Your software engineering example made this click for me. I think what we might be talking about is the method of abduction [0][fn] [fn] not kidnapping, but a

Your software engineering example made this click for me. I think what we might be talking about is the method of abduction [0][fn] [fn] not kidnapping, but a logical (procedural) method like induction or deduction [0] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abduction/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abduction/