There already are some articles about thinking on this blog. They give an introduction to the topic, which I would like to look at a bit closer in this article. It takes practice to use and observe thinking. Our thinking does many tasks so quickly that we barely notice it. But sometimes it is also slower than we want. To make the observation of thinking easier, it can be helpful to divide it in two processes. So we create a model of how thinking works and use it to structure our observations.
The Youtube-channel “Veritasium” has published an interesting Video on the topic of thinking. It is easy to find on Youtube by searching for “The Science of Thinking”. The model presented in this video I would like to shortly outline here. We have the ability to learn and practice things until we do them automatically, without consciously thinking about each step of the precess. We can observe this every time we properly learn something. For example speaking, walking, cycling, driving, balancing, writing and many other things. With a conscious thought we simple give the order to act, and thanks to practice our automated, unconscious thinking can coordinate the rest. When we want to note something down on paper we do it quickly and with ease. It will not be so easy if we try to write with our other hand. We could learn to write with the other hand as well, and it would become easier over time. The handwriting might never become as visually pleasing, but it is possible. Also the input from our sensory organs we must first learn to interpret. We do this very young and do normally not remember it. But we can observe small children, as they start to recognize more and more and improve the coordination of their body.
The automated thinking is very fast, needs no attention and can make us of our entire experience. On the other hand it cannot handle new situations, cannot wirk with anything unknown and is generally uncritical. Those tasks we do with our conscious thinking. It requires our attention and focus, and is often slow. But it can overcome prejudice and find new things and new connections.
The conscious thinking makes use of the automated thinking. When we react to a perception with our conscious thinking, then we are already using a lot of results given by the automated thinking. It automatically interprets the sensory inputs and delivers us the concepts to all the things it already knows and recognizes. For example, when we look at a picture for one second, then we will be able to recognize many things on it without effort in this very short time. At least if there are things we know on that picture, like plants, buildings, animals or humans. If there are things unknown to our automated thinking on the picture, then the conscious thinking gets triggered and we want to look closer and longer at the picture. The sensory organs give us a mystery, which our automated thinking solves within a split second for the things we know. If we don’t know, if something new shows up, then we need to work out the concept behind that mystery with our conscious thinking. This takes time, because we need to find the idea of what we perceive and then make a connection. Doing so, we make a judgement. We name something. This task of thinking is done by the intellect. The intellect analyzes, defines, names, makes concepts available for us.
Building on those concepts is language. Language names the concepts with words and thus enables verbal and written communication. We also use words when thinking, to bring a concept into our mind. When we think a word, the automated thinking instantly delivers the concept that we have connected with it. This concept first appears in an individualized form, within the Vorstellung that we created. The concepts themselves usually remain in the background. We can bring them forward by doing a concept clarification with our conscious thinking. To do so, we start with an example and then search for relevant features; or, in other words, find all the sub-concepts that we have connected with the concept in question. This way we can also find out whether we and our conversation partner have them same concept connected to a word.
Every spirit that arrives on this planet and wants to express itself will bump into limits given by language and the words included in it. If we would simply give up and accept the use of language as it is, we would block our own development. We would not be able to think freely. We have to co-create and develop our language, sometimes shift it. That includes the creation of new words, as well as the adaptation, expansion or specification of existing words and their meaning. Language is a tool that allows us to more efficiently use our automated thinking. Every concept that we have a word for is easily accessible to our conscious thinking thanks to the word. That is because our automated thinking learned what concept belongs to the word, and simply thinking the word makes the concept available. We can then push the automated thinking to create new connections between concepts simply by thinking the words.