Chapter 18 — Reasoning

Reasoning may seem like a separate and complicated mental process, but STLR can describe it with the same basic components used throughout the framework.

The brain activates Tags containing relevant statements, beliefs, doubts, possibilities, observations, and memories. It processes their content in the present context and may form new Tag content representing a conclusion or another possibility.

STLR does not claim that all reasoning follows one exact sequence. It also does not contain a mechanism that identifies objective truth.

Truth Is Also Tag Content

From the STLR point of view, each of these statements can be stored as content in a Tag:

• The Earth is flat.
• The Earth may be flat.
• The Earth is probably not flat.
• The Earth is not flat.

Structurally, they are all Tags. Their content is different, but STLR does not inspect them and mark one as objective truth.

A Tag may represent what you believe, what you used to believe, what another person believes, a possibility you are considering, or a statement you believe is false. That status can also be part of the Tag content or represented by related Tags.

Contradictory Tags Can Exist Together

Suppose your brain contains these Tags:

• Mary loves me.
• Mary does not love me.
• Mary may love me.

All three can be stored and Hard-Linked to the Mary Tag. STLR does not require the brain to keep only one final, consistent statement about Mary.

If Mary smiles at you, Mary loves me may become active. If she ignores your message, Mary does not love me may become active. If her behavior is unclear, Mary may love me may become active.

Your mood, expectation, attention, past experiences, preferences, and what you see in front of you can influence which Tag you think about, use, or follow.

From STLR, these statements are the same kind of internal representation. STLR does not decide which one correctly describes Mary's feelings.

Stored Truth Is Recalled When Needed

What you currently accept as true is stored in Tags and groups of Tags. When reasoning is needed, the question and current situation activate relevant content.

Reference can bring forward what you know or believe about the subject. Hard-Links help associated Tags activate. The brain then parses and processes the active content to determine what happens next.

It may reach a conclusion, continue searching, create another possibility, postpone the decision, or do nothing.

A New Possibility Is a New Tag

You do not have to follow the content you currently believe.

A person who believes The Earth is flat can temporarily consider:

What if the Earth is not flat?

That possibility can be represented by another Tag. It does not have to erase or replace the original belief immediately. Both representations can exist while the person processes observations, explanations, and consequences.

The new Tag may remain a possibility, become accepted as a new truth, be modified, or be rejected. The former belief may remain stored as:

I once believed the Earth was flat.

Reasoning About a Missing Book

Suppose a book is missing and the thought Maybe John took the book becomes active.

That thought can Reference Tags related to John, the book, the location, the time, witnesses, and recent events. Other possibilities may also become active:

• Mary moved the book.
• Someone returned it to a different shelf.
• The book was never placed where expected.

The brain processes these statements together with current observations and stored knowledge. If a camera shows Mary moving the book, that content may become more useful than the original John hypothesis.

But the outcome is not guaranteed. If you strongly distrust Mary or strongly believe John is dishonest, different Tags may dominate your thinking. Reasoning uses the content that becomes active; it does not automatically remove bias.

No Objective-Truth Gate

STLR does not need a Truth Gate. The brain has no guaranteed internal copy of objective reality against which every statement can be checked.

A person may reject strong external evidence because it conflicts with Tags the person already accepts as true. Someone may continue believing that the Earth is flat even after receiving contrary evidence.

Widely accepted knowledge can also change when new evidence appears. What people accept as objective truth may later be shown to be incomplete or wrong. Reality does not become wrong; the human description or understanding of it changes.

STLR therefore explains how claims and beliefs may be represented and processed. It does not determine which claim corresponds to reality.

Reasoning Can Change Stored Knowledge

A conclusion can become new Tag content. Repetition, evidence, experience, attention, and emotion may strengthen it and its Hard-Links. Later information may weaken it, modify it, or activate a competing Tag instead.

Reasoning can therefore change the knowledge used in future reasoning. There is no permanent collection of Tags that must always be treated as truth.

In Simple Terms

In STLR:

• Beliefs, doubts, possibilities, claims, and conclusions are content stored in Tags.
• Contradictory Tags can exist and be Hard-Linked to the same subject.
• Signals, Hard-Links, and Reference bring potentially relevant Tags into activity.
• Attention, mood, expectation, preference, prior knowledge, and the present situation influence which content is processed.
• The brain may follow existing content or create a new Tag representing another possibility.
• The result may become a conclusion, another question, an action, or no response.

STLR describes how the brain may store and process representations. It does not guarantee that any selected representation is objectively true.