In my philosophy class we are looking at argument mapping. There is a part about divergent and convergent reasoning. I am really struggling on how to actually identify between these. I understand serial reasoning fine, however. Could someone please help me understand these two concepts a bit better? Maybe examples would help too.
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I did not know these terms before, but I found helpful the following location: http://p2pfoundation.net/Convergent_vs_Divergent_Reasoning – Jo Wehler Nov 02 '15 at 11:31
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From the definition of each term, it is obvious that convergent reasoning would be arguments that reinforce each other, therefore they would be suitable to proving something. Divergent reasoning would be arguments that contradict each other, therefore they would be suitable to disprove something. – Guill Nov 02 '15 at 20:38
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What examples were given in the class? – Ram Tobolski Nov 02 '15 at 23:41
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I believe it is also called argument mapping. This includes all the terms – user117852 Nov 02 '15 at 23:54
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convergent reasoning is drawing together already known facts to find an answer to a said problem, and divergent reasoning is using creative ability to come upon possible solutions or generating ideas based off of a singular topic. Convergent reasoning is more useful for testing due to it following logical steps that arrive at one definite answer. However, very rarely does convergent reasoning arrive upon new ideas. Divergent reasoning is useful for brainstorming and finding new ideas. An example of convergent thinking would be using the knowledge that all birds have wings, and the knowledge that rabbits do not have wings, to come to the conclusion that rabbits are not birds. An example of divergent thinking would be a man who drops a pencil onto a ledge. He then realizes he could use his two remaining pencils as a way to grab the dropped pencil and get it back. Hope this helps.
Ezra forager
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