Nature of Logic
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Billy Sandoval
Nature of Logic and Perception
PHL251
Dennis Nilson, facilitator
July 31, 2005
The nature of logic and critical thinking go hand in hand. A person must use logic during the critical thinking process. However, each persons logic may depend on his/her perceptual process or their perceptual barriers. No person can ever fully understand their own perceptual process in its entirety. The reason being is that no person knows all of their perceptual barriers. Without knowing all of the barriers, how is a person able to determine the process in which they perceive things? While a person may know or assume some of their perceptual barriers, some of their perceptual barriers will never be uncovered because they may not know they even exist. They may not even know that they exist because the perceptual barrier is so strong that it will never be known to them, that it, in fact, is a barrier at all. This alone could be a potential barrier.
Aside from not being able to identify all of a persons perceptual barriers, each situation that comes about where a critical thinking process may be utilized can call for a different process. For example, a person may use an entirely different perceptual process while at their place of employment than they would in their home. Even then a person may utilize a different process depending on the situations that occur on any given day.
However, the way we think can be determined by the way we were raised and the way we currently are living.
Many factors come into play that can cause perceptual barriers. Each person was brought up with many different cultural influences. Some of these influences come from religion, ethnic background, surroundings, and media. A persons overall upbringing and self-concept can also be considered barriers at times. Other potential barriers are expectations and schemata. As humans we take everything into our own perspective instinctively. Our emotional state also influences our thinking and perception. Certain situations may come about that cause us to be so emotional that we cannot possible think critically or with logic because the emotion is so strong it will not allow our brains to function at its full capacity to evaluate the situation properly. Some of the emotions that can cause perceptual barriers are passion and depression. If a person is so passionate about something he/she will not be able to have and “open mind” about certain issues because their passion is so strong it will not allow anything other than what they believe true. Depression can be a potential barrier because a person who is depressed is not thinking with full logic. They are depressed therefore their thought and their thought process are inhibited. Stress can also cause a perceptual barrier, especially since stress and depression are often times linked together. A person who is so stressed out cannot think straight and can be irritable and irrational. This will cause a perceptual barrier so strong that it will be hard to go around it.
Two of the biggest perceptual barriers that been have noticed