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Ask HN: How to develop logical skills?

• kolinko 16y ago
  Study computer science / mathematics? Solve riddles?
  • phamilton 16y ago
    Look into abstract algebra. Often those types of problems need to be solved by forgetting any assumptions you make and focusing solely on the information given. Being able to work in an abstract ring or group requires that ability.
• sogjis 16y ago
  I guess it's same question as "How can I learn to play guitar?"
• gibsonf1 16y ago
  I can't recommend H. W. B. Joseph's _An Introduction to Logic_ highly enough. Once you master basic logic, Fred Sommers' Term Functor Logic is exceptionally helpful. http://www.ontology.co/sommersf.htm http://www.ontology.co/sommersf.htm
• Groxx 16y ago
  http://projecteuler.net/ http://projecteuler.net/ If you don't understand how to solve a problem, there's always Google to "cheat". The discussions are pretty often very enlightening, and have some wild solutions. In more abstract means... number theory is handy, and I don't know what else you'd be interested in, the question is fairly vague. Read lots of puzzle books?
  • lazyfunctor 16y ago
    I second that. Also you may find this helpful http://projecteureka.org http://projecteureka.org
  • tgandrews 16y ago
    Project Euler is great as a programming problem when trying to improve your solutions for speed. Also, as someone who has not touched fundamental maths in 5 years it was also a good refresher; having to think about prime numbers etc again. A good tip I have found is to use a language that can nicely manipulate longs saving you much overhead, I chose Python because it also has some nice maths libraries.
• hackerblues 16y ago
  I don't think logic means what you think it does. Logic is about using deductions to reason about a thing. For example, in sudoku, "If I write a 5 in this cell then the column will contain two 5s. Therefore, this cell can't contain a 5." Completing sequences of numbers like: Q: What comes next? 2,3,5,7,11,... A: 13, it's a list of primes isn't about logical deduction at all. If anything it's about inference, but I'm probably classify it under pattern matching or something similar. In some sense these problems are meaningless. You could also answer the previous question with A: -302, the list is the sequence {2,3,5,7,11,-302,5903,pi,....} and no one can argue with your claim beyond "That's not what I/the author had in mind." To get better at such things you just need to collect examples. Maybe look at http://oeis.org/Seis.html http://oeis.org/Seis.html
  • tgandrews 16y ago
    I think you may be referring to the "rule following" paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittgenstein_on_Rules_and_Private_Language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittgenstein_on_Rules_and_Priva...
• latentflip 16y ago
  The best tip I've been given for practice is to actually sit with a piece of paper and write out your thought process whilst solving these little problems. It's feels a bit laborious at first, but I find it makes for much more effective practice than getting to the answer in a roundabout way, and not really knowing how you get there. As in hackerblues' comment, sitting and explicitly writing: "If I write a 5 in this cell then the column will contain two 5s. Therefore, this cell can't contain a 5." is more effective than bumbling around and just getting it right, particularly when practicing with simple examples.
• alt 16y ago
  http://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-Heuristics-Zbigniew-Michalewicz/dp/3540224947/ http://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-Heuristics-Zbigniew-Michalew... That book will help you on your journey.
  • ohwaitnvm 16y ago
    I second this. This book is the textbook for my 'Heuristic Problem Solving' course @ NYU this semester. I'm normally not one to touch my textbooks, but over Thanksgiving break I decided to crack it open - suddenly I was 200 pages deep into it. (Check out what we do in the course at http://cs.nyu.edu/courses/fall10/G22.2965-001/index.html http://cs.nyu.edu/courses/fall10/G22.2965-001/index.html )
• sz 16y ago
  Do real math. Not this fake logic puzzle BS.
  • billswift 16y ago
    I second the idea that learning real math will help, but there is a purpose to using "logic puzzles" also - math doesn't help much with learning to recognize various "difficulties" - cognitive biases, like framing issues, and common fallacies, like ad hominems. Besides practicing logic puzzles, you need a good overview book, Robyn Dawes, Rational Choice in an Uncertain World, is the single best volume I have found.
    • sz 16y ago
      Are we talking about the same kinds of "logic puzzles"? I'm referring to e.g. stuff in Mensa books.
• catshirt 16y ago
  engage in purposeful discourse on something you disagree with or know little about.
• rmc 16y ago
  If you are interested in learning more actual logic, and scientific reasoning, I suggest Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, a book about pseudoscience. The author explains some flaws in some bad science in popular culture, and by learning from him you can learn how to critique bad logic.
• bobf 16y ago
  Look at LSAT prep materials.
• hammock 16y ago
  Get one of those lateral thinking puzzle books (there are probably 100s of websites online as well). You could also take practice LSATs to get your fix.
  • joshklein 16y ago
    I felt I needed to give more than +1 to support this comment. Studying for the LSAT's is an extremely effective way to increase your logical skills. For whatever you think of lawyers and the legal profession, being able to "think like a lawyer" is an incredible asset. I thought I had a strong ability to recognize logical patterns and avoid making categorical assumptions until I took the LSATs. Thankfully, I am not a lawyer.
• froody42 16y ago
  Learn to follow Metamath proofs. (http://us.metamath.org/ http://us.metamath.org/) Metamath allows you to start with the axioms of propositional calculus and go all the way up to set theory and beyond. When you understand Carew Meredith's sole axiom for propositional calculus, you will know a lot about logic.