Formal Logic

To what extent can we use formal logic in the real world?What purpose does it serve? What applications do you use regularly, or do you think you should use more frequently? Reflect and consider an application of real world logic that you have observed. 

Formal logic involves making deductive statements from two (rarely, could be more) given premises. They are syllogisms that are used almost everyday during a simple conversation or an argument. It helps us to derive at conclusions about almost everything in this world. For example, you could be gossiping with your friends about some new guy in the campus and the formal logic example would include: 

              -New guys are quite shy 

              -He is a new guy

              -Therefore, he is quite shy. 

The statement above may not be necessarily true because unless you record the movements of the new guy you would not know whether he is shy or an extrovert. However, such syllogisms become a part of our daily life. If you are having an  argument with a friend you would use formal logic. For example, when your friend and yourself are discussing about the Taliban activities and you are against them. You would say: - Those who kill innocent people should be executed. 

                 - The Taliban kills innocent people

                 - Therefore, the Taliban should be executed. 

This would be a valid statement because you know the activities of the Taliban and have evidence to support your statements. 

Many people use the 'Appeal to Authority' fallacy in real world examples. Most of us would want to believe only those in power. If the United Nations Secretary General gives statistics they must be true and no one can challenge them. However, the statistics shown could be challenged. When the Millennium Development Goals report came out the statistics showed improvement however there was hardly any.