Reductionism as a Thinking Strategy
Reductionism as a Thinking Strategy

Ontological, methodological, and theory reductionism

I am currently reading a book:

And the first chapter made me think of how I can apply the 3 main types of reductionism to improve my thinking:

Ontological reductionism: a belief that the whole of reality consists of a minimal number of parts. Methodological reductionism: the scientific attempt to provide explanation in terms of ever smaller entities. Theory reductionism: the suggestion that a newer theory does not replace or absorb an older one, but reduces it to more basic terms. Theory reduction itself is divisible into three parts: translation, derivation and explanation.[3] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductionism

Ontological Reductionism

What I essentially can do with this one, is by what the book calls “clear the cutter” i.e. removing unnecessary parts while still achieving a particular goal.

A simple example is that planes don’t have to flap their wings to fly, unlike birds. So by removing the component “flapping” we are achieving the same goal “flying” with a lower quantity of parts.

An important requirement for ontological reductionism seems to be having a top-down approach i.e. a goal, which, one its own, already “clears the cutter”.

Methodological Reductionism

This one is best explained by a quote I read in that book:

“If you can’t solve a problem, then there is an easier problem you can solve: find it.” — George Pólya

…And then slowly work your way toward the actual problem you couldn’t solve in the first place.

Theory Reductionism

I n terms of thinking, this one is mostly synonymous to chunking. When chunking different things, you also indirectly can apply ontological reductionism i.e. you have less parts that you have to move and connect like a jigsaw puzzle.
['John Von Neumann Ii']
['Self Improvement', 'Education', 'Productivity', 'Inspiration', 'Science']