Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once detailed the difference between analytical and deductive reasoning in one of his Sherlock Holmes short stories. The difference, he said, is that analytic reasoning is the use of logic to solve a problem, to find the answer to a question. Deductive reasoning, on the other hand, is the use of logic to find the question when you already have the answer.

I like to think that I utilize both, but my strength lies with analytical reasoning. If you give me a problem, my brain approaches it in a multilinear way. I see the problem as a base, but rather than focusing on that, I review each of the possible solutions and choose the most likely one. This happens, most of the time, in seconds. It's a trait that I inherited from my father, though he has years of experience on me and often points out routes that I missed.

This quality, or trait, or whatever you want to call it, is what makes me a "leader", or to be more accurate, what makes people follow me, even when I don't think I'm deserving of it.

My point to this is that it gives me a reputation as a problem solver. Both in my relationship with Alyse and during the course of my work, I am turned to and asked to "work my magic" to solve an issue. It is, however, a double edged sword. I occasionally get into arguments with Alyse where she points out different ways to solve a particular issue, and I have an answer for each of them. She understandably feels like I'm just shooting her down, or that I am purposefully defeating her arguments; when in fact I have already reviewed and possibly even tried each of these solutions, and therefore dismiss them out of turn.

Perchance this is why the Navy annoys me so much. Problems in this organization are myriad and diverse, and my job as a Yeoman is largely to find loopholes and solutions for people. Every so often, however, I hit the brick wall of what we call "big navy", by which we're referring to the Department of the Navy, instead of our individual command. It almost seems like they want everything to be a struggle, but yet are confused when we get frustrated. It's rather disheartening to someone wired as I am.

But anywho. Ending another ramble with another thought provoking comment - If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?