Men's logic. Women's logic - how it works and how to understand it

Until now, there is an opinion that there is a normal logic (male) and there is a female one, which is not subject to any rational explanation. Based on this, misogynistic jokes about “stupid” blondes, about “monkeys with grenades” and many others are built. But let's look at what "logic" is and why it is divided by gender.

Logic as a cognitive ability

Logic is inextricably linked with thinking. It is needed to establish patterns, the order of thinking and the design of thoughts. Every healthy person has logic, and even a mentally ill person has logic, but his logic will be different from the generally accepted one. We need logic in work and in everyday life, without it it would be impossible to communicate and build activities. Vinogradov S.N. believes that correct thinking has certainty, consistency, consistency and validity.

Types of logic

Logic can be divided into two broad categories: formal and informal logic. Formal logic was invented by Aristotle, who also called it "analytics". Formal logic studies concepts, judgments, inferences from the side of their logical structure, but without affecting their content. That is, for formal logic, it is not the truth or falsity of the statement that matters, but whether the conclusion is correctly drawn from the argument. The movement of informal logic arose in the middle of the 20th century in American and European philosophers. And for her, the logic of argumentation is important, and not the logic of evidence.

Is there a male and female logic?

It is generally accepted that men are more rational and think consistently. Like, they break the problem into parts and solve it sequentially. Women, on the other hand, have a multitasking brain, they solve a problem not sequentially, but in parallel, and because of this, they often cannot explain why they came to this conclusion. In addition, there is an opinion that women make decisions based on their own emotions and impulses. Fortunately, there are scientific studies that have long proven that there is no division into male and female brains.

A group of scientists have studied how the male and female brains work. Using MRI, they studied the brain of about 1,400 people, and came to the following conclusions: in humans, the brain consists of a unique set of structures that may appear more often in women than men, or appear more often in men than women, or manifest as in men as well as in women. Although the brain has gender differences, there are not enough of them to classify it in the “male” or “female” category. That is, there are simply no fundamental differences between the work of the brain of a man and a woman.

Where did the myth of “female” logic come from?

This opinion comes from pseudoscientific studies, where the illogicality of women is allegedly proved. As a rule, such studies do not have a normal methodological basis, it all comes down to observing the behavior of a small group of women.

It is generally accepted that women are guided by emotions in making decisions, and that women are more emotional than men. Perhaps this is the case, but this is not due to the "different" work of the brain, but because of the model in which boys and girls are brought up. Girls in childhood are allowed to show their emotions, while boys, on the contrary, are forbidden to do so. “Why are you different as a girl?”, “A boy should be stern and strong.” Well, what kind of emotions can there be! Of course, boys are less emotional, because they simply cannot be like that.

In psychology, there is such a thing as a “self-fulfilling prophecy”, and they can explain why boys are better given the exact sciences, and girls the humanities. American sociologist Robert K. Merton defines a self-fulfilling prophecy as "a false definition of a situation that elicits new behavior that turns the original misconception into reality." The fact is that stereotypes about male and female thinking sit very deeply in us and manifest themselves in all spheres of our life in one way or another. In our culture, it is generally accepted that boys are given mathematics, and literature is given to girls, that from “nature” girls have an ability for humanitarian specialties, and boys for exact ones. This is a false definition of the situation. But in accordance with this model, children are taught at school, a mathematics teacher can place more emphasis on the development of mathematical abilities in boys, believing that girls are not capable of logical thinking. Therefore, it turns out that boys have developed more abstract thinking, which is so necessary in the mathematical sciences.

In a patriarchal society, as long as there is a stereotype about male and female logic, everyone will suffer: women, because they are not taken seriously and considered as “stupid fools”, and men who cannot fit into this patriarchal system.

What do we know about male logic, except that it exists (unlike female), and is it made of iron? And more something and nothing. Then is it any wonder that we doubt whether it is possible to understand a man? It's good that everything is fixable, now let's just figure out how men think, and immediately begin to understand these mysterious creatures.

How do men think?

Grabbing your head, not knowing how to understand male logic? “Does anyone other than the men themselves understand her? All they need to calculate, prove, preferably with reference to the Constitution. And these insensitive creatures simply laugh at intuition!

Perhaps someone will agree with these words, and someone will rush to prove that men are not like that at all. The funny thing is that each side will be right in its own way. So, how do men think, what is their logic based on?

1. The logic of men is really iron, because it is built on facts. No man will speculate, express his opinion, taking into account rumors and gossip. That is why they laugh at our intuition, which has nothing to do with facts. Ask why, then, our strong halves, armed with such powerful weapons as male logic, often lose to female intuition? It's simple, a woman is physically weaker than a man, but a more subtle instinct (intuition) is allocated to her as compensation. It allows you to take into account the slightest changes in the situation and draw the right conclusions. But logic is not capable of this, it is good only for solving abstract problems. Often, when faced with real events, clearly verified by the male consciousness, the logical chain breaks up.
2. Men's thinking is based on the general vision of the picture, they are not interested in trifles. This woman will consider the details, analyze, look for small clues. That is why a man may not notice small changes in the appearance of his beloved. The main thing is that she still looks charming, and it doesn’t matter what hair color is there - honey or golden.
3. The logic of men recognizes only dry data: figures, facts. No emotional coloring, only the utmost clarity and clarity. Women, on the other hand, often rely on feelings, intuition itself and works on the slightest shades of emotions. But since men do not have such an instinct, they do not need emotions in assessing the situation. Therefore, do not accuse your man of insensitivity if you asked him for his opinion about your appearance. He honestly tries to help you, only looking for facts so that he has something to base his opinion on.

How to talk to men?

It turns out that they are completely different, and how then to talk with a man so that he understands you?

Most often, it is uncomfortable for men to communicate without seeing the purpose of the conversation - empty chatter about the weather, but about the "Tankina blouse" does not inspire them. Say directly what you want from your interlocutor. And then he, poor thing, will get lost in your stream of words and get angry at the too long introduction. And no one likes to feel helpless, especially men with their eternal desire for leadership.

Feel free to ask questions. But again, they should be specific, and not just “how are things at work.” First, when asked in this way, you are likely to get an indistinct grumbling. And, secondly, such an indifferent question is more like not the beginning of a conversation, but a question out of politeness. A man will tend to think that you are not interested, because you are so indifferent to his work.

Leave all subtle hints for talking with girlfriends. A man is unlikely to understand them, or perceive them, but not at all in the way you wanted. The hint can be taken as an attempt to manipulate, which no man will tolerate.

So the main rule of communication is sincerity and directness, so it will be easier for a man to talk, and for us to convey our idea to him.

Women's logic has long been the talk of the town. And jokes about her were composed, and described in novels, and debunked on the screen. And just men are afraid of her like fire and therefore spread rumors that women's logic is actually the absence of any logic. They say that the random number generator won the competition. The correspondent of "Nedelya" Yulia Ulyanova thought about this question: maybe the physiological differences between the male and female brain are to blame?

What the researchers say

Today's scientists have the opportunity to study the brain of a living person using positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). And new studies have revealed a number of significant differences in the structural, biochemical and functional organization of the brain in representatives of different sexes. Even the concept of such a thing appeared - "half of the brain."

A lot of research has already been done, but much remains to be studied: the brain is a complex thing. True, there is one more "but": the results of some studies were not published for a long time - they were afraid of the public's reaction. Gender issues are generally explosive, just that, they will accuse of discrimination - and write wasted. Once pundits already came to the conclusion that the female brain is inferior in size to the male, and for a long time it was assumed that the mental abilities of men are higher. Such an appetizing argument for a superiority theory! Meanwhile, today this causes fierce discussions: some scientists are absolutely sure that the woman’s brain is more organized due to its smaller size - in other words, it’s downright crammed with deep convolutions. Why not assume that it is from here that women's logic grows legs?

If you take the matter more seriously: since a woman is able to perceive and analyze more information at the same time (both hemispheres are involved in a woman), then the representative of the weaker sex scrolls in her head many options for the development of events and comes to a conclusion that seems illogical to a man. Women's logic is intuitive and takes into account hundreds of details, while men's is straightforward and focused on a specific judgment. A woman appreciates hints and is often offended when a man simply does not understand her.

In 1925 Andrey Kolmogorov, head of the Department of Mathematical Logic at Moscow State University, was one of the first to attempt to formulate the laws of women's thinking. Then, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Dmitry Buleshov and Candidate of Biological Sciences Vladimir Bashkirov, who managed to formulate several laws, took up similar studies.

So, according to the laws of female logic, any statement can be considered meaningless, rejecting it with the help of exclamations in the spirit of "So what?". The subject of the dispute is most often easily lost - it is not so important whether the opinion expressed is true, it is much more important to prove that the opponent is not right at all. In addition, the statement can be accepted, but its consequence is not (for example, a woman can laugh at a joke about female logic, but if you point out her own "illogical" conclusions, the reaction will not be long in coming).

A woman increases the strength of arguments according to the principle of increasing drama, so the dramatic aggravation of the situation is another of the laws. At the same time, the argumentation is often brought to an extreme - no halftones. And so on.
However, let's not forget that women's logic is directly related to the way of thinking, and it, in turn, to the structural features of the brain... In addition, nature is inventive: one out of five men has "female" brains, and, in turn, each the seventh lady is a masculine mindset.

Find nine "inconsistencies"

* It is known that men are better oriented in space. In men, a special area of ​​the brain in the frontal part of the right hemisphere is responsible for this function. It is easier for men to imagine a picture of the terrain, it is not difficult for them to rotate three-dimensional objects in their minds. Everything is to blame - the process of evolution: for male hunters, this ability was vital.

In the female brain, both hemispheres are responsible for spatial orientation: a separate area, as in men, was not found. Therefore, only 10% of women are able to perfectly navigate the terrain. Approximately 90% of beautiful ladies have difficulty orienting themselves in space. A woman mainly relies on signs and landmarks, a man - on geometric parameters.

* In girls and boys, the left and right hemispheres of the brain mature differently. This explains the fact that girls tend to speak better than boys and remember much more words.

* The brain of girls is more responsive to people and faces, and the brain of a boy is more responsive to objects and their shape.

* The male brain contains more gray matter and uses 6.5 times more of it in the process of thinking. In the female brain, white matter predominates, a woman uses it 10 times more. Thus, a woman "thinks" with white matter, and a man with gray matter. The gray matter of the brain consists of information processing centers, the white matter provides the interaction of these centers.

In addition, gray and white matter in different sexes are distributed differently: in women - mainly in the frontal lobes of the brain, in men in this area there is no white matter at all, and gray is distributed throughout the volume of the brain. However, two different ways of thinking can lead to the same results.

* The size of the lower temporal lobe in men exceeds its size in women. It is believed that this area of ​​the cerebral cortex is very important for processing visual and tactile information, as well as for attention. It is known that the majority of outstanding physicists and mathematicians, including Einstein, have more than ordinary people. In addition, many men have a more developed left lower temporal lobe, which contributes to the development of abilities for the exact sciences. And the speech fields in the frontal and temporal cortex are more developed in the female brain, so it is easier for women to express thoughts in words.

* In men, speech is controlled by the left side of the brain, and there is no separate area of ​​​​speech. In women, the area located in the frontal part of the left hemisphere, and a slightly smaller area in the right hemisphere, are responsible for speech. Therefore, women have a better command of speech and enjoy it. And that's why women tend to have better handwriting.

* The male brain is able to sort information and at the end of the day "put it in the archive." In women, information scrolls in the head constantly, hence the great desire to talk.

* The brain of a man is divided into sections in such a way that it allows you to concentrate on one task in a specific period of time. The male brain is specialized, making it nearly impossible for most men to multitask at the same time. The brain of a woman is programmed so that she can easily perform parallel actions: for example, cooking, talking on the phone and watching TV. Studies have confirmed that women have 30% more connections between the left and right sides of the brain.

* A group of scientists from Stanford University came to the conclusion that women and men perceive humor differently. Men are more attracted to monosyllabic jokes and aphorisms, while women are more interested in funny stories. It is known that the pleasure center is located in the brain, and jokes annoy it. It's just that some parts of the female brain react more actively. Among them is the left prefrontal cortex, which emphasizes language processing.

MIPT Professor Dmitry Beklemishev, author of the book "Women's Logic": "Everyone both lied and lies"

"Notes on Women's Logic" by Dmitry Beklemishev, Professor of the Department of Higher Mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, is very popular on the Internet, and not only among men. What, according to the author, is the specificity of female thinking?

"The idea to write a book about women's logic came to me a long time ago, when I was studying at the university. I just wanted to understand the working logic of people, including women.

I described not so much female as universal human logic. Watch any program on TV and you will see the full set of tricks that I spoke about... It seems to me that both female and universal human logic do not change much in the course of history. I don’t know how people reasoned in the distant past, but I think that they all lied and still lie.”

* Men's logic asserts that every proposition is either true or false. Women's logic distinguishes between true, false and uninteresting judgments.

* According to female logic, if one example does not always fully prove the general judgment, then two examples prove it for sure. Therefore, a contradictory example does not refute anything, since it is only one, and one example does not say anything.

* In women's logic, the exception confirms the rule. This law allows you to reject contradictory examples without deliberating for a long time.

* One of the typical female tricks is known as "Cleopatra's turn". It consists in requiring the interlocutor to confirm his opinion with an example, and then accusing him of pettiness. For example:
Lidiya Ivanovna: You're rude all the time!
Larisa: Well, when I was rude to you, you will rise too!
Lydia Ivanovna: On Friday, when I opened the window... Well, let's say you had a cold - was it really necessary to talk like that?
Larisa: You always find fault with some little things!

* Repeating an argument in a dispute with a woman, each time it is necessary to formulate it in a new way. If you do not follow this rule, then be sure that after the second or third repetition, he will be rejected: "Hey, I screwed up the same thing!"

* Here is another trick of female logic. The interlocutor has a very convincing argument. What to do? Agree. Immediately after agreeing, you need to say "BUT" and, without taking a breath, state your own considerations that take the conversation to another plane.

The interlocutor has nothing to insist on - you agreed. He will be forced to either move to a new plane or repeat his argument. A correctly parenthesized argument is eventually either rejected or leaves the stage.

* An argument that allows a woman to win in almost any dispute: "Well, you know, I won't talk to you in that tone!"

That's why we need each other

And didn't you get bored? I mean, find out whose logic is more logical, whose brains are stronger, whose mind is more perfect? We are different because our brains are wired differently. Because our hormones are different, the tasks in life are different and the organisms are also different. The basic genotype of a male and a male monkey coincides by 98.4%, making a difference of 200 genes - only 1.6%. And the genetic difference between a man and a woman is 5% - 500-600 genes!

Hormones (male testosterone and female estrogens) determine the stages of puberty, form the external signs of sex, conduct vital functions, and affect behavior. A simple example: put the ball on the ground - little boys kick it with their feet, and girls pick it up and hold it to themselves.
The influence of sex hormones explains the fact that in women the left hemisphere of the brain is better developed - analytical, rational, verbal and temporal, and in men the right - synthetic, emotional, non-verbal and spatial.

Yes, men have an average of 10% larger brains than women. And even if you take into account the fact that men are on average 8% taller and physically larger than women, the difference still remains. But! Both sexes show consistently the same results in intelligence quotient (IQ) tests. The sizer has nothing to do with the mind.

Or is it not the architecture of the brain, but how it works? Yes, men have more focused thought processes, whether they're solving a math problem, reading a book, or experiencing intense feelings like anger and sadness. But we have more connections between the hemispheres, and in some parts of the brain there are more nerve cells. In addition, more zones are activated at the same time when solving different problems. A woman uses 25,000 words a day, while a man uses only 9,000. Very well!

They say that men, they say, are more capable of science, they have more brilliant discoveries on their account ... But here is the phenomenon of the Icelandic fishing village of Sandgerdi. There suddenly appeared a huge number of mathematical talents among the girls of the local school. They were far ahead of the boys, whose heads had always been considered better suited for mathematics. It turned out that the boys there do not need mathematics - they all strive to become fishermen, like their fathers and older brothers, who make excellent money. And the girls in the village have no other fate than to marry a fisherman and stay at home. But they don't want that, they want to go to the city, to study at universities. Turns out it's all about motivation.

And women also have very low self-esteem compared to men - they think in advance that too complex tasks are beyond their minds ... It was you who shut us up, pushed us to the stove, trough, to the nursery, to the shops. And now you wonder: what kind of logic do you have?

We are just different. And only because they are attractive, interesting and necessary to each other. Would you like women to drink liters of beer, spend hours discussing where and with what Arshavin hit, and spend the day off, in agony creating a mormyshka on a perch?

As the author of one famous book on relationships wrote, men and women are creatures from different planets. And indeed it is! Gender differences in the way of thinking are especially felt by couples who live together. Indeed, sometimes quarrels or misunderstandings arise literally because of trifles.

How to understand a loved one? How to learn to communicate in one language? To do this, you must first understand the features of male and female logic.

Induction and deduction

Let's start with how the fair sex thinks. The most important feature of female logic is inductance. That is, in their reasoning, girls usually elevate any particular situation to the rank of a kind of "eternal laws." A classic example of this is phrases like: "He doesn't make time for me at all" or "We never go anywhere." In cases where the reason for such generalizations is only one or more such incidents.

It is precisely because of the tendency of women to generalize and somewhat simplify situations that many men find it difficult to understand them. As a result, only quarrels and resentments come out. Since most often in the male eyes the reproaches of loved ones look completely unreasonable. It is difficult for gentlemen to accept the fact that for one misconduct the other half is ready to cross out all past signs of attention.

In addition, the brain of the strong half of humanity is used to doing something completely different. Male thinking is closest deductive method. This means that they, on the contrary, move from the general to the particular. For example, for most guys, the thought will be absolutely natural: “If all girls love perfume, then mine will definitely like such a gift.” And here comes the turn of the beautiful half of humanity to be offended. Indeed, almost every woman on Earth, no matter what nationality she is and no matter what worldview she adheres to, will not allow herself to be compared with others.

All girls want to be special and unique. Especially for your soul mates. Therefore, the male way of thinking also quite often becomes a reason for quarrels.

Faith in intuition

Another feature of female thinking, over which the stronger sex has been puzzling for centuries, is intuitiveness. That is, the ability to draw conclusions based on premonitions or guesses. Sometimes girls themselves cannot explain how they came to this or that conclusion. But at the same time, in many cases, intuition works. And while it seems to men something akin to witchcraft or alchemy, for the fairer sex, this logic is quite natural.

Intuitive thinking really has nothing to do with magic. It is only the ability to subconsciously use your life experience and accumulated knowledge to make a decision. Therefore, this approach sometimes helps even in cases where it is impossible to find a way out using ordinary logic.

However, there are intuitive logic and disadvantages. In some situations, for a premonition, women take the usual outburst of emotions or unreasonable guesses. And that can be very damaging to any relationship.

We speak different languages

Sometimes even in a simple conversation, it is difficult for men and women to understand each other. It would seem that they use the same language and understandable words. So what's the problem? The essence of the misunderstanding is that men in everyday conversations are focused on understanding words in their direct meaning. If they say "a lot", it means "a lot". Whereas women can exaggerate, use metaphors and comparisons.

It is important for the beautiful half of humanity to convey their experiences and emotions in a conversation. After all, women are more open and much more likely than men to talk about their feelings. And most importantly, they are able to perceive information based on sensations, and not on rational judgments. Therefore, for them, the clarity and clarity of replicas usually remain in second place. Women are rarely focused on conveying facts with 100% accuracy. They need to speak out, to throw out emotions that overwhelm.

For men, the main thing is received information. They are interested in the essence. So, no matter what the discussion is about, for a representative of the stronger sex, it is most important to accurately formulate his thought, to choose the right and capacious words. It is for this reason that they rarely correctly understand women's statements: "NOBODY loves me!" or "I'm sick of EVERYTHING at my job!" A representative of the strong half of humanity will certainly perceive the words “no one” and “everything” in their direct meaning, while the woman did not mean this at all.

What is the reason for our differences?

More recently, scientists have discovered an interesting fact. It turns out that men have a more developed right hemisphere of the brain, and women - the left. Although it used to be the other way around. That is why the representatives of the stronger and weaker sex are so different.

The right hemisphere is responsible for abstract thinking, orientation in space and for emotions. While the left is for communication, analytical thinking and memory. Therefore, women are more talkative and focused on creating various kinds of relationships. Whereas men, due to their emotionality, are more action-oriented and competitive. All the main differences between women and men follow from these features.

How to avoid quarrels and misunderstandings?

Despite all gender differences, men and women cannot live apart. After all they complement each other. However, sometimes differences become an obstacle to creating strong and harmonious relationships. What to do in this case?

The main weapon against misunderstanding will be knowledge. Indeed, most often quarrels occur due to the fact that one or both partners do not know anything about male and female differences. So, they hope for such behavior that they could expect from themselves.

By studying the features of the psychology of the opposite sex, everyone can become a little more tolerant of their soulmate. The main thing is to learn to understand what this or that person needs in each situation. And also put yourself in the place of a loved one or a loved one.