In the improvement of reasoning ability your task is mainly one of
habit formation. It is necessary, first, to form the habit of stating
things in the form of problems; second, to form habits by which ideas
arise promptly and profusely; third, to form habits of reserving
decisions until the important facts are in. These are all specific
habits that must be built up if the reasoning processes of the mind are
to be effective. Already you have formed some habits, if not habits of
careful looking into things, then habits of hasty, heedless, impatient
glancing over the surface. Apply the principles of habit formation
already enunciated, and remember that with every act of reasoning you
perform, you are moulding yourself into a careless reasoner or an
accurate reasoner, into a clear thinker or a muddy thinker. This
chapter shows that reasoning is one of the highest powers of man. It is
a mark of originality and intelligence, and stamps its possessor not a
copier but an originator, not a follower but a leader, not a slave, to
have his thinking foisted upon him by others, but a free and
independent intellect, unshackled by the bonds of ignorance and
convention. The man who employs reason in acquiring knowledge, finds
delights in study that are denied to a rote memorizer. When one looks
at the world through glasses of reason, inquiring into the eternal
_why_, then facts take on a new meaning, knowledge comes with new
power, the facts of experience glow with vitality, and one's own
relations with them appear in a new light.

READINGS AND EXERCISES

Readings:

Adams (1) Chapter IV.