Definition, characteristics and basic functions of thinking

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

One can easily define many concepts that exist in the world. But it is not so easy to explain what thought is, although without it, as it is logical to assume, there would be no concepts themselves. In fact, all judgments, conclusions, ideas and fantasies that are born in the head should be called this word. Thoughts bestow awareness of oneself, become the cause of emotions. They generate a will that changes the world. Moreover, idealists seriously believe that he himself appeared precisely thanks to thought - he became an act of its creation or a product of a spiritual root cause. But this is only part of the philosophy of consciousness, there are other opinions. And then we will talk about thinking, its functions and characteristics in the aspect of modern psychology, natural science and other scientific disciplines.

Thought and knowledge of the surrounding world

From the point of view of materialism, thought was born in an attempt to cognize the surrounding world, objects and phenomena that exist in it. And according to psychologists, as a result, it is a reflection of the perceived through the sensesreality. Thus, the human brain turns out to be a system developed in the process of evolution for solving many problems that life and reality itself poses for organic beings. This is the definition of thinking. Its functions, accordingly, proceed directly from its tasks, being directly connected with the knowledge of the reality existing around us. It turns out that a person began to think in order to survive in the complex world around him, full of problems.

Mind and empirical space

Experience gained in the course of observations and experiments forms the so-called empirical space, which is a kind of reflection of the facts obtained through sensory contemplation. All five known human senses are involved in this process, including sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. The organs involved in this system send the necessary information to the brain, thereby helping to perceive the surrounding space.

How does thinking function? There are different theories here.

Even Aristotle and Plato expressed the opinion that this happens through the formation of associations, that is, the emergence of subconscious connections between objects, phenomena and facts that our memory fixes, creating something like an archive. But these arguments were later considered by many philosophical schools to be more than limited. Indeed, in order to have even a small idea of the world, it is not enough to accumulate in the head a set of connections formed by experience. Themit is necessary to systematize, develop, build in the right sequence, modeling a variety of life situations. This is the main function of thinking.

Reflection of reality

A variety of sciences are engaged in the study of this process: psychology, logic, cybernetics, neurophysiology and other disciplines. Modern ideas agree that the knowledge and accumulation of facts begins with the perception of sensations, but this is not yet thinking. Its functions are finally carried out with the construction of logical systems and finding relationships. The products of such an evolution often surpass the sensations themselves. For example, people cannot see atoms, but the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus guessed about their existence. And his assumptions and speculative theories began to be confirmed only by physicists more than a hundred years ago. At the same time, the data obtained during the experiments were supplemented with logical conclusions. All this happened before the idea itself found its final confirmation.

Such facts clarify the above, revealing the concept of thinking. The functions of thinking are to reflect reality through the prism of human perception, arising from the evolution of the perception of images that are transformed into awareness of the essence of things.

Phases of thought formation

Thus, the implementation of the functions of the thinking process can be divided into certain phases and presented in the following sequence: perception of information, awareness of the problem situation, creation of various hypotheses, verificationthem in practice and, finally, obtaining a final answer to the question posed. It is in this way that the relationship between phenomena, images of objects and events arises in the mind. Moreover, this is typical not only for the formation of scientific theories and progressive ideas in the universal human social sense. These phases are inherent in the functions of thinking and consciousness of any particular subject, from a child to a completely adult person.

Of course, tasks during the life of an individual and over time in society change, differ in complexity and depth of problems. But the logical sequence of phases always remains approximately the same.

Forms of Manifestation

Thinking functions are carried out in a variety of ways. Their forms include analysis, which requires the ability to decompose something whole into smaller components. An example of this may be the study of a visual image, during which the study of the features of the shape of an object, its color characteristics, the constituent structure and other important properties.

Synthesis, on the contrary, requires the ability of thinking to combine some parts of similar objects into a single whole. Sometimes there is a need, in addition, to compare objects and phenomena, revealing in them common and distinctive features from a number of others. Or, in contrast, pay attention to something specific, studying thoroughly all its properties.

Purposeful thinking

The process of forming thoughts is built independently of the humandesires. But he, having an effective character, is able to be directed by the subject and depends on his individual inclinations and the abilities he develops. Functions and types of thinking are deeply interconnected. Appearing with the direct participation of the sense organs, the images that arise in this case in the head can be formed into abstract symbols that line up in non-standard logical constructions. At the same time, a person operates not with real, but with generalized concepts. This type of thinking is often referred to as abstract-logical. It is inherent in creative people who do not think in a standard way, but try to derive their own laws, supplementing existing skills and knowledge gained from the experience of others.

Practical action and perception of reality

Visual-effective and practical types of thinking are closer to the reality existing outside the human consciousness and are aimed at its transformation. People who have this perception of the world are constantly solving problems that are directly related to the development of plans. They are dictated by the desire to transform life by manipulating real objects. At the same time, such people tend to simulate practical life situations, deriving tangible benefits from these actions.

Any of the previously mentioned types of thinking, in turn, is divided into subspecies, distinguished by the way of perception and systematization of information, the nature of the decisions issued. The subject can think in visual images, achieve results through intuitive flashes. Often the process of thinking is accompaniedcomplete escape from reality and inner mental experiences.

Methods of transmitting thoughts

Even the most valuable accumulated experience would be imperfect without being supplemented by the ability to transfer the information received to other subjects. Therefore, the functions of thinking and speech are closely related. Moreover, there is a category of people who cannot completely form their own thoughts even for themselves, if they are not put into verbal form. Thus, a person finally forms an individual opinion on certain issues, making appropriate decisions. And the verbal formulation of logical constructions helps not only to structure thoughts, but also to build the necessary associations and connections. It is not for nothing that school teachers, when offering to rethink complex concepts or understand the course of solving a problem, often force their wards to pronounce their own judgments aloud. This greatly contributes to the assimilation of the material, develops the logic of perception, becomes an impetus for the formation of the necessary connections in the memory.

Internal and external speech

It should be clarified that there is inner and outer speech. And both of them are important and irreplaceable in the course of human thought. The first of them not only confirms the close connection of thinking with the functions of language, but is a preparatory stage in the formation of external speech. I. Dietzgen, a representative of the German philosophical school, compared language with an artist's brush, pointing out that both of these concepts serve as a tool for a person, help to reflect their ownthoughts, feelings, vision of the world in all its shades and colors.

Awareness of the close connection between language and thinking smoothly leads to conclusions about the nature of thought itself. Being born in the head of a particular person, it is, as it were, fruitless in itself and has value only as a common link in the endlessly changing and improving chain of universal human consciousness.

Thinking is a social phenomenon

The needs that have arisen in human civilization throughout its history have given impetus to the development of thought. Consequently, thinking itself had a social character, the tasks to be solved were dictated by the peculiar conditions of the epochs, reflecting their unique features and arising from real necessity. In a series of centuries, the accumulated experience in oral and handwritten form gradually accumulated and formed a treasury of knowledge. Such information was passed on to new generations. And its assimilation by descendants provided food for the next round of evolution.

The thoughts of individuals, like streams, flowed and were stored in the pantry of the whole civilization. The newly accumulated experience was similarly carefully collected and passed down through the generations. He, in turn, also became a product of historical and social development, enabling the society that replaced the social structures of the past to base its worldview and way of life on the knowledge of its ancestors. They used the successes of their predecessors and tried not to repeat their mistakes.

Conclusions

From the point of view of physiology, thinking is a complex process that takes placein the cerebral cortex, performing an analytical-synthetic function. The neural connections that arise in the brain have their prototypes in real connections and appear on the basis of a sensory analysis of objects and phenomena of the objective world. At the initial stage of the formation of thought, they can be clothed in a generalized form, sometimes even of a random nature, therefore, over time, they are partially and selectively rejected by practical experience. More stable bonds are formed only in the process of differentiation and re-validation.

The mental function of thinking is to reflect reality. In this process, the new is born on the basis of rethinking the historical and social experience, its synthesis and analysis. And the direction of thought and the setting of tasks are dictated by practical necessity.