Super creek isn't moving hard enough for my psychosexual maternal urges I have to get weirder about abductive motherhood
September 17, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Super creek isn't moving hard enough for my psychosexual maternal urges I have to get weirder about abductive motherhood
New elements book. Free download for two weeks.
Abductive Reasoning in Science
Cambridge Core - Philosophy of Science - Abductive Reasoning in Science
cup.org
June 4, 2024 at 1:21 PM
New elements book. Free download for two weeks.
Me: Mom, Dad. This is Jake. Baby, these are my abductive parents
Mom: *clears throat*
Me: These are my adoptive parents
Mom: *clears throat*
Me: These are my adoptive parents
March 18, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Me: Mom, Dad. This is Jake. Baby, these are my abductive parents
Mom: *clears throat*
Me: These are my adoptive parents
Mom: *clears throat*
Me: These are my adoptive parents
Brilliant (and free) new book on "Abductive Reasoning in Science" by Finnur Dellsén
Open Access: www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#PhilSci
Open Access: www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#PhilSci
October 17, 2024 at 7:01 AM
Brilliant (and free) new book on "Abductive Reasoning in Science" by Finnur Dellsén
Open Access: www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#PhilSci
Open Access: www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#PhilSci
a lot of you aren’t engaged in abduction and it shows
Abductive reasoning - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
July 29, 2026 at 4:31 PM
a lot of you aren’t engaged in abduction and it shows
Abductive logic (as opposed to inductive or deductive) is the truly human mode of discovering and making meaning from qualitative data.
This thread perfectly explains why AI has little value for qualitative research.
Yes, large language models can find patterns in qualitative data. But, they're trained on what we already know. So, they won't find anything surprising. And, surprise is qualitative research's primary value-add.
Yes, large language models can find patterns in qualitative data. But, they're trained on what we already know. So, they won't find anything surprising. And, surprise is qualitative research's primary value-add.
Absolutely right.
AI might be able to summarize (poorly) what we currently know, but a major goal of historical research is to find the hidden surprises out there.
Let me illustrate …
AI might be able to summarize (poorly) what we currently know, but a major goal of historical research is to find the hidden surprises out there.
Let me illustrate …
December 24, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Abductive logic (as opposed to inductive or deductive) is the truly human mode of discovering and making meaning from qualitative data.
New elements book. Free download for two weeks.
Abductive Reasoning in Science
Cambridge Core - Philosophy of Science - Abductive Reasoning in Science
cup.org
June 4, 2024 at 1:44 PM
And I don't think that's necessarily the case. In many respects, the most hysterical AI fails involve overly glib abductive reasoning.
August 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
And I don't think that's necessarily the case. In many respects, the most hysterical AI fails involve overly glib abductive reasoning.
Sherlock Holmes, but no one takes him seriously because he accurately labels his arguments as abductive and inductive.
Also, a confused Inspector Lestrade arrests him for abduction at some point.
Also, a confused Inspector Lestrade arrests him for abduction at some point.
April 4, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Sherlock Holmes, but no one takes him seriously because he accurately labels his arguments as abductive and inductive.
Also, a confused Inspector Lestrade arrests him for abduction at some point.
Also, a confused Inspector Lestrade arrests him for abduction at some point.
Someone messaged me about one of my articles recently, and I thought it might be fun to share more of my work and interests with my 2.7 Bluesky readers.
#AmWriting
#AmWriting
What Is Abductive Reasoning? | Definition & Examples
Abductive reasoning involves observing a phenomenon and inferring the most likely explanation or cause. This type of analysis is commonly used in both
quillbot.com
August 30, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Someone messaged me about one of my articles recently, and I thought it might be fun to share more of my work and interests with my 2.7 Bluesky readers.
#AmWriting
#AmWriting
“while a modern Large Language Model could plausibly execute the deductive phase of proving theorems from established premises, it is structurally incapable of the abductive 'Jump' required to formulate those premises”
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/28024/
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/28024/
LLMs can't jump - PhilSci-Archive
philsci-archive.pitt.edu
February 6, 2026 at 2:27 AM
“while a modern Large Language Model could plausibly execute the deductive phase of proving theorems from established premises, it is structurally incapable of the abductive 'Jump' required to formulate those premises”
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/28024/
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/28024/
L'art de l'enquête version Peirce, avec une mention spéciale pour l'imagination, la fameuse logique "abductive", ici chez l'artiste 🔥
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Charles Sanders Peirce, "Sur la phénoménologie" (1903)
Tout cela implique 3 facultés:
"La première et la plus importante est cette faculté rare, la faculté de voir ce qui saute aux yeux, tel qu’il se présente tout simplement, sans le remplacer par aucune interprétation, ...
1/6
gifs: Min Liu
Tout cela implique 3 facultés:
"La première et la plus importante est cette faculté rare, la faculté de voir ce qui saute aux yeux, tel qu’il se présente tout simplement, sans le remplacer par aucune interprétation, ...
1/6
gifs: Min Liu
February 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
L'art de l'enquête version Peirce, avec une mention spéciale pour l'imagination, la fameuse logique "abductive", ici chez l'artiste 🔥
⏬⏬⏬⏬⏬
⏬⏬⏬⏬⏬
Check out Tavory and Timmermans on abductive analysis
March 5, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Check out Tavory and Timmermans on abductive analysis
The article makes an interesting point about the difference between abductive and deductive reasoning -- which is quite interesting.
However, it claims -- dogmatically -- that AI can only do the latter while command requires the former.
However, it claims -- dogmatically -- that AI can only do the latter while command requires the former.
August 3, 2025 at 9:40 PM
The article makes an interesting point about the difference between abductive and deductive reasoning -- which is quite interesting.
However, it claims -- dogmatically -- that AI can only do the latter while command requires the former.
However, it claims -- dogmatically -- that AI can only do the latter while command requires the former.
I've heard so many different descriptions of what inductive and abductive reasoning are and aren't at this point.
Deductive, pretty consistent. Which is on-brand, really.
Deductive, pretty consistent. Which is on-brand, really.
April 6, 2026 at 1:47 AM
I've heard so many different descriptions of what inductive and abductive reasoning are and aren't at this point.
Deductive, pretty consistent. Which is on-brand, really.
Deductive, pretty consistent. Which is on-brand, really.
"Holmes, I was just reading up on philosophy—"
"Always dangerous."
"And I learned that you very rarely use actual deductive reasoning."
"That is correct."
"Then why do you say you use 'deductive reasoning'?"
"Imagine if I ran around saying I use abductive reasoning."
"What's wrong with abduct—Oh."
"Always dangerous."
"And I learned that you very rarely use actual deductive reasoning."
"That is correct."
"Then why do you say you use 'deductive reasoning'?"
"Imagine if I ran around saying I use abductive reasoning."
"What's wrong with abduct—Oh."
March 27, 2026 at 5:44 PM
"Holmes, I was just reading up on philosophy—"
"Always dangerous."
"And I learned that you very rarely use actual deductive reasoning."
"That is correct."
"Then why do you say you use 'deductive reasoning'?"
"Imagine if I ran around saying I use abductive reasoning."
"What's wrong with abduct—Oh."
"Always dangerous."
"And I learned that you very rarely use actual deductive reasoning."
"That is correct."
"Then why do you say you use 'deductive reasoning'?"
"Imagine if I ran around saying I use abductive reasoning."
"What's wrong with abduct—Oh."
What might be “new” is the curious case of users asking Claude sessions to roleplay the abductive analyst or interview researcher. But Anthropic would rather present these cases as Claude actually conducting interviews (it is not)
September 2, 2026 at 7:01 PM
What might be “new” is the curious case of users asking Claude sessions to roleplay the abductive analyst or interview researcher. But Anthropic would rather present these cases as Claude actually conducting interviews (it is not)
One problem with the Epstein stuff is it has so many spider webs into different things that it feels like it was designed in a lab to get people who are naturally inclined to pattern matching across disparate domains to start engaging in the kind of abductive reasoning common to conspiracy theorists
February 2, 2026 at 12:42 AM
One problem with the Epstein stuff is it has so many spider webs into different things that it feels like it was designed in a lab to get people who are naturally inclined to pattern matching across disparate domains to start engaging in the kind of abductive reasoning common to conspiracy theorists
There was a part in the slides where the definitions were wrong as part of an exercice we did in class, one of those were saying abductive reasoning = discovery by chance...
September 17, 2025 at 8:04 AM
There was a part in the slides where the definitions were wrong as part of an exercice we did in class, one of those were saying abductive reasoning = discovery by chance...
Another confusing thing about inductive reasoning is I don’t think everyone acknowledges abductive reasoning as separate. I’ve watched videos in which abductive gets no mention, and someone told me they were never taught it.
I’m pretty sure in some circles, abductive is just a form of inductive.
I’m pretty sure in some circles, abductive is just a form of inductive.
April 6, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Another confusing thing about inductive reasoning is I don’t think everyone acknowledges abductive reasoning as separate. I’ve watched videos in which abductive gets no mention, and someone told me they were never taught it.
I’m pretty sure in some circles, abductive is just a form of inductive.
I’m pretty sure in some circles, abductive is just a form of inductive.
"In an environment of methodological pluralism, one is free to use the hypothetico-deductive method for theory-testing purposes and to employ abductive methods to generate explanatory theories."
#PhilSci #MetaSci #Psychology
#PhilSci #MetaSci #Psychology
October 2, 2024 at 8:47 PM
"In an environment of methodological pluralism, one is free to use the hypothetico-deductive method for theory-testing purposes and to employ abductive methods to generate explanatory theories."
#PhilSci #MetaSci #Psychology
#PhilSci #MetaSci #Psychology
Also Arthur Conan Doyle (faerie believer) didn't know what deductive logic is, what Holmes does is abductive logic which involves making assumptions from incomplete data that turn out to be correct because that's how it's written, but that's a different point about how genius is difficult to write.
January 29, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Also Arthur Conan Doyle (faerie believer) didn't know what deductive logic is, what Holmes does is abductive logic which involves making assumptions from incomplete data that turn out to be correct because that's how it's written, but that's a different point about how genius is difficult to write.
As a small update, yesterday I saw this skill library for Claude Code that instructs the agent to roleplay as an abductive interview researcher in the style of Timmermans/Tavory. It is certainly an interesting application, but I think it raises big questions!
github.com/nealcaren/so...
github.com/nealcaren/so...
April 13, 2026 at 3:09 PM
As a small update, yesterday I saw this skill library for Claude Code that instructs the agent to roleplay as an abductive interview researcher in the style of Timmermans/Tavory. It is certainly an interesting application, but I think it raises big questions!
github.com/nealcaren/so...
github.com/nealcaren/so...
Can AI discover General Relativity? No, not yet. A provocative new paper argues that LLMs can master induction and deduction, but not the crucial abductive “jump” that allows us to invent entirely new principles. A fascinating question about the limits of AI openreview.net/challenge?re...
August 16, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Can AI discover General Relativity? No, not yet. A provocative new paper argues that LLMs can master induction and deduction, but not the crucial abductive “jump” that allows us to invent entirely new principles. A fascinating question about the limits of AI openreview.net/challenge?re...
Whenever there’s a media blitz on some pressure group’s white paper and I take some time to read the white paper, 100% of the time I find elementary methodological and conceptual problems that undermine its conclusions. 100% of the time. An abductive inference: these white papers are all flawed
July 15, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Whenever there’s a media blitz on some pressure group’s white paper and I take some time to read the white paper, 100% of the time I find elementary methodological and conceptual problems that undermine its conclusions. 100% of the time. An abductive inference: these white papers are all flawed