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Thinking caps on?


Professor T

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Everyone has their own methods of looking at problems and dealing with life.. There's no right or wrong, just different methods.. But I'm wondering how many Methods are out there?

The thought occurs that throughout the evolution of humanity, thoughts have changed slowly from being Mystical/magical towards logical and methodical. Or, perhaps, it's just a case of having a greater scope of thought processes at our disposal due to new ideas being found.. :unsure2: dunno...

I might be wrong, but it occurs to me that the evolution of human thought processes is either leading somewhere or just expanding out into new possibilities..

So, simple question.. But kind of a tricky subject.. How many ways of thinking do we have at our disposal?

How do your thought processes form when dealing with any problem?

What are your thoughts on thoughts?

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But there are many ways to deal with the same problem.

Example: I have a flat tire but no jack. What are my options? I've had the same problem at different times but solved the same problem with different methods, depending on the circumstances.

I could describe myself as a utilitarian.

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YOU: Everyone has their own methods of looking at problems and dealing with life.. There's no right or wrong, just different methods.. But I'm wondering how many Methods are out there?

First to that you are right "many" "methods" an "many lives" all in which we all live different ones touché lol

Be a massive conversation on that one alone:O

No right or wrong to anything we all learn as we go though lessons" but we learn also buy the people we are around an hence they pass on ideals ect

Another big convo lol>>

YOU: The thought occurs that throughout the evolution of humanity, thoughts have changed slowly from being Mystical/magical towards logical and methodical.

In time the ways people evolve an cope as humanity an in the evolutional path we moved forward>

Weather it be from mystical, mythical, magical an to logical an methodical ..

We as humanity all walked a path of discovery our minds all ways on thinking pondering to a new ...

I think we keep some teaching from all that has been pasted down to the now, but we may see a more sticking to the approach of logical and then in methodical because we have learnt a lot.. that some things simply do not work ie: 'comply to NOW lol..

thus dont seem right" as under the pasted contents of thoughts and doing ..did see it as "correct" ...ect

boom!:o to the more...haha

Of coarse you are correct to say evolution of humanity's thought processes "is" leading somewhere and expanding out into new possibilities as we move forward it has before called:> natural progression ..:D to that Future is now.. right!?

We are evolving day by day minute by minute moment by moment Deep breath wooosh lol

To the question how many ways do we have of thinking at our disposal?

> Endless:D there are billions off people on this earth all with methods ways ideals

> More to the question how do work together to make it work?

Thought Processes" from dealing with a problem..

comes from lessons an Experiences, mentors u name it>>>

Um tricky because we all have differ um Good question though..

... but to what problem I ask?:D

Thoughts on thoughts " OMGosh Thank gosh we can think an have em that's the first thing..I think of lol "Our beautiful mind"

Question? what do mean on thoughts?:D

You got me thinking lol:O ....

I think you are cool

KEEP THINKING Awesome one

x

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There is only one way of thinking, we just all do it differently. So IMO there are as many ways of thinking as there are people on the planet.

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Agreed, thoughts and ways of thinking are as numerous as there are people on earth.. But there are types of thought, classifications of thought.. it used to be that anything we experienced on earth came down to terms of tide and time and nature.. Then Religion, Angels and demons... Nowadays there's many ways of thinking.. The old ways haven't died, and wont.. But new ways are becoming available to us.

Pathological thought, for example, is imbalanced, blind, and hard to control.. Hell I'm no expert, but it's the kind of thought process that is so blind and so powerful that half the time people don't realize they've been thinking Pathologically until they wake up from it............. it devolves................ and they're left there holding the gun, looking at the carnage, and thinking "Oh cr*p, what have I done!"

Logical thought, for example, is probably a type of thought that everyone is capable of, and does all the time.... Think "Live long and prosper" It's robotic at times, not very emotional..

Psychological thought, for example, is all seeing.. It allows us to think about our own emotional and psychological and philosophical ideas..

That's three....... I think..

Thoughts?

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Daydreaming, a kind of thought that let your mind gone wild, free. Usually happens in creative people as their thought is like no one's thought

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Daydreaming, a kind of thought that let your mind gone wild, free. Usually happens in creative people as their thought is like no one's thought

Bingo.. There's another type of thought..

thinking..... "hmph, why didn't I see that"

Self Indulgent, free thinking thoughts.. I guess that can be also be extended to dreams..

Thanks FlyingAngel..

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Agreed, thoughts and ways of thinking are as numerous as there are people on earth.. But there are types of thought, classifications of thought.. it used to be that anything we experienced on earth came down to terms of tide and time and nature.. Then Religion, Angels and demons... Nowadays there's many ways of thinking.. The old ways haven't died, and wont.. But new ways are becoming available to us.

Pathological thought, for example, is imbalanced, blind, and hard to control.. Hell I'm no expert, but it's the kind of thought process that is so blind and so powerful that half the time people don't realize they've been thinking Pathologically until they wake up from it............. it devolves................ and they're left there holding the gun, looking at the carnage, and thinking "Oh cr*p, what have I done!"

Logical thought, for example, is probably a type of thought that everyone is capable of, and does all the time.... Think "Live long and prosper" It's robotic at times, not very emotional..

Psychological thought, for example, is all seeing.. It allows us to think about our own emotional and psychological and philosophical ideas..

That's three....... I think..

Thoughts?

Utilitarian is what I am. I'm a minimalist thinker. The easiest way to the answer (given the tools at hand) to the problem is what I want, and like Occam's Razor, I've found out that the simplest solution is usually the right one.

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Utilitarian is what I am. I'm a minimalist thinker. The easiest way to the answer (given the tools at hand) to the problem is what I want, and like Occam's Razor, I've found out that the simplest solution is usually the right one.

Interesting.. But I'm not sure if that is a type thinking? Unless it's basically typing into Google then cut and pasting.. In which case it's basically outsourcing the effort of thinking..

Can you give a few examples?

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Interesting question, Prof, thanks for posing it. Here's a couple of things that have stuck in my mind for a number of years. I worked for about 3 years with a group that did leadership training. One exercise was a survival exercise, where the participants were stranded somewhere with 20 items that had to be ranked in order of importance. The group that consistently performed the best were older Filipina women. Another exercise was to connect 3 or 4 rows of dots with one continuous stroke. The trainers said the group that performed this task best were Japanese.

I don't know why this is so, but I did learn that there are different ways of approaching a problem, and that as good a mind as I have, and it's pretty good, it doesn't always provide me with the correct solution. BTW, the solution to the box of dots is to think outside the box. While I still tend to think inside the box, those times when I manage to think outside it often leads, if not to solutions, valuable trains of thought.

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I think that thinking about thinking is always an afterthought. We think retroactively to what we say, do, experience, etc. We often, literally, don't think (consciously) before we speak or act.

This is similar to the issue of defining consciousness, or at least self-consciousness.

The thinker is thinking about thinking, so which came first, the thought or the thought thereof?

This isn't a language game, but it does point to the complexity of defining "thinking." We have to think in order to define it, so. . .

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My personal perception is -

Thinking is not 'thoughts' , Thoughts are not 'thinking' ~ 'Thinking' is a process of brain waves or patterns of neurons firing based on 'familiarity' established by 'experience' (in its all encompassing definition, subjectively AND objectively)

This 'familiarity' in turn is 'tied' to thoughts like knots ~ reflecting the time and space where the thought was relevant to the entire collective 'experience' of the individual

Through 'education' beliefs or shared influences inclusive of every sources of information available, every 'individual' shares some similarity with this 'familiarity' that is then entrenched with logic, common sense or 'reality' as true - truth - or just simply - 'what is real'

In every event thoughts are just an individual process of being as objectively subjective as allowable or in other possible situation, the reverse, to be as subjective as objectively possible ...

AMidst this tried and tested true mental collective of thoughts claimed familiar ... there is the unfamiliar ... the unpolluted and 'unrefined' according to the standards of the common ~ this I believe to be what is termed 'creatively' familiar ... unfamiliar to the common ~

Perhaps I go too far but I think what the old Philosophers and Ancient Masters were saying is ~

There is no such thing as 'thoughts' other than what we make up to be thoughts ...

there is no such thing as 'thinking' as in 'I am' other than what is resulted from 'Am I thinking ?'

~

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I think that thinking about thinking is always an afterthought. We think retroactively to what we say, do, experience, etc. We often, literally, don't think (consciously) before we speak or act.

This is similar to the issue of defining consciousness, or at least self-consciousness.

The thinker is thinking about thinking, so which came first, the thought or the thought thereof?

This isn't a language game, but it does point to the complexity of defining "thinking." We have to think in order to define it, so. . .

My personal perception is -

Thinking is not 'thoughts' , Thoughts are not 'thinking' ~ 'Thinking' is a process of brain waves or patterns of neurons firing based on 'familiarity' established by 'experience' (in its all encompassing definition, subjectively AND objectively)

This 'familiarity' in turn is 'tied' to thoughts like knots ~ reflecting the time and space where the thought was relevant to the entire collective 'experience' of the individual

Through 'education' beliefs or shared influences inclusive of every sources of information available, every 'individual' shares some similarity with this 'familiarity' that is then entrenched with logic, common sense or 'reality' as true - truth - or just simply - 'what is real'

In every event thoughts are just an individual process of being as objectively subjective as allowable or in other possible situation, the reverse, to be as subjective as objectively possible ...

AMidst this tried and tested true mental collective of thoughts claimed familiar ... there is the unfamiliar ... the unpolluted and 'unrefined' according to the standards of the common ~ this I believe to be what is termed 'creatively' familiar ... unfamiliar to the common ~

Perhaps I go too far but I think what the old Philosophers and Ancient Masters were saying is ~

There is no such thing as 'thoughts' other than what we make up to be thoughts ...

there is no such thing as 'thinking' as in 'I am' other than what is resulted from 'Am I thinking ?'

~

But we can, and do think before performing some actions.. And knot's are a great analogy..

Put it this way..

We're learning a new task, the task is tying one's shoe laces.. There's a knack to it.. It's hard to learn, you have to think about each and every step because you have not done this task before.. And you practice. sometimes tying knots, sometimes a neat bow.. and you think about each step, and how you did it last time..

a year later... and you don't even think about the task.. you just do it... Why? Because it's no longer a thinking task.. it's all down to mind and muscle memory... No conscious thought required..

We are capable of becoming aware of thinking and thoughts right down to fundamental levels..and it is, and I may be wrong, the difference between being a fully conscious being and an animal that acts on instinct and memory alone..

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Interestingly I have had the same thoughts around this matter Professor. How original are thoughts. How does fishing and fire manifest itself in mankinds thinking? Is it possible thought can be capable of thought?

Abstract thinking in my opinion has remained with us since the cave. It is the mother of all creative thinking and necessary to advance invention like fire, the wheel and war. Thinking is an artform in more sense than cave painting or sculpture or architecture.

Suvival instinct could be an even more primitive form of thinking than this perhaps, a more deeply automatic process that seemingly requires no thought of effort, you know, run or die.

Thinking constantly undergoes states of evolution within each individual, call that learning if you like or aging.

Maybe free thinking also is less of a concept but an actual practice where you can let your mind contemplate unbounded thought of anything it so desires. I like doing this when looking up on a star filled night, doing just that, contemplating.

Can thinking be inherent from generation to generation? Do they live on after we die? Could a caveman be trained to drive a truck? Or fly a helicopter?

I think so. Like we could be taught by a caveman to make fire or hunt, same thing, or build pyramids or navigate by the sun and stars.

We are as natural as nature itself. Everything we do or ever will do or ever have done is expression of thought. Anything that is capable of doing, now that im thinking about it, might also be capable of thinking.

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But we can, and do think before performing some actions.. And knot's are a great analogy..

Put it this way..

We're learning a new task, the task is tying one's shoe laces.. There's a knack to it.. It's hard to learn, you have to think about each and every step because you have not done this task before.. And you practice. sometimes tying knots, sometimes a neat bow.. and you think about each step, and how you did it last time..

a year later... and you don't even think about the task.. you just do it... Why? Because it's no longer a thinking task.. it's all down to mind and muscle memory... No conscious thought required..

... there is such a thing as rote learning ... and maybe rote thinking applies to certain tasks along the lines of applying memory skills ...

We are capable of becoming aware of thinking and thoughts right down to fundamental levels..and it is, and I may be wrong, the difference between being a fully conscious being and an animal that acts on instinct and memory alone..

Lately there has been much new revelations based on more dedicated research on 'learning and thinking' in the natural world :

Spider hunting strategies - Google Resource - links

Lion and Pack HUnting Strategies - Nesting and nest construction more sophisticated than thought or known - Sea mammals hunting strategies - and of course Tool use among primates more wide spread than recently believed ~

*Sorry ... My wireless internet is a bit wonky at the moment - mighty big storm overhead ... links are weighing down my connection*

~

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... there is such a thing as rote learning ... and maybe rote thinking applies to certain tasks along the lines of applying memory skills ...

interesting but...

Ewwwwwwwe..

Rote thinking is thoughtlessness. & rote learning does nothing to promote thoughts..

But you have raised a really good example of the difference between thought's and thinking v's Memory..

cool..

Short clip. 1 minute 37..

Sorry, but I've completely missed the point about spiders.. and the Link just took me to Google..

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interesting but...

Ewwwwwwwe..

Rote thinking is thoughtlessness. & rote learning does nothing to promote thoughts..

Uhmmm have to disagree here ~ subject of rote learning/memorising is fixed ... thoughts are not - and rote learning is anything but 'easy' or simple ... :)

It is a 'discipline' ~ and it promotes 'disciplined' thoughts ~ a useful characteristic when applied appropriately or accordingly ~

But you have raised a really good example of the difference between thought's and thinking v's Memory..

cool..

~clip snip

I was and is am still curious though about 'thinking against memory' ~ I feel and believe it is no different one from the other ~ water - ice - vapor/gas

I recommend this read if you are unfamiliar with this title ~ available in pdf

Science Without Bounds

A Synthesis of Science,

Religion and Mysticism

By

Arthur D'Adamo

http://www.AdamFord.com

© 2004 by Arthur D'Adamo. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording,

or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

ISBN: 1-4140-5473-4 (e-book)

ISBN: 1-4140-5472-6 (Paperback)

or here - Holybooks link

Sorry, but I've completely missed the point about spiders.. and the Link just took me to Google..

I apologise ~ my net connection was lagging me bad that day ~ I was just pointing out that in the natural world, thinking and learning is apparently not so unusual -

Portia spiders can walk on every type of spider silk without getting stuck that they ... most capable and intelligent hunting strategies ever witnessed ...

ANimals have now been observed as showing more sophisticated behaviours mostly associated with 'thinking' ~ strategies towards problem solving ~

Social animal groups may be passing 'knowledge' and learning from generation to generation ~ giving cause for questions alike is 'such behaviour constituting 'tradition / culture' ?

Sorry ... I am in a bit of a rush ~ the QingMing Festival Week ( Wiki Link ) ~ time to honor the ancestors :yes:

~

edit - link maintenance

Edited by third_eye
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Am I the only one who not only thinks through a situation, reviewing past experiences, acquired knowledge, logic (critical thinking), etc. but also feels my way through it? By feeling my way through it, I mean paying attention to my body's physical responses and state of being? I always use what I call body wisdom in addition to my mind, and have found that for myself, my body wisdom is more trustworthy, that I can, for instance, feel that a person or situation is dangerous, and my mind sometimes has to catch up to that.

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Am I the only one who not only thinks through a situation, reviewing past experiences, acquired knowledge, logic (critical thinking), etc. but also feels my way through it? By feeling my way through it, I mean paying attention to my body's physical responses and state of being? I always use what I call body wisdom in addition to my mind, and have found that for myself, my body wisdom is more trustworthy, that I can, for instance, feel that a person or situation is dangerous, and my mind sometimes has to catch up to that.

Awesome.. See that intrigues me. And is exactly what I'm getting at what I mean by types of thoughts, ways of thinking..

That there is IMO exactly the kind of Thinking that is for the most part new, unique, and completely misunderstood..

The list of thought processes is extensive.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thought_processes

But the types of thought and types of thinking is small, vague at best, and is hidden in the background of our perceptions.. It's rarely spoken of because it's very hard to verbalize and separate from memory.. Would you say this is a type of body memory? Energy? Intuition? Or is it a critical part of your thinking process.

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~ inner feeling ~ inner thought ~ intuition ~ insight ~

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Uhmmm have to disagree here ~ subject of rote learning/memorising is fixed ... thoughts are not - and rote learning is anything but 'easy' or simple ... :)

It is a 'discipline' ~ and it promotes 'disciplined' thoughts ~ a useful characteristic when applied appropriately or accordingly ~

I was and is am still curious though about 'thinking against memory' ~ I feel and believe it is no different one from the other ~ water - ice - vapor/gas

I recommend this read if you are unfamiliar with this title ~ available in pdf

I apologise ~ my net connection was lagging me bad that day ~ I was just pointing out that in the natural world, thinking and learning is apparently not so unusual -

Portia spiders can walk on every type of spider silk without getting stuck that they ... most capable and intelligent hunting strategies ever witnessed ...

ANimals have now been observed as showing more sophisticated behaviours mostly associated with 'thinking' ~ strategies towards problem solving ~

Social animal groups may be passing 'knowledge' and learning from generation to generation ~ giving cause for questions alike is 'such behaviour constituting 'tradition / culture' ?

Sorry ... I am in a bit of a rush ~ the QingMing Festival Week ( Wiki Link ) ~ time to honor the ancestors :yes:

~

edit - link maintenance

Will have to disagree with you there on rote learning.. I'm no expert mind you, and I'm possibly wrong, and I'm not trying to change your mind on the matter, but it just doesn't sit well with me.. *shrugs* as far as learning goes, I feel that everyone is unique, but self discovery and experience are the best ways to learn.

Thanks for the link to the books.. Very interesting, I've downloaded one of them and will read it when I get time.. unfortunately everyone lately is suggesting I read this or that, it might take some time to get through the list, lol..

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~ inner feeling ~ inner thought ~ intuition ~ insight ~

Are if I'm not mistaken, processes. And not an actual Type of thought..

*sighs*

:unsure2: Maybe I've bitten off more that I can chew on this............... I think I'm starting to confuse myself.. :lol:

But these are processes one can learn, and not a unique type of thought..

Edited by Professor T
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hehehheh ... Its an easy book to get into ... and a great reference to get back to ... I myself only found it about a month or so ago ~ pretty much what I was banging my head against all these years ~

~ have fun ~ ;)

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Awesome.. See that intrigues me. And is exactly what I'm getting at what I mean by types of thoughts, ways of thinking..

That there is IMO exactly the kind of Thinking that is for the most part new, unique, and completely misunderstood..

The list of thought processes is extensive.. http://en.wikipedia....ought_processes

But the types of thought and types of thinking is small, vague at best, and is hidden in the background of our perceptions.. It's rarely spoken of because it's very hard to verbalize and separate from memory.. Would you say this is a type of body memory? Energy? Intuition? Or is it a critical part of your thinking process.

Good questions, and I have no definitive answers. I speculate it might be an accumulation of information, muscle/cell memory, intuition, reflex, genetic memory, and paying attention to my body cues and external cues. And when I am having difficulty with say, problem solving, I kind of let my mind loose, keep in empty, and see if anything floats into that empty space. Now that you got me thinking about it, I told a friend about 6 months ago that there should be a way for the body & mind to work together, that the intuitive senses, the 6th sense, body & heart wisdom work in conjunction with the mind, instead of one or the other dominating. It seems to me that would be the ideal, that they compliment each other instead of one or the other being in ascendancy, or us having to switch from one to the other. Couldn't that be called holistic thinking, using all of our capabilities at the same time. I've been working on achieving this kind of balance, it's hard, because it means letting go of certain ideas or expectations, but in that letting go, a space is created where something new can begin to form. Anyway, those are my thoughts & speculations right now.

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~snip

But these are processes one can learn, and not a unique type of thought..

Define a unique type of thought ... if you please as to be so kind ... :)

~

Edited by third_eye
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