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152 Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?

Logic for Humans
Syllogisms can be used for practical purposes. Take, for example, the following set of statements, “I want a hot drink.” “Coffee and tea are hot drinks.” “I always drink milk with tea,” “We have no milk.” What drink should I choose? I’m sure you can work it out. This logical problem follows a simple chain and results in me getting the hot drink I like.
We use Boolean logic on a day-to-day basis. The simplest form is a checklist. Pilots use checklists all the time; do I have wings, fuel and a copilot? If they are all there, go ahead and fly. Otherwise do not. Mathematically speaking, a checklist is simply the product of the options. If they are all one, then the product is one – in this case we can fly. If any is false – represented by a zero – the product will be zero and we cannot fly.
Life is often more complicated and we have many logical tools at our disposal. Let’s take a look at a few, starting with a famous historical one.
Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod and bifocal glasses, as well as charting the Gulf Stream and all manner of other scientific discoveries. He described his process for decision-making when there are many pros and cons to consider.

“... my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con. Then during three or four Days Consideration I put down under the different Heads short Hints of the different Motives that at different Times occur to me for or against the Measure. When I have thus got them all together in one View, I endeavor to estimate their respective Weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I strike them both out: If I find a Reason pro equal to some two Reasons con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two Reasons con equal to some three Reasons pro, I strike out the five; and thus proceeding I find at length where the Balance lies; and if after a Day or two of farther Consideration nothing new that is of Importance occurs on either side, I come to a Determination accordingly.”

Another important piece of logic is reductio ad absurdum. Reduction to the absurd allows us to disprove something because, if it were true, it would lead to an absurd conclusion. An alibi is a familiar form. If I was seen in the pub when the murder occurred in the ballroom of the manor house and you claim I committed the murder, I must have been in two places at once. People can’t be in two places at once – that would be absurd. Conclusion: I am innocent!

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