For example, the simplest logic is that contradictory arguments must be wrong.
Logic is easy to see when the amount of information is small. But once you have a lot of information, plus all kinds of rhetoric and grandstanding, the logic is often not so obvious.
For example:
Zhuangzi said, "How leisurely fish swim in the river is the happiness of fish." Keiko said, "You are not a fish. How do you know that fish is happy? " Zhuangzi said, "You are not me. How do you know that I don't know that fish are happy? " What happened to Zhuangzi's logic?
Many people may think, no problem! Do what you did to him and treat him. What a beautiful retort!
Keiko doesn't think so. Keiko said: "I am not you, of course I don't know what you are thinking;" You are not a fish, you don't know the happiness of fish, that's for sure! "
Zhuangzi first assumed that Keiko's "I don't know fish" was right, and thus deduced "You don't know me". Then I know fish based on You Don't Know Me. It can be seen that Zhuangzi's assumptions and conclusions here are contradictory. Therefore, this argument does not hold water.
What does this example mean? Everyone has logic, which doesn't need training. What needs to be cultivated is the ability to discover the hidden logic in the language.
How to cultivate this ability? Two words: thinking.
In this case, although Zhuangzi seems to have the upper hand in the debate, Keiko's logic is actually better.
Think more and see the essence through the phenomenon.
Here are some ways to improve your logic.
1 abstract thinking training
Logic can be roughly understood as an abstract generalization of the laws of concrete things. The human brain has evolved the function of logical reasoning, just as primitive humans need to analyze the position of prey according to various laws of prey footprint, habits and environment in the process of hunting prey. Therefore, the stronger the logic, the stronger the abstract thinking.
Macroscopically speaking, a person's expression logic has a great relationship with his education level. The higher the education level, the more abstract the knowledge, the stronger the ability to grasp logic and complex concepts, and the stronger the logic of words and expressions.
2 reading, especially intensive reading
In the case of a fixed level of education, it is also an important way to improve by absorbing and learning relatively advanced and abstract knowledge. For example, compared with reading philosophical works, novels do not need abstract thinking, but more cultivate the ability of picture and emotional imagination, while philosophical works need you to use abstract thinking. It's not that fun, but it's a necessary way to improve.
When you encounter a book with abstract thinking, you must read it slowly and intensively, and even review the chapters you have read from time to time to rearrange your understanding. Logical reading is to be able to sort out the big framework expressed by the author in your mind while reading. If you forget after reading a chapter, your logical ability will be limited in the end.
On the other hand, if you can explain the author's core meaning clearly according to your own logical understanding even if you forget the details, then your exercise is in place.
3 writing
People's expressive ability is also a process that needs training. In the case of limited expression ability and unclear thinking, we can start with written expression. Written expression can give you enough time to think, let you carefully choose words and be logical.
Your written expression can be purposeful writing, such as commenting on reading notes, or analyzing problems, or summarizing your life experience and knowledge.
Writing is not enough. A more logical thinking exercise is actually proofreading and revising. In college, every paper will be revised 2-3 times after writing. In addition to eliminating typos and adjusting the text, a large part of the time is spent observing and analyzing one's own logic and perfecting the revision.
This process can not only greatly improve the quality of what you write, but also help you cultivate your familiarity with your logical thinking ability, find out your common logical problems and mistakes, and then improve them.
4 debate
Advanced promotion methods, if possible, you can try to participate in the debate. This is also an excellent way to exercise logical thinking and logical expression. On the one hand, the preparation before the game is a process of combing one's own logic and organizing one's own language. On the other hand, the time pressure on the spot can also improve your reaction speed and confidence.
If you don't have a chance to debate, you can also try to use interactive platforms such as forums to debate with others online, but please remember to be polite, respectful and rational.
Be good at listening, talk less and listen more.
People who speak logically don't have to talk a lot, and they react quickly at any time. There is no necessary connection between speaking logic and reaction speed, so if you are a slow-witted person, don't feel that you can't express your logic. In order to avoid making mistakes in expression, you should always listen to the other person's views and expressions first, cultivate your thinking ability while listening, and then respond when the other person's views are complete and you are confident.
In addition, being good at listening can also give you many opportunities to observe the logic of others and try to imitate it. While listening, write down the main ideas expressed by the other party in your mind, arrange them in order, and even try to summarize and state what you have heard after you have finished.
6 broaden the scope of attention
People who speak illogically tend to be very narrow-minded. When listening to a paragraph and reading an article, I often only pay attention to a certain sentence and a certain word, and I just dig up these details when I respond. To talk about logic, you need to learn to broaden your attention span and pay attention to everything before and after in both time and logic dimensions, not just what you hear at this moment.
For example, a person is telling you about a colleague in his unit, and what you hear is mainly a description of this colleague. For example, you heard a comment that this colleague was narrow-minded and not very open-minded.
At this time, you not only need to pay attention to this description, but also need to look at what descriptions have appeared in the past few minutes besides being narrow-minded, what is the relationship between them, and what descriptions may appear next, which is a broadening of the time dimension.
At the same time, you can also pay attention to whether the description of "narrow-minded" is accurate, whether this person uses the word "narrow-minded" really, whether there are other motives, and what kind of influence this description may bring to the relationship between two people. This is an extension of the logical dimension.
7 Pursuing multi-angle thinking
Don't be satisfied with a single explanation of any problem. Any problem can be understood from many different angles.
If you can get into the habit, you can analyze things from at least two or more angles, and you can distinguish the advantages and disadvantages between different angles, then you can better understand the versatility of things and the diversity of the world, and also avoid being biased and limited by a single logic.
Last but not least: practice, practice, practice again.
No one is born good at logical expression. What is good is not good. What you see is mainly the accumulation of experience. A person who seldom speaks may not be able to express himself clearly, even if he is very logical. A frequent talker, even without logic, sounds smoother. Therefore, in general, if the above points can be realized, logical thinking can be well displayed as long as you practice more, create more opportunities for yourself to express, get used to the pressure and anxiety when expressing, and learn to speak confidently in front of everyone.
Classic speech recommendation 12, there is always a speech that touches you and even changes your life!
About this official WeChat account operator: Liu Jiaoshou
Independent interviewer, speech eloquence coach, hobbies: speech, fitness, writing, reading (one year reading 150+, good at teaching people to speak (pronunciation, communication, public expression).
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