Sherlocked... Yes, but I would like to point out...

that Sherlock Holmes does NOT use deductive reasoning to solve crimes.

How is this? You may ask.

Well, there are three main types of reasoning, inductive, deductive and abductive.

Deductive reasoning reaches a conclusion from observable premises. However, this conclusion is absolute. No other conclusion is rational, such as.

Premise 1: All humans are mortal.
Premise2: Socrates is a human.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

Inductive reasoning uses previously observable phenomenon to inference a proposition based on what usually happens:

Premise: The sun has risen in the east every morning up until now.
Conclusion: The sun will also rise in the east tomorrow.

Finally, abductive reasoning, the type Sherlock actually uses, takes a series of observable and unobservable data and creates a "best fit" scenario. There are other possible conclusions, but the conclusion reached, is the most likely to occur. For example, when a patient displays symptoms, there may be many possible causes, but one is preferred to the others.

One of the reasons Sherlock is so successful is that his divergence thinking is much higher than the other police officers and detectives, meaning that he can think of more possibilities of what could have happened and then use his observed evidence to reason down. It would be similar to trying to find a precise shade of blue in a pack of 8 crayons or a pack of 200.

Amazingly, divergent thinking is something that children do remarkably well. Usually during school-age years, the analytical skills increase and the divergent thinking decreases. Those who hold onto their divergent thinking tend to be considered quirky... but really, they hold a type of intelligence that others seem to "grow out of".

It seems ironic that Sherlock's combined keen eye for observation and ability at divergent thinking and abduction make him much more child-like, not to mention interesting, when the general populace tends to think of him as having a super intelligence. Whether or not that's true, in my mind, it's linked to this...

Enjoy ;) I'm off to read more Holmes.