Deductive reasoning is an intellectual activity that takes a general idea or premise and follows it through to a specific conclusion. It’s also called deductive logic or top-down reasoning.
A premise is a generally accepted idea, fact, or rule that lays the groundwork for a theory or general idea and the deductive reasoning process moves from a premise that is valid and sound to a conclusion that must be true.
You’re inclined to use deductive reasoning when making important decisions and solving new problems.
Orthodoxy will tell you that when you’re reasoning the frontal lobe of your brain lights up. It gives the illusion that your brain is thinking but the local electrical activity indicates that your intellectual-Mercury-thought-cells are active and working on solving the problem that has come to your attention.
Most astro-data is unscientific
Science is knowledge gained through careful observation, experiment and statistical analysis and most of the astrological information available on the Aquarian Age internet is not science. It’s belief and tradition.
It’s not evidence-based and there’s no systematic chart assessment procedure so users flit around a birth chart relying on their feelings, hunches and impressions to discern what’s indicated.
That’s what fortune-tellers do. Not having access to scientific astrological data, they rely on unsubstantiated beliefs and their feeling impressions to make sense of birth charts. Intuition can make a correct conclusion but there’s no way of knowing if it’s correct. One thing’s for certain: There’s no deductive reasoning going on.
You can flit your way around your birth chart using dubious astrological beliefs but the imprecision and lack of clarity easily results in doubt and uncertainty in regard to what the chart actually indicates and means.
But when the astro-data is science, that is evidence-based and acquired through observation and statistical analysis, you can assess and analyze your birth chart using deductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning
Hermetic astrology is a massive data-base of scientific astrological knowledge. You won’t learn it all. It pertains to birth charts so you can apply deductive reasoning when assessing your own chart to learn the truth about yourself.
In deductive reasoning you start with a premise, and add another premise.
So, take the premise: I am a human. Then the premise: All humans have a birth chart. And your deductive logic concludes: I have a birth chart.
Take the premise: I have a character. Then the premise: A person’s birth chart is a map of their character. So, your deductive logic concludes: My birth chart is a map of my character.
When you have two statements: All human souls have an aggressive urge and I am a human you use deductive reasoning to conclude: I have an aggressive urge.
The truth of the premise – all human souls have an aggressive urge and I am a human – implies the truth of your conclusion – I have an aggressive urge – so your conclusion is deductively valid.
Take the premise: Mars in house 3 maps a potential to have disputes with siblings. Then the premise: I have Mars in house 3. So, your deductive logic concludes: I can have disputes with my brothers and sister – if I have siblings.
Applying deductive reasoning to some chart data doesn’t always result in a definite conclusion. The spiritual trends associated with your keynote decanates are statements of fact but blending natural ability with an indicated trend to determine the role your destined to play in cosmic society may have to sit in the too-hard basket for the time being.
And it takes time to process the self-information acquired through deductive reasoning into self-knowledge.
When assessing your birth chart you should do frequent reality checks: ask yourself ‘what evidence do I have to support this birth chart statement? And ‘how do I know this is true?’
And you have to be aware of any tendency towards confirmation bias where you bias your interpretation of chart data to suit what you wish. Chart data should be assessed honestly and then confirmed with real-life experience.
Measurement aids deductive reasoning
Your birth chart’s astrodyne profile measures the strength and functional status of each planet, sign, house and aspect. They have power and harmony or discord scores.
As quantitative and qualitative values they indicate tendencies towards harmonious or discordant expression; and a potential to engage in constructive- effective or destructive-ineffective behavior and to experience fortunate or unfortunate events.
These relative measurements aid deductive reasoning to draw far more accurate conclusions regarding chart data than could otherwise be attained.
The relative strength and functional status of each planet and sign allows you to quite precisely deduce the strengths and weaknesses of your character and mentality.
And the relative strength and functional status of each house allows you to quite accurately assess the event trend of each department of life and the role it is inclined to play in your life.
Harmony or discord when applied to house data reveals a potential to experience fortune or misfortune.
Take the premise: House 2 harmony maps a potential to experience fortunate financial events and conditions. Then the premise: House 2 in my chart is harmonious. So, your deductive reasoning concludes: I can experience fortunate financial conditions.
Take the premise: House 9 discord maps a potential to experience unfortunate events and conditions when travelling overseas. Then the premise: House 9 in my chart is discordant. So, your deductive logic concludes: I can experience misfortune when travelling overseas.
Take the premise: Jupiter in house 1 when discordant maps a potential to experience a weight problem. Then the premise: Jupiter in house 1 of my chart is discordant. So, your deductive reasoning concludes: I can suffer from a weight problem.
And take the premise: Uranus in house 10 maps a potential to experience sudden and unexpected changes with the career. Then the premise: Uranus is in house 10 of my chart. So, your deductive logic concludes: I can experience sudden and unexpected changes with my career.
The astrodynes do things that you never thought possible. They aid deductive reasoning to prioritize your life in a way that maximizes your intelligence and ability development; and to make decision that are right for you.
Hermetic astrology and astrodynes invite you to replace estimation and guesswork with deductive reasoning in order to understand the personal truths depicted in your birth chart.
Check out Mercury in your birth chart
People can use deductive reasoning to solve personal and impersonal problems but the idea that it is used regularly is a fallacy. Most are far more inclined to solve problems and make decisions using their feelings and hunches and data they’ve acquired through previous experience.
That said, you have a deductive reasoning history and only you know your tendency and ability to use deductive reasoning.
Whatever, the application of deductive reasoning to Mercury in your birth chart will reveal your potential to hold your emotions and feelings in abeyance and apply cold hard logic to the solution of an important problem – like getting an accurate and reliable analysis of the data contained in your birth chart.
Elementary deductive reasoning is not difficult but if Mercury has a relatively low astrodyne power score you may be more inclined to use your feelings and intuitions when making birth chart judgements.
That said, it is far more important to be aware of Mercury discord as it inclines to errors of judgment even when you’ve switched to deductive reasoning mode. It’s a situation you can fact-check by reviewing past experience and the outcome of the major decisions you made while employing deductive reasoning.
Astrology for Aquarius – sharing our knowledge
