An argument based mainly on thinking about something and ideas is deductive. You start with general ideas and lead to specific conclusions if the premises are true. It relies on thought rather than evidence.
Deductive arguments are primarily based on logical reasoning and critical thinking. They start with general premises and lead to specific conclusions that must be true if the premises are true. This process relies heavily on rational thought rather than empirical evidence.
So a forever-alone argument might be:
I am unlovable.
People love the lovable
No one will ever love me.
Of course, there is a lot that is wrong with this argument. The first premise is a generalsation, and the term can’t be defined. The second premise makes the assumption that love is always reciprocal, thus the conclusion is wrong. The point here is that it’s a deductive argument. The argument goes from the general to the particular and makes a firm, black-and-white conclusion.
Inductive arguments are more based on empirical evidence (empirical means observations from the world). The premises can be a bit more vague or not definitely true, and the conclusion is a probability rather than a definite fact. For example
I went on three dates last month, and none of them led to a second date.
I have tried online dating for six months, but I haven’t met anyone I connected with.
My friends have told me that I’m not attractive or interesting enough.
Therefore, I will probably never find love.
So it’s possible all this is true; you can only look for anything illogical to decide how likely it is to be true. In this argument, there is a limited amount of evidence, i.e., three dates over six months; if you zoom out over a lifetime, it’s not enough to draw a very firm conclusion. Is it definitely impossible that a fourth, fifth, or sixth attempt would certainly fail? No, you cannot say this. It’s an inaccurate generalisation.
There is also a mental filter in this example. Most people have a few negative or ‘meh’ experiences before finding a partner. Is this example of three unsatisfactory dates really abnormal?
The external influences might be incorrect, i.e., the opinions of friends. How are they qualified to say this? Do they understand every dynamic and variable?
The last flaw would be not recognizing the changeability of the situation, of growing and becoming a different person in the future. Are there examples of people who had these kinds of experiences, changed some variable, flipped it, and then nailed it?
So, these are the two types of arguments, and people (including you and me) are constantly making arguments (having ideas about how the world is) all the time, throughout the day, and it is the basis for the way we experience life and who we are. Sometimes we make good arguments based on logic and clear observation, and sometimes we make illogical arguments based on faulty thinking and filtering and/or misinterpreting the world we observe.
Recap:
Inductive arguments, based on thinking with specific conclusions.
Deductive arguments, based on observations and less specific evidence and conclusions.