In order to help people understand your ideas, you have to communicate them logically. You need to show the connection between the evidence and your conclusion. Step by step, you can lead people to the same conclusion. This is an essential skill for professional communication.
What is reasoning?
Reasoning is the process of using logical thinking to draw conclusions, make decisions, or solve problems based on information, evidence, and principles. It involves systematically evaluating premises or evidence to reach a valid or sound conclusion.
How it works
- Understanding the evidence: Reasoning allows you to analyze and understand the evidence you have. It enables you to explain why the evidence is relevant to your claim and how it supports it. For example, let's say your claim is that a certain exercise program is effective for improving fitness. There are scientific studies that show the benefits of that program. So, reasoning helps you explain how that scientific evidence supports your claim.
- Making conclusions: You can use reasoning to draw conclusions based on the evidence you have. It helps you make logical connections between different pieces of evidence, and use them to support your claim. For instance, if you have testimonials from people who have used the exercise program, reasoning helps you show that their positive experiences add weight to your claim of its effectiveness.
- Addressing counterarguments: Reasoning makes it possible for you to think about and respond to potential objections or counterarguments. You can use it to explain why other ways of thinking about the evidence are wrong, or why any weaknesses in your evidence are outweighed by its strengths. This reinforces your argument.
- Clarifying assumptions: Through reasoning you can clarify any assumptions underlying your claim and show why they are valid. It helps you explain the logical steps you've taken from the evidence to the conclusion, ensuring that your argument is clear and coherent.
Overall, reasoning is essential for making your argument persuasive and convincing. It provides the framework for explaining how the evidence supports your claim, and addressing any doubts or objections others may have.
Reasoning is essential in everyday decision-making, problem-solving, scientific inquiry, and critical thinking. It helps individuals make sense of the world around them, evaluate arguments, and reach informed conclusions. Effective reasoning involves considering multiple perspectives, weighing evidence objectively, and avoiding fallacies or errors in logic.
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draw conclusions—to think about the facts of a situation and make a decision about what is true, correct or likely to happen.
principles—truth or ideas that serve as the basis for a belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning.
testimonials—something that recommends a person or thing as good.
add weight to—if something adds weight to an argument or idea, it makes it stronger.
be outweighed by—be less important or weaker than.
