The Linearity of Logic“Linear Thinking” is defined as:
a process of thought following known cycles or step-by-step progression where a response to a step must be elicited before another step is taken.
If a = b, and b = c, then a = c. The application of linear thinking can be found in the well known Socratic Method:
a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas
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Non-Linear Thinking
Non-linear thinking, a relatively new term, is vague enough (perhaps naturally so) that a simple google search will yield more beatings-around-the-bushes than formal definitions for the phrase. I think of it as follows:
Human thought characterized by expansion in multiple directions, rather than in one direction, and based on the concept that there are multiple starting points from which one can apply logic to a problem.