Thinking & Reasoning

1. How does the brain affect logic and reason?

The most significant and complicated organ in our bodies is the brain. However, you don’t need to be an expert on the brain to understand some of the fundamentals of how the brain affects logic and reason in both ourselves and our children.

The brain is an impressive and complicated structure that controls thinking processes. The brain’s various regions collaborate in a complicated way to integrate information and form ideas. The term “thinking skills” covers a broad range of activities, such as consciously recalling information, using knowledge to solve concrete or conceptual problems, and applying reasoning, insight, or ingenuity.

• What causes the disruption of sound thinking and reasoning?

Many aspects of thinking are controlled by the brain, including remembering, organizing and planning, decision-making, and much more. These cognitive abilities influence how well we perform daily tasks and our ability to live independently.

People often experience some changes in thinking as they get older. For example, older people may:

• Take more time to remember names and find words
• Have more difficulty multitasking.
• Have mild decreases in your ability to pay attention

Some factors that may also affect the process of thinking and reasoning include:

• Pain: Pain is one factor that may also have an impact on thinking and reasoning. Chronic pain is well known to have an impact on thinking. The brain’s processing centers for pain and those for memory and attention share some brain regions. Pain frequently prevails when they compete for scarce processing resources. Pain may also change the way the brain is wired.

• Depression:Depression can also cause problems with planning, making decisions, memory, and clarity of mind, all of which are symptoms of brain fog. According to Katz, one of the difficulties in studying cognitive issues is how difficult it is to tell them apart from depression. Katz is not one of the researchers who believe that brain fog is a separate illness but rather a symptom of depression.

• Cardiovascular Disorders: As a result of systemic inflammation, people with RA are more likely to have blocked or narrowed arteries in the brain. Problems with memory thought, and reasoning may result from this.

The idea of integrating alternatives, information, and values to make a decision is known as reasoning. It is insufficient to select an alternative for a crucial decision simply because it feels right. A justification or explanation is necessary for sound reasoning. For instance, we might claim that we are selecting an alternative because it poses fewer risks and benefits the people we value more than the other options. We can explain the choices that were made, the information that was considered (including risks), the values and trade-offs that were taken into account, and the process used to combine all of these factors to come up with the final alternative.

Poor decisions are the result of poor reasoning. For instance, people frequently ignore the downside and believe that a positive outcome is more likely, as in “I’ll never get into an accident. I will therefore save money by not purchasing car insurance.

• How to reason soundly:
• Ask yourself:
• What methodology do I use to evaluate and pick the best alternatives?
• Is my evaluation and decision-making consistent with my knowledge and values?
• How would I justify my decision to others?
• Is it morally appropriate for me to forgo any potential alternatives?

1. Ask your head:
2. What makes this the best option?
3. What would it take to change to a different option?
4. Have I described uncertainty using probabilities?

1. Ask your heart:
2. Does my reasoning make sense to the people I respect, trust, and/or care about?
3. Does the response feel accurate? Why not, if not?

1. Tools and good practice:
2. A list of each option’s advantages and disadvantages
3. Influence diagrams, decision and probability trees, computer/spreadsheet models, and simulation.

• Traps to avoid:
• Ignoring the fact that “it will never happen to me.”
• Assuming that potential outcomes are completely predictable
• Misinterpretation of factual data
• Ignorance of data, suggestions, or standards
• Wishful thinking, such as “Because I want it, it will happen,” or relying on unrelated information (such as sunk costs or regrets).
• Sticking to what I know and skipping a challenging but crucial step
•  Making logical mistakes
• Anxiety-induced paralysis

• What parts of the brain provide that ability?

The term “thinking ability” covers a wide range of activities, such as consciously recalling information, using knowledge to solve concrete or abstract problems, and applying reasoning, insight, or ingenuity. The brain is an impressive and sophisticated structure that regulates thinking abilities. The various regions of the brain work together in a complicated method to combine thinking and form reasoning.

1. Prefrontal Cortex:

Humans have a more advanced frontal lobe than other animals. It occupies about one-third of the brain’s total volume, is situated at the front of the brain, and extends backward. The prefrontal cortex, which is part of the frontal lobe and is the area closest to the front, is involved in complex interpersonal thinking abilities and the competence necessary for emotional well-being.

1. Inferior Frontal Gyrus:

On each side of the brain, the inferior frontal gyri are found in the lower part of the frontal lobe. Thinking abilities that rely on the application of fundamental knowledge along with creative thinking are necessary for creativity. Creative thinking is facilitated by interactions between the inferior frontal gyrus on the right and left sides of the brain. Most right-handed people have cognitive abilities for controlling attention and memory concentrated in the right inferior frontal lobe and intellectual abilities for speaking and understanding language largely concentrated in the left inferior frontal lobe. Speaking and linguistic abilities are typically concentrated on the left side, even in left-handed people.

1. Temporal Lobe:

The complex task of reading is particularly dependent on the temporal lobe, which is involved in many reasoning abilities. It is situated above and closes to the ears on both sides of the brain, behind the frontal lobes. Brain areas involved in hearing and visual recognition interact with the temporal lobe region that regulates reading. The temporal lobe is necessary for hearing and word recognition, whereas the occipital lobe, located at the back of the brain, is where visual recognition is primarily based.