Abduction: Doctrine derived from formal logic that the best explanation derives from untestable guesses rather than testable guesses (i.e. deduction) or simple observation (i.e. induction), thus resulting in an abdication of the need to think.
For example, in the 15th century, the limited information about how the solar system worked resulted in explanations derived from what that information implied, and the resulting Ptolemaic or earth centered explanation was good enough, thus permitting other hypotheses to be dismissed and their authors burned alive. Similarly, present day evolutionary psychologists use abuctive reasoning to hold that the mind is composed of cognitive modules (see phrenology), thus permitting other hypotheses to be dismissed and their authors figuratively burned alive (see Steven Jay Gould).
