REASONING

There are three types of reasoning, abductive, deductive and inductive.

• Abductive reasoning makes logical inferences from observations and seeks the simplest and most likely explanation.
• Deductive reasoning links a proposition to a logical conclusion. If. . . . then . . .
• Inductive reasoning produces generalised conclusions from specific instances that are connected in a logical way to reach a conclusion.

These reasoning processes are used to make sense of something. It’s how we use our innate wisdom to understand what we are seeing, hearing and feeling.

We use different frames of reference to aid understanding, such as our personal ideology, declared objectives, new knowledge and old habits. The assessment is not always rational as it could just be implied.

This creates a state of unsteadiness, uncertainty, discontinuity or disorder. It’s our internal expectations that change how we interpret and feel our external experiences. It’s a dynamic relationship between the individual change agent and their environment or context.

Usually, the change happens when there is a perceived shift in one’s identity, security, familiarity or sense of belonging. When there is a perceived imbalance or lack of coherence between our expectations and our feelings we find it difficult to make sense of what we are experiencing.