A new study published in *Thinking & Reasoning* reveals that the ability to use logical intuition—the "smart intuitor" profile where high intelligence leads to accurate gut instincts—is a developmental milestone that matures throughout adolescence. By testing middle and high school students with probability puzzles, researchers found that while older teenagers can use deliberate thought to correct stereotypical biases, younger students lack the underlying mental strategies to override these instincts even with extra time. This suggests that true seamless logic is not immediate but rather an optimized skill built through years of academic practice and cognitive development.
Descriptive set theorists study the niche mathematics of infinity. Now, they’ve shown that their problems can be rewritten in the concrete language of algorithms.
This article details how to build a lightweight and efficient rules engine by recasting propositional logic as sparse algebra. It guides readers through the process from theoretical foundations to practical implementation, introducing concepts like state vectors and algebraic operations for logical inference.
Dr Valeria Correa Vaz de Paiva is a Brazilian mathematician, logician, computer scientist, and computational linguist known for introducing the concept of dialectica spaces, which model linear logic in advanced programming languages. She has contributed significantly to natural language processing (NLP) and works at the Topos Institute in Berkeley, California. De Paiva is committed to encouraging more women into STEM fields and is actively involved in Women In Logic (WIL).
