Quote:
Originally Posted by khalleron
I know it's  , but that's the difference between inductive (scientific) reasoning and deductive (Sherlock Holmes-type) reasoning. |
Sherlock Holmes usually displayed inductive reasoning, from the specific to the general. Holmes would see sand on your shoe, reason what could possibly result in that kind of sand in that place on your shoe, and conclude that you had just been dragged through the marina at low tide.
With deductive reasoning, from the general to the specific, Holmes would have to see the marina at low tide, deduce that if someone were dragged there, they'd have a certain kind of sand in a certain place on their shoe, and then, presumably, go looking for shoes to test the hypothesis.
Elementary, my dear khalleron.
p.s. Holmes made this confusion so popular, in referring to his method as 'deduction', that I've several places where induction is referred to as "Holmesian deduction."