“You are not thinking. You are merely being logical” is a quote said by Niels Bohr to Albert Einstein. He is very much right. Science and Mathematics are subjects where no room to question has been left. What we do when solving a question is basically a general fact, a rule that everyone has to follow. Being good at math may make one into a logical thinker but not a rational one.
I originally thought that rational and logical thinking was the same thing or divided by a really fine line. However that is not the case. The word rationality and logic have entirely different meanings. The dictionary gives these as their meanings.
Rational-‘having its source in or being guided by the intellect (distinguished from experience or emotion) (Example: "A rational analysis")’or ‘consistent with or based on or using reason (Example: "Rational behaviour")’.
Logical- capable of or reflecting the capability for correct and valid reasoning (Example: "A logical mind")
or based on known statements or events or conditions (Example: "Rain was a logical expectation, given the time of year")
Rationality is related to more to the idea of reason in the sense if one is rational one is able to infer or extrapolate in an ordered matter. Yet rationality is not certain i.e. it is based on probability and expectation. However logic is based more on facts that can be proved. It is very precise and cannot be argued with. Working out a maths sum is the perfect example of logical thinking because there is no other way of going about the sum. There is no reason involved in the sense that one is not going to think twice before writing 2+2=4, in our brain it is a fact.
Science is a mixture of logical and rational thinking. Proofs for formulas would be more logical however explanations and understanding is based on rational thinking. One would perceive as science being 100% right but because the explanations are rational, they are more hypothetical. For example science works around the phenomena of an ideal gas where the gas particles do not exert any force on each other however in reality no such phenomena exists unless induced by humans and even there it is not completely proper. Also many things have been taken for granted where science is concerned for example there is actually no proof that the direction of magnetic field lines is from the north to the south. It has just been taken for convenience’s sake. These hypothesises is science are rational but not logical as there are no facts.
Thus in conclusion rational behaviour is where one is uses there own personal experiences, perception and thus knowledge to infer something. Thus it is entirely based on reason. Here one questions to reach a hypothesis, an expected claim. However logic is something that is a part of rational thinking if the logic used is valid, certain or rather factual. Rational thinking is however ‘uncertain but sensible’.
