The ability to think logically is not an innate mental ability . It requires years of practice, as well as growing up in a cultural context where there is a level of development that allows it. For this reason, until several thousand years ago, practically no one was capable of perceiving reality from a perspective linked to logic.

However, although mastering the habit of thinking logically requires a certain amount of effort and learning, it is essential for living in today’s societies, both personally and professionally. Fundamentally, it is something that allows us to make the most of our intelligence and capacity to think in abstract terms, with all the applications that this has when it comes to adapting to an environment as changing as that of human societies.

Tips for learning to think more logically

Follow this series of tips to get used to thinking logically in most situations. However, you will have to adapt these key ideas to the characteristics of your life .

1. Learn to distinguish ideas

It is important to make sure that we don’t confuse concepts , making the same word have in fact two imprecise meanings instead of just one that is clear and according to its definition. For example, it is not the same to refer to “the people” when talking about the inhabitants of a country, as when talking about a state.

So get into the habit of stopping to analyze if the most frequent terms you think of are consistent and if you don’t mix concepts.

2. Order your thoughts

Which aspects are most important to you in relation to an issue? Is it reasonable that these are your priorities when analysing a fact or phenomenon? Do you unjustifiably stick to a very specific element of a much more complex reality? Ordering thoughts and giving them a certain hierarchy helps you to think logically.

3. Analyze your leaps of faith

The information you have about the reality around you is limited, and so, to some extent, you will always have to assume things about facts you don’t know . However… are these leaps of faith justified? Are your conclusions really derived from the premises from which you start? Or are you simplifying a problem simply to reach a conclusion that you find most comfortable?

4. Avoid argumentative fallacies

Remember that fallacies are not wrong beliefs, but failed reasoning. It is impossible for us to know if all of our beliefs are right or wrong, but we can analyze if there are consistency failures in our reasoning and arguing.

Therefore, familiarize yourself with the fallacies and check, on a daily basis, if you fall into them . Most likely you will do this several times, but these occasions should be used to learn and correct your mistakes.

5. Meet new people

The possibility of relating to new people, especially if they are people who think differently from us , is a great help in getting used to thinking logically. Why? Because we find ourselves in situations that challenge our intelligence and lead us to have to argue our beliefs.

Thus, exposing ourselves to the clash of different and incompatible ideas leads us to review our convictions and see if there are cracks in our belief systems, which

6. Detects simplification patterns

Do you tend to attribute to individuals facts that are more complex and have a social root (such as poverty)? Do you think abstract ideas can be treated as physical objects (for example, talking about the law of attraction)? These are common mistakes that lead you to think in a way that is far removed from logic and that give you a caricatured image of reality.

7. Take a distance perspective

Don’t let your desires and feelings drag you down when thinking coldly about important things . Not doing so often leads to conclusions according to how you feel, or those that fit better with your wishes. This is a way of being dishonest with oneself and does not do any good to our chances of having a fuller understanding of what is really going on.

8. Beware of false references

Sometimes, we fallaciously believe that the most realistic and logical option is the one we interpret as the most moderate between two opposing options. However, this does not have to be the case. For example, it is possible that our references to “extremes” are anything.

Our position on racism, for example, can be a middle ground between those who want to exterminate entire races and those who are ignorant of the existence of those differences, if we follow that logic. So before we take a stand, we must ask ourselves whether these extremes are representations of valid choices in the first place.