Implicit reasoning: quick but closed
Implicit reasoning is a way of deciding who receives what without the reasons being set out: it is quicker, but the reasons stay hidden.
Remember
Implicit reasoning is quick but closed: with no stated reasons, nobody can check whether the decision was fair, so unequal treatment is more likely.
Memory aid
implicit means implied and hidden in the decision makers' heads, whereas explicit means spelled out for everyone to see
Use it to tell the two styles apart: implicit reasoning stays in the heads of the decision makers, while explicit reasoning is spelled out.
Scarcity (resources being limited) arises in healthcare, because demand outstrips supply. Someone therefore has to decide who receives what, and there are two broad ways of doing so.
Implicit reasoning means the reasons for a decision are not set out. Because the decision makers spend no time justifying their choices, it is quicker.
The disadvantage of that speed is its closed nature. The reasons stay hidden, so others cannot check what counted in the decision. Hidden factors can then influence the decision without anyone noticing. One example is social deservingness, a judgement about whether someone is worthy of help. Without stated reasons, influences of that kind can go unnoticed and lead to inequality and discrimination, in other words unequal treatment of people.
It also makes decisions less accountable, because they are harder to challenge or review, and less egalitarian, because treating people as equals becomes less likely.
Explicit reasoning is the broad style in which rules are set in advance and openly stated, so the basis is visible and decisions can be debated and challenged. Rigid rules may overlook individual circumstances.
Key facts
- What it is
- deciding who receives what without the reasons being set out.
- Strength
- it is quicker, because the decision makers spend no time justifying their choices.
- Weakness
- its closed nature risks inequality and discrimination (unequal treatment), and it is less accountable.
- Hidden influence
- social deservingness, a judgement about whether someone is worthy of help, can shape a decision without anyone noticing.
- Explicit reasoning
- its rules are set in advance and openly stated, so decisions can be debated and challenged.
- Scarcity
- limited resources make deciding who receives what unavoidable, whichever style of reasoning is used.
Exam traps
- Distress at being judged undeserving is a disadvantage of explicit reasoning rather than implicit reasoning, because patients can see the criteria used to exclude them.
- Rigid rules that overlook unusual circumstances are a weakness of explicit reasoning, not of implicit reasoning, which does not apply a common rule.
- Speed counts as an advantage of implicit reasoning, since no time is spent justifying choices; explicit reasoning requires the reasons to be stated.
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