Thinking in Concepts

How do I think? Well, I do occasionally have words pop into my head. But that’s not the only way that I think. Sometimes words are inefficient and perhaps even restrictive.

If you have checked out my list of defining beliefs, you have probably seen that I feel that thought should not be restricted by words. That’s part of the reason that I am not fully reliant on words. Sometimes, I use concepts instead.

Now to try to finally explain thinking in concepts. What if I have some sort of toy that I’m thinking about for some reason. The toy that doesn’t really have a name but is about 3” high. Of course, that’s the green one that I’m thinking about. Do I have to keep identifying it in my thoughts? No. Imagine replacing it with “the toy.” This is far from a full explanation of what I’m referring to, but it’s obvious what I’m thinking about when taken in context. In fact, “it” should be sufficient. “It” would have this feeling attached to it that ensures that I know what I’m talking about.That attached feeling could be viewed as the concept. “It” could also be “Ya know” or “…” In other words, I can replace the words with nothing as long as that nothing is connected to thoughts that indicate what it is.

This can be more than one concept. Maybe I have a spot that I want to put the toy, next to the blue toy on the second shelf. All of a sudden, I could be thinking about when I can put the … at … But is … empty? I need enough space for … before I put it at … You can even go further. (… … … … …)

I’m not saying all of this to sound special. I’m sure that many people can think in concepts, even if they don’t refer to it as thinking in concepts. I am merely trying to explain what I mean when I refer to this type of thought. Hopefully, I have explained well enough for the first time in my life that people have an idea what I’m talking about.