Logic: Deductive and Inductive

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15 years 6 months ago #23521 by Larry Burford
Induction is the primary form of logic used in forensic investigation. You have a crime scene and various bits of evidence from it. You must reason backwards via induction to determine things like how the crime was committed, who did it, when they did it and why. Reasoning forward via deduction is not going to be of much use in such cases.

Sometimes you find evidence that allows you to do some limited forward reasoning, from specific evidence to its logical consequences.

In the context of astronomy, improper use of induction can result in pointing your telescope in the wrong direction. It happens, but we usually just look around to make sure no one noticed and quietly fix it.

In the context of forensics (a metaphor for the rest of the world outside of science), improper use of induction can result in executing the wrong person. Others definitely noticed. Lately we have become aware of this and have developed formal procedures and techniques to correct these mistakes.

We need to be more aware of the limits of induction in the world of science, and we need to develop formal procedures and techniques to correct the errors that result.

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