logical thinking
Reasoned mental process
Logical thinking is reasoning that follows clear, consistent principles—drawing valid conclusions from premises, recognizing patterns, and avoiding contradictions.
It emphasizes evidence and structured analysis over intuition or emotion: The detective's logical thinking led her to the only possible suspect.
The term often contrasts with creative or lateral thinking, though the two aren't mutually exclusive.
- axiomsAccepted starting principles
- first principlesBasic truths underlying reasoning
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- sound argumentLogically valid reasoning
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
generalization · inference · cause and effect · hypothesis · syllogism · decomposition · step by step · counterargument · validity · abstraction · premise · problem-solving · skepticism · evaluation · analogy · heuristic · thought experiment · observation
- thinkingthought, ponder, contemplate, pondering, contemplating
- cognitionthought, cognition, remembering, memory retrieval, attention
- reasoningreason, inference, deductive, analysis, inductive
- thinking skillsreason, analysis, deduction, inference, induction
- thought patternsrumination, overthinking, catastrophizing, overgeneralization, intrusive thoughts
- number sensenumber sense, counting, numeracy, number recognition, number line
logical thinkingintuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
gut feeling · intuitive thinking · guesswork · instinct · hunch
logical thinkingunreason
Absence of rational thought
emotional reasoning · irrationality · passion · sentimentality · fuzzy thinking
logical thinkingcreative thinking
Generating original ideas
lateral thinking · emotional intelligence · divergent thinking · dream logic