Deduction is a method of Sherlock Holmes? Not really

In higher education, the concepts of "induction" and "deduction" are used often, and rarely explained. Therefore, very many people habitually use them, telling on the examination of the methods of this or that science (depending on the subject being handed over). But if you are asked to give examples of such vigorous responders, many are lost. It is especially difficult for them to say how induction and deduction differ . This is a traditional question for many who pulled out ticket number one.

Risky insights

Induction is a method of cognition, when from a set of particular cases a conclusion is drawn about general laws. This is how Newton, Mendel, Tesla made their discoveries. Induction is a productive method, however, very risky. For example, never having seen the black swans, we can assume that all the swans are white. That is, when working with induction you need to be careful and always remember the "black swans".

Reason of the detective № 1

Another thing is deduction. This is work with the already established patterns. Many learn this word from the books about Sherlock Holmes. Sometimes you can come across an opinion that he actually worked by induction. Still, the science of deduction taught by Watson justifies its name. Before proceeding to investigate the crime, Holmes carefully studied the judicial anatomy, the color of sand in different regions of London, reports. That is, he got acquainted with the general laws. And then, after seeing the concrete facts, he linked them to the general provisions. That is, he did not establish new "theories" at the stage of investigation, he went from his knowledge of the general to the private. It turns out that induction in his work, too, was, but at the stage of general preparation of himself as an expert. And when faced with a crime, Holmes applied deduction.

On a simple example

But what is deduction? This reasoning from the general to the particular. Since the school days, each of us remembers the qualitative reactions that allow us to determine the presence of a substance in a test tube. What does deduction have to do with it? An example of a qualitative reaction when a student has a knowledge that, for example, there should be a "silver mirror", if there are aldehydes in a test tube, is an example of general knowledge. And the pupil of a characteristic color sees it! Private is a fact. With the help of deduction, the student concludes - there is an aldehyde in a test tube.

Discoverer and user

That is, induction and deduction are not just speculations, they are ways of obtaining new knowledge. If we are talking about a chemist who discovered the reaction of a silver mirror, then for him the establishment of the fact that it is possible to calculate the aldehyde is an inductive reasoning. But for the student, knowing what exactly is in the test-tube is deductively established knowledge.

Deduction is often blamed for non-productivity, they say, it does not help to establish a new one about the world. In fact, without it, too, it is impossible to explore the world, because usually a scientist at the time of discovery takes into account already well-known patterns, that is, he uses both deduction and induction. Our thinking is very difficult, and various operations are necessary to understand everything correctly. After all, the world is not at all simple, that's why it is necessary to complicate the models of its understanding.