesn't lead to a certain conclusion, as deductive reasoning does; nor even necessarily to a probable conclusion, as inductive reasoning does; but rather to the most plausible conclusion, meaning the likeliest explanation for the observations.

When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.

It builds weakness in the person forced to acquiesce, stunting the development of independent reasoning, growth, and internal discipline. And finally, it builds weakness in the relationship. Fear replaces cooperation, and both people involved become more arbitrary and defensive.

It's not logical; it's psychological.

Notice the sequence: ethos, pathos, logos—your character, and your relationships, and then the logic of your presentation.

actuar como "abogado del diablo". Este método es ideal para comprobar la fortaleza de nuestro razonamiento e identificar sus principales debilidades.

Se ha demostrado que la toma de decisiones más se basa en las emociones y en las suposiciones que en la lógica.

is a systematic means of describing how people make decisions and how they change their minds;

Freakonomics is out to dazzle you with facts; The Armchair Economist is out to dazzle you with logic.

Logic matters. It leads us from simple ideas to surprising conclusions.

And as excellent as our cognitive systems are, in the modern world we must know when to discount them and turn our reasoning over to instruments—the tools of logic, probability, and critical thinking that extend our powers of reason beyond what nature gave us. Because in the twenty-first century, when we think by the seat of our pants, every correction can make things worse, and can send our democracy into a graveyard spiral.