Do Culture And Individual Beliefs Affect Logical Thinking? If So, How Do They Influence The Conclusions We Reach?

1641 words - 7 pages

The first question that must be asked before answering this question is: What exactly is logical thinking? Logical thinking is the process in which one uses reasoning consistently to come to a conclusion. If this definition is strictly followed, logical thinking cannot be affected by any outside influences as long as the premises are truly valid. For example the syllogism:All mammals are warm blooded.Whales are mammals.Whales are warm blooded.is truly logical because the major premise is true. In a more 'general world' however, we refer to logical thinking as simply deducing a reasonable explanation or conclusion from what is already and personally known. What is personally known is of ...view middle of the document...

)It is very often that these individual beliefs and culture affect a person's reasoning. In reasoning, the conclusion is the statement one is trying to prove; the premises are those statements which provide evidence for the conclusion. Arguments are traditionally broken into two types; inductive and deductive. It is only the deductive argument which provides conclusive evidence since it deduces from the general to the particular. For example:All mammals nurse their young.All whales are mammals.Whales nurse their young.This syllogism is deductive because the premises provide evidence for the truth of its conclusion. Inductive, on the other hand, argues from the particular to the general and the evidence is not sufficient to guarantee the conclusion except by chance. For example:All mammals nurse their young.Whales nurse their young.Whales are mammals.In this example the premises do not provide sufficient evidence for the conclusion because it does not say if other types of animals nurse their young. Once a conclusion has been reached through deductive reasoning it then has to be determined if it is valid or invalid. This is where the culture and individual beliefs can affect the conclusions which are reached. Often the argument is not true because the premise used is an assumption, biased, or fallacious. For example:All Muslims are terrorists.He is Muslim.He is a terrorist.This example does follow deductive reasoning, and is valid, but the major premise is false. If the 'arguer' truly believes that all Muslims are terrorists, they have used logical thinking correctly but have come to a wrong conclusion because of their 'false knowledge' or prejudice of Muslims. Most likely this occurs because the 'arguer' is basing his/her reasoning on personal knowledge/opinions. Culture's affect on logic usually occurs unintentionally and goes unnoticed. Because of the nature of humans and the different way our cultures have developed, these fallacies which occur are stronger for some cultures.Culture and individual beliefs are capable of affecting the premise and reasoning in every 'area' of thinking. Because all cultures are different, some are more likely to commit certain fallacies than others. A person's culture is based on many things as mentioned earlier; language, history, geography, religion, and race. All of these things play a different part in cultures, and affect reasoning in a variety of ways and areas. For example, I know a woman who taught math in a village in Sierra Leone (Africa). She had a very difficult time teaching geometry with three dimensional right angles because everyone lived in round houses. It was difficult for them to envision the shape because they were not faced with it frequently. This thinking in math would not have been affected as greatly by another culture because of the environment and culture which developed dwellings with three dimensional right angles.The main aspect of culture which affects logical thinking, I belie...

More like Do Culture And Individual Beliefs Affect Logical Thinking? If So, How Do They Influence The Conclusions We Reach?

Assignment On How Do We Know If God Exists

250 words - 1 page ... I've only explored the tip of the iceberg on this subject I do feel that I have covered enough for an average person to justify their beliefs or to give an idea of what kind of problem one runs into when answering this question. In conclusion I will leave you with a quote from Walter Kaufmann. "Those asserting God's existence have therefore often maintained that there are different modes of existence. This is a doubtful doctrine ...

Violent Video Games And Do They Influence Violent Behavior? Essay

4123 words - 17 pages ... Rodriguez 1 Lorraine Rodriguez Professor McAlister ENG 104 24 February 2017 Violent Video Games: Do They Influence Violent Behavior?         I grew up playing video games almost my whole life with my older brother who was also a video gamer.  Although I played kid-friendly games, he did not because he was five years older than me.  I would even watch him play video games like “Gears of War” and “Halo,” while I also watched him play “The Legend ...

How Do We Amend The Constitution - Essay

1514 words - 7 pages ... rights in an attempt to quell the growing colonial discontent. 2 Right to Bear Arms · Right to keep and bear arms In the period prior to the revolution, the English attempted to limit militia activity, as they rightly feared preparations for a coming revolution. 3 No Quarter · Right to protection from troops being quartered in homes during peacetime The Quartering Act passed by English Parliament required the colonists to house and feed British ...

Listening To What We Do, Not What We Say - Culture And Nonverbal Behavior - Research Paper

1459 words - 6 pages ... Running head: LISTENING TO WHAT WE DO, NOT WHAT WE SAY LISTENING TO WHAT WE DO, NOT WHAT WE SAY Listening to What We Do, Not what We Say: Culture and Nonverbal Behavior We might be living in a global world but nonverbal communication in different cultures shows such drastic differences that might present the feeling that we are from different planets. No matter where we are, it seems, we must remember that our bodies are always saying something ...

"how The Planets Came To Be". This Essay Is A Personally Interpereted Version Of How The Planets Were Created, And Why They Sit Where They Do Now

429 words - 2 pages ... billion years the Moon had hatched eight eggs. After hatching the ninth egg, Moon became very ill and died. The Sun never wanted to forget the love of his life, so he turned his wife into rock and had her orbit the most beautiful of their unborn children named Earth. The Moon's sisters came from far away galaxies to be close to their sister and protect the children. They decided they would remain here for eternity, circling and protecting each ...

In 'tissue' How Does Louise Page Present The Political Elements And What Impact Do They Have On The Audience

1163 words - 5 pages ... Victorian period and this issue wouldn't have been so horrific if it was a male.Many of the scenes are resorting back to Sally's childhood and refer to how the female body is viewed from an early age. It demonstrates the pressures under girls to look right and lengths young girls will go through to fit this perfect image. Scene twelve shows two girls chanting over and over again "I must, I must, I must increase my bust" and talking about how ...

How Big Is Alcohol Abuse In The College World And What Can We Do To Change That - Composition - Essay

929 words - 4 pages ... have been sexually abused by another student under the influence. In college it’s hard to keep up with the grades and keep up with a social life. Many students believe that drinking will increase their social life and be able to make friends. Alcohol can also affect their grades, if a student decides to binge drink 3 times a week their grades will decrease. They will have less time to get enough sleep and enough time to study and work on projects ...

Do Cultures Influence Classes?

1159 words - 5 pages ... activities, even when we study history, we cannot help feeling that culture is inherent from the past events and to spread the traditional values from generation to generation. It means that cultures do influence classes and it is worse that everyone see that dances are not the primitive tribes as anything relates to the art but to consider that it is the highest level in the culture instead. The fact that we all have the same mind, that means ...

How To Be A Wise Buyer. The Tricks To Wise Buying. How To Avoid Scams, And What To Do If One Occurs

362 words - 2 pages ... In any industry there are two parties. The consumer and the seller. The Consumer is the one who is willing to buy products, where the Seller is the party willing to Sell products. The two parties are very different and some times disputes may arise between the two. The following paragraphs will explain A. What problems can arise and how to avoid these problems and B. What to do under the circumstances. This text is useful information to those ...

What Are Stakeholders? Why Can They Influence Organisations? Do Stakeholders Always Have The Same Amount Of Influence Over An Organisation? Why Or Why Not?<tab/>

427 words - 2 pages ... great influence on organisations.Stakeholders do always have the same amount of influence over an organisation and the organisation has to take into account when formulating its strategies. It is because stakeholders have a great influence in the organisation. They can simply just withdraw their support from the organisation. Stockholders may sells their shares, employees leave their job and customers but elsewhere. Besides that, suppliers are ...

How Do Video Game Affect People - Grade12 - Essay

953 words - 4 pages ... How Do Video Games Affect People By: Patrick Have you ever wondered about the influence of video games? According to recent research, it shows that people currently spend three billion hours weekly playing games. Within this decade, the development of the game industry has dramatically increased and it even altered the attitude of the old generations, such as parents and elders. In the society of 2000, the video game was merely an entertainment ...

Marriage Equality: What We Have Done And How Far Do We Still Have To Go - College - Essay

1216 words - 5 pages ... away from homosexual couples who have civil unions. I believe that every human has the right to not be told who they are allowed to love and marry. In addition to the homosexual community, there are other people who will benefit from the inclusion of same sex couple into the world of marriage. What most critics forget to talk about is how beneficial same sex marriage can be to people. Individual states have seen increases in their economy since ...

Why Do We Have So Much Traffic In Miami - Miami Dade College/composition - Argumentative Essay

507 words - 3 pages ... Why do we have so much traffic in Miami? The 2017 Global Traffic Scorecard ranked Miami 12th among U.S. cities where the drivers spend more hours in a traffic jam. About 64 hours during the rush hours with the economic cost of approximately $2,072 per driver annually. Many are the causes of this issue, and as regular driver Miami’s fast – growing population, inadequacy of the public ‘s city transportation system, and the rudest behavior of ...

Explain The Types Of Economic Systems And What They Do - Economics - Essay

998 words - 4 pages ... often in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Societies that produce goods and services in traditional ways are found today in some parts of South America, Asia, and Africa. There, people living in an agricultural village still plant and harvest their own food on their own land. And they ways they produce food, clothing, and shelter area lost exactly the same as those used in the past. Traditional decides what these people do for a ...

How Did Islamic Beliefs Affect Islamic Art? How Did It Affect The Status Of Muslim Women? How Did It Affect The Language Of Muslims?

663 words - 3 pages ... In every culture, the beliefs of the people greatly affect every aspect of their lives. During the early Islamic period, their strict beliefs and teachings affected the lifestyle of the Muslims. Three of which are; Islamic art, the status of Muslim women, and the language. Muslims lived simple and pure lives, this surely did reflect upon those factors. In the present many ideas have have, but the core of their beliefs have remained the same.The ...