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Abduction

Definition: Abduction is the reasoning process of inferring A as an explanation of B. Example: The Atlantic coastlines of Africa and America are similar. Hypothesis: the continental drift theory.
A starts from observing facts, leading via intuition to a hypothesis, which is considered a viable explanation. A is a special form of induction.
Also called abductive reasoning or retroductive reasoning.
A famous example is the way Sherlock Holmes solved his cases.
A is at the basis of Design Thinking, Lateral Thinking and Integrative Thinking.

More on abduction. More on reasoning: Abstraction, Analogy, Argumenting, Deduction, Design Thinking, more...