Logic is the science that deals with the rules and tests of sound thinking and proof by reasoning; sound reasoning. These rules are not the same for all cultures.

Examples can include anything from the reason a child gets sick, to why a government fails, to how it is that the cost of living has gone up, to the reason for drought conditions.

Talk to a number of people about an incident (preferably, the same incident) which has happened recently in your area—an accident, a sickness, a murder, the promotion of a worker, the good passing grade on a test, the winning (or losing) of a football match, etc. Ask your friends to tell his/her account of the incident and ask why they thought it turned out the way it did. Try to follow the progression of thought used by each participant, and the points made by each—things that were right, things that went wrong, why the result came out as it did, what could have prevented the incident, all people or actions that had a part.

Set up a hypothetical situation (or a real one if available) and ask a variety of people what they think. Possibilities: How to address the major health issues in your city? Your reaction to the closing of the local school and bussing the children to a better school 5 miles away? The fairness of food distribution to victims of a disaster? Whys and wherefores, pros and cons, negatives and positives should be addressed in your conversations.

Note how they reach their conclusions. Ask what they perceived as the immediate reason for the incident. Then ask what was behind that–something from the supernatural? something physical, emotional, or mental? What evidences did they present?

Afterwards, compare these various accounts and note differences in how conclusions were made. Now compare this with the way you would have come to a conclusion.

How would this make a difference in presenting reason/result, means/purpose, and condition/ consequence ideas in a more intelligible way in your work?