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Articles on reasoning

The concepts the bench relies on. To use the tool, go to the bench; for definitions, see the glossary.

8 articles
Concept

What is Occam's razor? Meaning, 5 examples and common misuses

Why the explanation with fewer assumptions is usually worth considering first — and the three ways the razor is misused.

Method

Abductive reasoning: the formal name for detective-style inference

Inferring the most likely explanation from an observation — how it differs from deduction and induction, and why it can always be overturned.

Method

Bayesian thinking for everyday decisions: priors, evidence, updating

Do not trust first impressions, and do not be carried away by a single piece of evidence. Look at the base rate, then at the strength of the evidence.

Bias

The base-rate fallacy: why "it sounds plausible" is not "it is likely"

A vivid explanation can still be very unlikely. Ignoring how rare something is, is the most common inference trap.

Bias

Correlation is not causation: three common misreadings

Two things happening together may be coincidence, reversed, or caused by a third factor. Three misreadings plus practical tests.

Practical

How to describe clues so the inference is sharp

The more specific the clues, the narrower the possibilities. A checklist you can follow: time, location, frequency, change, exclusions.

Method

Deduction, induction and abduction: how they differ

One guarantees, one generalises, one gives the most likely. A comparison table with examples and when to use each.

Method

How likely is "likely"? Probability words and their misreadings

"Possible" spans a huge range and carries almost no information. A mapping of probability words to ranges, and how to express uncertainty better.