Week 7 Assignment Problem Solving
This week you’ll continue to work on your ‘Invention’ applying seven modes of thinking that were covered in this module. This assignment is a part of your final project.
Submit your paper as a Microsoft Word document in the discussion area for this assignment by due date.
Review at least one other student- paper, and then provide comment and feedback to them in the same discussion area for this assignment.
Use the exercises below and have fun.
Applying Deductive, Inductive and Abductive Thinking to Problem-Solving
Read the following instruction and formulate your own hypothesis regarding your invention.
Remember! Don’t worry about your hypothesis being scientific or completely accurate. Just give me your hypothesis!
Whether it is applied in philosophy, science, or ordinary life, the hypothetical method involves four basic stages:
1.Occurrence of a problem;
2.Formulating a hypothesis;
3.Drawing implications from the hypothesis;
4.Testing the implications.
The Proof of Hypotheses
The examples of hypothetical reasoning in science that we have investigated illustrate the use of two different kinds of hypotheses. The hypothesis involved in the discovery of Neptune is called empirical hypothesis, and that relating to spontaneous generation is called theoretical hypothesis.
Empirical hypothesis concerns the production of some thing or the occurrence of some event that can be observed. When Neptune was finally sighted through the telescope, it had been observed.
Theoretical hypothesis, on the other hand, concerns how something should be conceptualized. When Needham observed life emerging in a sterile nutrient solution, he conceived it as being spontaneously generated by the action of oxygen. But when Pasteur observed it, he conceived it as being implanted there by dust particles in the air.
The distinction between empirical and theoretical hypotheses has certain difficulties, which we will turn to shortly, but it sheds some light on the problem of the verification or confirmation of hypotheses.
Hypothetical Syllogisms and Hypothetical (Scientific) Reasoning
Much of our thinking in everyday life is hypothetical (Kirby, 1999). This kind of thinking has the “if-then†form. The pure hypothetical syllogism is one in which the two premises and the conclusion are hypothetical, or conditional. They have the form of “if-then†statements. The “if†statement is called the antecedent, and the “then†statement is called the consequent:
•If you play with fire, you will get burned.
•You played with fire.
•You got burned
The hypothetical syllogism has the following form:
•If P, then Q
•P
•Q
Hypothetical reasoning is used most explicitly in philosophical and scientific inquiry. Every scientific theory can be viewed as a hypothesis for unifying and rationalizing events in nature. The Ptolemic and Copernican theories about the sun and planets, Einstein- theory of relativity, Darwin- theory of evolution are all hypotheses for making sense of the data of observation. The problem for the scientist is that the underlying structure of nature is hidden from view, and the data of observation by themselves are not sufficient to reveal this structure. In response, the scientist constructs hypothesis that provide ways of conceptualizing the data and that suggest specific questions to be answered through the design of controlled experiments (Hurley, 2000).
Every philosophical system can be viewed as a grand hypothesis for interpreting the content of experience.
Applying “Doubting Game†Thinking to Problem-Solving
Find as many errors in your project as possible
1.Question every overt and hidden assumption and assertion
2.To play this game is to be rigorous, rational, and tough minded
3.Detach yourself; gain perspective
4.Take things literally
5.Be aggressive, stubborn, and adversarial
Applying “Believing Game†Thinking to Problem-Solving
Go to the opposite direction. Make your project work.
1.“Believe all the assertions†- even if they are contradicting.
2.Settle for the Truth mixed with error.
3.Never argue, and believe everything.
4.Make the idea work, and find ways to make it work.
Applying Automatic Thinking to Problem-Solving
Automatic thinking means mastering certain skills. After they become automatic you may perfect them in your creative way.
Automatic thinking means ‘thinking inside of the box.’
What skills that you already mastered can you apply to your project?
Applying Reverse Thinking to Problem-Solving
This mode of thinking is complete fun.
Think in the opposite direction. Instead of thinking how to improve/enhance/increase you subject of interest, think how you ruin/debilitate/decrease it. What else you can do to completely destroy it?
USA 
India