Why do people reason differently?

[jay gw]

Why do people, even those with the same experiences, reason differently?


reasoning:
any mental activity
the process of forming ideas or emotions

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[Cosmo]

...

...because no two people are the same?

[Godmode]

Nobody has the exact same experiences.

[jmontecillo01]

So at the present time I seem to be thinking rationally again in the style that is characteristic of scientists. However this is not entirely a matter of joy as if someone returned from physical disability to good physical health. One aspect of this is that rationality of thought imposes a limit on a person's concept of his relation to the cosmos.

If you have watched the movie A beautiful mind, the story of John Nash, you will notice that at the height of his schizoprenia, he sees patterns in everything.

This is my theory.

There are patterns around us. John Nash's Game Theory and Theory on Economics, Einstein's theory of relativity, etc, all follows mathematical patterns. We are presented with all of these in our day to day living. Most of the time, our first reaction is correct but we choose to ignore the obvious because of the bias that we have, leading most of the time to twisted reasoning.

For example, if we open our eyes and examine what is presented to us, then it gives us the ability to "read between the lines".

How the person arrived at the conclusion is important to be able to understand why he arrived in that conclusion. E=MC^2 is useless to a nuclear physicist if he does not understand how the theory of relativity works.

[Dancing David]

Brains grow as we develop, there is most likely a genetic and organic component to the structure of the brain and it's ability to develop, then add trauma of various sorts, esp. in the developing fetus (malnutrition,flu, fever and chemicals).

And then as pointed out above the brain is a very complex organ that develops all these reverberating associative networks in response to stimulation.

So there are a lot of reasons we will all reason differently.

[Freethinker]

No two people have the same experiences. Some people have better brains than others.

[jay gw]

What's a better brain?

[Miss Anthrope]

This is purely anecdotal, but I have my own theory that there is some aspect in every person where they fail to reason. There are folks with extremely high IQ's and common sense who believe strongly in religion. On the flip side there are people who have reasoned away belief in religion and such things who fail to reason on socio-political issues. We have our biases, our upbringing, and all manner of emotional condition. Not everyone is rational and reasons 100% of the time. We all knee jerk and form our opinions out of bias and emotion in some areas.

That said, some people tend to talk louder and have larger, more glaring blind spots.

[Freethinker]

What's a better brain?

I'd say in some respect, one with more pure computational horsepower and memory. The ability to evaluate and store information and then refer to the assimilated information to make a judgement. Some people are simply unable to store the information, and some are unable to apply it. Some of this is undoubtedly a result of education and upbringing (programming), some a result of genetics (hardware).

[Donn]

Why do people, even those with the same experiences, reason differently?
You know, you're just to unreasonable!
:D



Okay, I do a little. Why, when there is truth and reality out there and a method called science to discern it, do people seem to come to the wrong or so many conclusions?

Or maybe I didn't inderstand you after all.


bedtime!

[drkitten]

Why do people, even those with the same experiences, reason differently?


Where did you find two people with the same experiences?

[jay gw]

Where did you find two people with the same experiences?

If I did would I expect them to reason the same?

[infornography]

Me and my brother had very similar upbringings. We had the same opportunities, the same parents, the same home, etc. It was the differences that proved most crucial however. We are about as different as two productive members of society can be.

There are always little things that prove to provide differences. In the cases of twins, differences are often embraced as a source of individuality.

[Piscivore]

Differing premises, errors, and fallacies

[Glen.Nogami]

Maybe if two people had identical experiences separately they would reason similarly, but as twins as mentioned above, I would think that the very presence of someone with similar genes, same age, and similar experiences would drive you towards individuality and thinking quirks that divert reasoning in different paths.

[jay gw]

ould drive you towards individuality and thinking quirks that divert reasoning in different paths.

So thinking styles differ because of conscious choice, or because of unconscious influence?

[jmontecillo01]

So thinking styles differ because of conscious choice, or because of unconscious influence?

I think both.

Sometime back, I joined a forum where majority of members are Americans and Isralies. (concious) At first I was impressed by the postings made by the Isralies. I started to notice that they seem to be well prepared in their postings, there are no spelling mistakes, bold to highlight their arguments, etc. It seemed to me that they had pre-prepared arguments and were just doing a cut and paste as they were posting the same arguments over and over again.

(subconcious) I started to doubt the validity of their claims because what they were saying is that the whole Arab world was againts their existance. I stopped buying statements from both sides and tried to examine the problem at the present time.

One of the technique that I find usefull is try to see similarity in a small sample to see the big picture.

"If you chain a car, there is no way it would move forward except by force"

I know that the Jews suffered for centuries but past is past and there is no way we can change it. We cannot cling on to the past. We have the present that we can use to shape a better future.

Needless to say, I was booted out for questioning the motives of the Isralie government.

[drkitten]

If I did would I expect them to reason the same?

If my grandmother had balls, would she be my grandfather?

[Sceptic Realist]

Maybe if two people had identical experiences separately they would reason similarly, but as twins as mentioned above, I would think that the very presence of someone with similar genes, same age, and similar experiences would drive you towards individuality and thinking quirks that divert reasoning in different paths.

That's certainly true. There are just too damn many variables: for example, the one that Glen has just mentioned. There is no possible way of two people having the same exact experiences, and same exact patterns of thought for even a few seconds (ex: I could think about music, but I could also have thought about that hot actress that was on TV last night: both are experiences that happened to me, but how will I determine which one I will think about at a given moment?).

[Darth Rotor]

If my grandmother had balls, would she be my grandfather?
Might be a hermaphrodite . . . :p

DR