Discursive and intuitive thinking: what is it and how are they different from each other?

“That's elementary, Watson!” The phrase of one of the most famous literary detectives of Sherlock Holmes sounded after he applied his method of deduction, however, some believe that the detective used induction. Both are forms of discursive thinking. It is possible that the English master of crime detection mastered both techniques.

The concept of "discursive" comes from the Latin "discursus", which translates as "reasoning". That is, in the process of such thinking, a person finds the answer to his question as a result of a dialogue with himself. He selects the desired key to the solution in the same way as the child acts when he collects the mosaic. Alternately, "substituting" this one or the other for his assumption, based on logical conclusions, a person makes his own conclusion. And at the same time, both deduction and induction can be used:

• deduction involves a transition from general concepts to a particular case;
• induction involves a movement from a particular judgment to a general conclusion.

For example, it is easy to guess that if a child was quarantined at school, most colleagues sneeze at work, and pharmacies queue, then an influenza epidemic or SARS has come to the city. However, such conclusions are not always so clear-cut. Statements like “all men are goats”, “all women are fools”, “all children are moody”, “all sellers are thieves” and so on are also made on the principles of induction.

To avoid them, you must follow the instructions below.

• Collect information on a cold head. Do not attach your own feelings and prejudices to it.
• Analyze the information received. Perhaps some patterns can be deduced. Make a comparison - find the similarities and differences.
• Now we can conclude about the event, phenomenon or person who is interested.
• Check the received data. To make a final verdict, find confirmation of your findings. To do this, once again examine the facts and circumstances, or just watch what is happening.

Such techniques help not only to correctly assess the situation, but also to influence it. Discursive thinking can come in handy both in domestic matters and in business.

Consider several situations. Your son doesn’t want to put things in order in his room. You have already told him more than once that he is unclean and demanded to get out on his six square meters. However, carts with his socks, disks, books, notebooks, trousers and T-shirts are still there.

Let's try to go from the other side: “Dear child, look how pleasant it is to be in your sisters' room. Everything is laid out there, they quickly find their things and do not stumble on various obstacles, is it not time for you to create comfort? ” Most likely, such a proposal will take much greater success than a comparison with a pig and orders given in an ultimatum form.

My daughter cried all day when you canceled the trip to the zoo due to rain. Remember what you told her. Most likely, it sounded something like this: "We don’t go to the menagerie - it's damp in the yard." If the next time the "heavenly office" again gets in your way, the following wording is recommended: "Today, strong winds and heavy rain are expected, in such conditions it is terribly uncomfortable to walk, let's move the trip to the next day off." You see, the daughter will say thanks again that you took care of her so much.

You can’t sell a lot of soap, which was developed by the best specialists of your company. What do sellers say to buyers? “This is our most successful product. It contains only natural ingredients. It gives a wonderful aroma to the body and freshness to the skin. ”

Turn the presentation upside down. This soap will make the skin smooth, give an unforgettable aroma, will not cause allergic reactions, as it is made from natural ingredients, and, by the way, this is one of our most successful finds. Is the queue at the counter already standing?

For this, memory, observation, ability to concentrate and analytical data should be well developed. In psychology, this type of thinking is called slow, while another type is considered fast - intuitive.

This kind of thinking is mostly based on intuition. Connections are born almost instantly. A person, without hesitation, answers the question, relying mainly on his feelings. Intuitive thinking is considered one of the types of creative thinking. Sometimes it seems that this process occurs without the participation of logic, however, this is a bit wrong. A man also builds some analytical chains in his head, but this happens with lightning speed. Since in this case they are driven by something conceptual and intuitive. But this is also a certain form of rational thinking.

The solution appears to appear from above. Someone calls it a gift of God, someone believes that such an ability can be developed. One thing is indisputable - a person with the ability to think intuitively must have great life experience and have a solid store of knowledge in completely different areas. therefore even if this “gift” is not there, it can be developed.

It is never too late to learn, and even more so to develop intuition.In order to become a great predictor, it is not at all necessary to study Tarot cards and the meaning of coffee grounds. You need to be able to compare facts and stop wanting to be true, in other words - dexterity of the mind and no fraud. Here is a short list of tasks, after which it is quite possible to pass for a magician.

• Be the best in your profession. Try to understand all its subtleties. And then your predictions will not be based on a picture of the starry sky, but on personal experience. It will not be difficult for you to predict which product will use the highest purchasing power, which services will be especially in demand.
• More often try to try on someone else’s skin. What would Ivan Ivanovich say in this situation, what would he say about this? And now you can easily guess the next thought of the boss.
• Learn sign language and body. Sometimes one movement of a person can say much more than what he says out loud.
• Be relaxed in your thoughts and actions. Do not drive yourself into a corner of fatigue. From there, it’s not like the future, the present cannot be discerned.