The Art of Thinking — a consideration
- Pattern-chaser
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The Art of Thinking — a consideration
When I refer to thinking, I mean to be a little bit focussed: trivial and frivolous thought have their place, I'm sure, but that place isn't here in this topic. I'm referring to serious thought, such as a philosopher or scientist — i.e., any serious thinker — might devote to the object(s) of their attention.
A consideration of the senses would probably start by listing the traditional five senses, and then perhaps move onto the 10 or 20 other 'senses' that some people think we have. I would love this topic to produce an equivalent list of the 'components' of thinking.
So I refer to the "Art" of thinking to keep things abstract, and not become mired in minute detail. If thinking itself is the top (abstract) level, I want to step down just one rung of that ladder, and try to find out what is there. What are the skills and abilities that the Art of Thinking requires?
To most of us, the most obvious member of this list is intellect. Fair enough. But what else belongs on this list? Logic, perhaps? Yes, that would seem to play its part. But there's surely much more than this? Maybe there are tactics and strategy to thinking? Possibly there are techniques or practises that we could learn, that contribute to the Art of Thinking? Are there intrinsic abilities that one must possess to be capable of thinking, in the sense that I have described it here?
Do you have anything to say, suggest, comment, offer or add? I hope so...
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
It is an interesting thread topic because philosophy involves thinking so it is reasonable to enquire about the nature of thought processes. It does involve the intellect and the specific development of analytic skills. Attention is important, especially in looking at details and focusing, such as when listening to others. It also involves introspection and reflection. When I was doing my mental health nurse training there were sessions on reflective practice. One writer in nursing (Johns) spoke of the distinction between reflection in action and after action as two distinct skills. One writer, Gillian Bolton, has written on reflection through journaling and I have found writing in journals as a means of gaining clarity of my own thinking. Of course, writing ideas down on this site is related to that as well.Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 8:52 am This topic is intended to be broad rather than deep. I would like to consider the skills and abilities that facilitate 'thinking'. I don't want to drill down so deep we reach hemispheres, lobes, and neurons; I'm not hoping to discover the 'cogniton'.
When I refer to thinking, I mean to be a little bit focussed: trivial and frivolous thought have their place, I'm sure, but that place isn't here in this topic. I'm referring to serious thought, such as a philosopher or scientist — i.e., any serious thinker — might devote to the object(s) of their attention.
A consideration of the senses would probably start by listing the traditional five senses, and then perhaps move onto the 10 or 20 other 'senses' that some people think we have. I would love this topic to produce an equivalent list of the 'components' of thinking.
So I refer to the "Art" of thinking to keep things abstract, and not become mired in minute detail. If thinking itself is the top (abstract) level, I want to step down just one rung of that ladder, and try to find out what is there. What are the skills and abilities that the Art of Thinking requires?
To most of us, the most obvious member of this list is intellect. Fair enough. But what else belongs on this list? Logic, perhaps? Yes, that would seem to play its part. But there's surely much more than this? Maybe there are tactics and strategy to thinking? Possibly there are techniques or practises that we could learn, that contribute to the Art of Thinking? Are there intrinsic abilities that one must possess to be capable of thinking, in the sense that I have described it here?
Do you have anything to say, suggest, comment, offer or add? I hope so...
Part of thinking may be about looking beyond the surfaces, both cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and some psychoanalytic ones involve understanding the aspects of the mind which are unconscious, bringing these to consciousness. In particular, cognitive behaviour therapy focuses on gaining awareness of core beliefs underlying emotions. The understanding and awareness of emotions of oneself and other people is crucial to thinking as well, as suggested in the idea of emotional intelligence.
Jung's idea of the four functions is also important, including sensation, feeling, rationality and intuition. He argues that it is important to have as many of these developed as possible, as some may be barely present at all and most people have one that is more developed than others. It is likely that people who are inclined towards philosophy have rationality as the most dominant one. I had a tutor on my art therapy course tell me that that my dominant one is rationalisation. I think that one of my least developed is sensation because I am have always been poor at sports and didn't manage to learn to swim. Of course, physical skills are not really thinking skills as such, but they do involve the body in reception of stimuli as a basis for processing experience and basic reactions.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
This caught my attention, although maybe my attention has been captured by a simple choice of words, and I have imagined a meaning as we often do when we find faces in clouds? What occurred to me is this, that analytic skills require data — evidence, measurements, etc — to analyse. So thinking of this type is limited to empirically-derived data. Some (many?) ideas begin with imagination or speculation. The discovery of the benzene ring is a famous example.JackDaydream wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 10:00 am Philosophy involves thinking so it is reasonable to enquire about the nature of thought processes. It does involve the intellect and the specific development of analytic skills.
So I agree that analytic skills are of value, but intellect and analysis alone are an inadequate and dangerous combination, IMO. I say that only to emphasise that there are many aspects to thinking, and we do ourselves no favours if we assume a too-short list of components. But I'm sure that's not where you were headed with this anyway.
Hmm. This worries me a bit, too. I suppose there are two types of things that are 'unconscious'. One type is normally outside consciousness, but we can, perhaps with training (?), bring them into our awareness, as we were only ignoring them, not unable to 'see' them. The other type is permanently outside of consciousness. I.e. It is not, under any circumstances, available to introspection. Such matters cannot be brought into awareness, it is impossible. And I think it is only the latter that usefully carry the label "unconscious".JackDaydream wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 10:00 am ...cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and some psychoanalytic ones involve understanding the aspects of the mind which are unconscious, bringing these to consciousness.
Often, ideas that began as unconscious musings are passed into consciousness, and we are able to enjoy the result(s). But the birth and development of these mental 'children' is forever hidden from us. Only when they are all grown-up do they turn up in consciousness and say "hi!" ...and perhaps the ideas that never really grow up — i.e. they turn out not to be useful, valid, valuable or viable — never appear in consciousness, so we don't even know they were there?
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
Do you (not) see anything missing here? Some aspect of thinking that you consider important that is overlooked in the above list? Perhaps you feel it's a bit dry, academic, and maybe too work-oriented?Core Thinking Skills
Thinking skills are cognitive operations or processes that are the building blocks of thinking. There are several core thinking skills including focusing, organizing, analysing, evaluating and generating.
Focusing — attending to selected pieces of information while ignoring other stimuli.
Remembering — storing and then retrieving information.
Gathering — bringing to the conscious mind the relative information needed for cognitive processing.
Organizing — arranging information so it can be used more effectively.
Analysing — breaking down information by examining parts and relationships so that its organizational structure may be understood.
Connecting — making connections between related items or pieces of information.
Integrating — connecting and combining information to better understand the relationship between the information.
Compiling — putting parts together to form a whole or building a structure or pattern from diverse elements.
Evaluating — assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas or materials on order to present and defend opinions.
Generating — producing new information, ideas, products, or ways of viewing things.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
You know that I get accused of speculation often by stevie and I also am.a daydreamer, enjoying imagination. At school I used to get told off for staring up at the ceiling or out of the window, and I was really lost in a world of thought. Some people don't seem to like thinking and always have to be doing something, like watching the television or doing a crossword puzzle, even while on busses. I value thinking as a source of inspiration and ideas. I am also in favour of greater awareness of my unconscious and what I found helpful through knowing CBT therapists as work colleagues was the whole emphasis on becoming one's own therapist. However, that is not to say that there aren't some difficult aspects to this, especially recognition of one's faults and weaknesses. It is a case of learning to see one's blindspots and having to live with them or work on improving them.Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 10:49 am Thanks for replying, Jack.
This caught my attention, although maybe my attention has been captured by a simple choice of words, and I have imagined a meaning as we often do when we find faces in clouds? What occurred to me is this, that analytic skills require data — evidence, measurements, etc — to analyse. So thinking of this type is limited to empirically-derived data. Some (many?) ideas begin with imagination or speculation. The discovery of the benzene ring is a famous example.JackDaydream wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 10:00 am Philosophy involves thinking so it is reasonable to enquire about the nature of thought processes. It does involve the intellect and the specific development of analytic skills.
So I agree that analytic skills are of value, but intellect and analysis alone are an inadequate and dangerous combination, IMO. I say that only to emphasise that there are many aspects to thinking, and we do ourselves no favours if we assume a too-short list of components. But I'm sure that's not where you were headed with this anyway.
Hmm. This worries me a bit, too. I suppose there are two types of things that are 'unconscious'. One type is normally outside consciousness, but we can, perhaps with training (?), bring them into our awareness, as we were only ignoring them, not unable to 'see' them. The other type is permanently outside of consciousness. I.e. It is not, under any circumstances, available to introspection. Such matters cannot be brought into awareness, it is impossible. And I think it is only the latter that usefully carry the label "unconscious".JackDaydream wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 10:00 am ...cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and some psychoanalytic ones involve understanding the aspects of the mind which are unconscious, bringing these to consciousness.
Often, ideas that began as unconscious musings are passed into consciousness, and we are able to enjoy the result(s). But the birth and development of these mental 'children' is forever hidden from us. Only when they are all grown-up do they turn up in consciousness and say "hi!" ...and perhaps the ideas that never really grow up — i.e. they turn out not to be useful, valid, valuable or viable — never appear in consciousness, so we don't even know they were there?
One book which I read about a year ago was Iain McGilchrist's, 'The Master and the Emissary: The Divided Brain and Making of the Western World'. He looks at the different hemispheres in thinking. He points to the right brain as being more synthetic and metaphorical, as the master, with the left brain as more fragmentary. However, he draws on neuroscience and the complexity of the hemispheres because it is not a simple clear divide. He also connects the division between imagination and fragmented forms of rationality in connection with historical periods, with the more dominance of the left with the twentieth century and the more imaginative as being in movements such as the romantic philosophers.
Fairly recently, I read Daniel Kahnemann's ' Thinking Fast and Slow', as two different approaches in thinking, with the fast taking the fuller picture and the slower as the more analytical. It makes sense to me because I know that I have different modes of reading, often the first being a quick one and, then, if it is important I will go through and read a second time. I often find aspects appear quite different during the slower approach. Often, in approaching aspects of daily life, even though it may be necessary to act in the moment, the slower approach seems to be about a wider perspective, with more attention to all kinds of relevant details.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
I don't see how you can dismiss thinking as vanity because it is central to life and all innovation. It is based on language which is at the core of human culture. If anything, it is the focus on images, as appearances which is more a form of vanity, or narcissism. Thinking is the way of gaining depth and understanding.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
Thinking just happens. I can't see how my word(s) "dismiss thinking as vanity".JackDaydream wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 2:46 pmI don't see how you can dismiss thinking as vanity ...
Vanity.JackDaydream wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 2:46 pm Thinking is the way of gaining depth and understanding.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
ImaginingPattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 11:22 am I found this list on the net. I'm not sure what I was expecting, so I'm not sure if this is it or not!
Do you (not) see anything missing here? Some aspect of thinking that you consider important that is overlooked in the above list? Perhaps you feel it's a bit dry, academic, and maybe too work-oriented?Core Thinking Skills
Thinking skills are cognitive operations or processes that are the building blocks of thinking. There are several core thinking skills including focusing, organizing, analysing, evaluating and generating.
Focusing — attending to selected pieces of information while ignoring other stimuli.
Remembering — storing and then retrieving information.
Gathering — bringing to the conscious mind the relative information needed for cognitive processing.
Organizing — arranging information so it can be used more effectively.
Analysing — breaking down information by examining parts and relationships so that its organizational structure may be understood.
Connecting — making connections between related items or pieces of information.
Integrating — connecting and combining information to better understand the relationship between the information.
Compiling — putting parts together to form a whole or building a structure or pattern from diverse elements.
Evaluating — assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas or materials on order to present and defend opinions.
Generating — producing new information, ideas, products, or ways of viewing things.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
That's a crucial pointchewybrian wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 3:22 pmImaginingPattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 11:22 am I found this list on the net. I'm not sure what I was expecting, so I'm not sure if this is it or not!
Do you (not) see anything missing here? Some aspect of thinking that you consider important that is overlooked in the above list? Perhaps you feel it's a bit dry, academic, and maybe too work-oriented?Core Thinking Skills
Thinking skills are cognitive operations or processes that are the building blocks of thinking. There are several core thinking skills including focusing, organizing, analysing, evaluating and generating.
Focusing — attending to selected pieces of information while ignoring other stimuli.
Remembering — storing and then retrieving information.
Gathering — bringing to the conscious mind the relative information needed for cognitive processing.
Organizing — arranging information so it can be used more effectively.
Analysing — breaking down information by examining parts and relationships so that its organizational structure may be understood.
Connecting — making connections between related items or pieces of information.
Integrating — connecting and combining information to better understand the relationship between the information.
Compiling — putting parts together to form a whole or building a structure or pattern from diverse elements.
Evaluating — assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas or materials on order to present and defend opinions.
Generating — producing new information, ideas, products, or ways of viewing things.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
- Focusing — attending to selected pieces of information while ignoring other stimuli.
- Remembering — storing and then retrieving information.
- Gathering — bringing to the conscious mind the relative information needed for cognitive processing.
- Organizing — arranging information so it can be used more effectively.
- Analysing — breaking down information into parts and relationships so that its organizational structure may be understood.
- Connecting — making connections between related items or pieces of information.
- Integrating — connecting and combining information to better understand the relationship between the information.
- Compiling — putting parts together to form a whole or building a structure or pattern from diverse elements.
- Evaluating — assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas or materials on order to present and defend opinions.
- Generating — producing new information, ideas, products, or ways of viewing things.
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 11:22 am Do you (not) see anything missing here? Some aspect of thinking that you consider important that is overlooked in the above list? Perhaps you feel it's a bit dry, academic, and maybe too work-oriented?
[Edited to visually match the above list.]
Yes, of course! Imagination is an essential part of exploratory thinking, as well as for discovering creative solutions to some problems our thinking reveals. As a professional designer, much of my job involved thinking, and my path toward design solutions would have been impossible to walk without (imaginative and creative) thinking. Outside a work environment, thought remains possible (), and imagination is an important part of that thinking too.
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
PC!Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 8:52 am This topic is intended to be broad rather than deep. I would like to consider the skills and abilities that facilitate 'thinking'. I don't want to drill down so deep we reach hemispheres, lobes, and neurons; I'm not hoping to discover the 'cogniton'.
When I refer to thinking, I mean to be a little bit focussed: trivial and frivolous thought have their place, I'm sure, but that place isn't here in this topic. I'm referring to serious thought, such as a philosopher or scientist — i.e., any serious thinker — might devote to the object(s) of their attention.
A consideration of the senses would probably start by listing the traditional five senses, and then perhaps move onto the 10 or 20 other 'senses' that some people think we have. I would love this topic to produce an equivalent list of the 'components' of thinking.
So I refer to the "Art" of thinking to keep things abstract, and not become mired in minute detail. If thinking itself is the top (abstract) level, I want to step down just one rung of that ladder, and try to find out what is there. What are the skills and abilities that the Art of Thinking requires?
To most of us, the most obvious member of this list is intellect. Fair enough. But what else belongs on this list? Logic, perhaps? Yes, that would seem to play its part. But there's surely much more than this? Maybe there are tactics and strategy to thinking? Possibly there are techniques or practises that we could learn, that contribute to the Art of Thinking? Are there intrinsic abilities that one must possess to be capable of thinking, in the sense that I have described it here?
Do you have anything to say, suggest, comment, offer or add? I hope so...
Since you mention the concept of Art, I thought of the book Emotional Intelligence (which I have). Your 'tatics' or 'strategies' towards thinking correspond to this model. EI relates to the ways in which individuals use their emotions to understand situations, or the information, and reach conclusions. Awareness is the key there. Emotionally intelligent individuals are more likely to have a better understanding of themselves and to make conscious decisions based on both emotion and rationale combined.
There are all sorts of Models that bear this out. The 'mixed-model' is:
Self-awareness – the ability to know one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals and recognize their impact on others while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
Self-regulation – involves controlling or redirecting one's disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.
Social skill – managing relationships to get along with others
Empathy – considering other people's feelings especially when making decisions
Motivation – being aware of what motivates them.
Some other 'pragmatic' or practical applications that I like are:
Perceiving emotions – the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts—including the ability to identify one's own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.
Using emotions – the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem-solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.
And so where the 'Art' comes into play is when we can improvise our approaches to fit our daily interactions. We can be flexible enough to allow ourselves to wear 'different hats' depending on each happenstance. The idea is that we become more well-rounded as individuals, sentient creatures or Beings. Our level of awareness is at a higher level because we don't repress emotions but instead, we use them for what they are.
From basic brain biology, we are more 'complete' since we are using both left and right-brain's effectively, including the limbic system. It's a means to and end. It's starts with awareness though. That's one reason the music curriculum is important for children. It teaches or requires you to use different parts of the brain. Not being able to use all of what you have corresponds to being incomplete as a person.
― Albert Einstein
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Re: The Art of Thinking — a consideration
Yes, Aristotle did talk about deliberation[/i, which is an active practice of thinking that includes looking to the future as we make plans, choosing and assessing each available alternative to get the best results. I remember being drilled at schools to "brainstorm" about a project. So, this tells me that intellect does not automatically result in deliberation. We were taught how to deliberate, lol.Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑August 20th, 2022, 8:52 am
To most of us, the most obvious member of this list is intellect. Fair enough. But what else belongs on this list? Logic, perhaps? Yes, that would seem to play its part. But there's surely much more than this? Maybe there are tactics and strategy to thinking? Possibly there are techniques or practises that we could learn, that contribute to the Art of Thinking? Are there intrinsic abilities that one must possess to be capable of thinking, in the sense that I have described it here?
Do you have anything to say, suggest, comment, offer or add? I hope so...
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