Every day we observe the world around us and draw conclusions based on our personal judgments and, without suspecting it, we use the fruit of the greatest scientific discovery of the Middle Ages.
Do you often think?
It is with this question that I want to start an article about the abilities of our mind. We all know that two almost continuous processes are inherent in us - this is consciousness and subconsciousness. The first is with us constantly during periods of wakefulness, but the second is almost invisible, and it manifests itself most actively while we are dreaming.
From early childhood, we constantly think about something, but we don’t even notice that a thought is the result of a rather complex process that takes place in the vastness of our mind. Speculative activity is what we are constantly doing, and it never occurred to us that this process has been studied for several centuries in such sciences as philosophy and psychology. It would seem that everything is so simple - we just think about what we see, and we are already doing science! But it's not.
What is the definitionconcept of "speculative"? The synonym for this word is mental, but such activity can also be called abstract or even abstract. What role does it play in science? We will talk about this below.
So what is it?
From a research point of view, speculative activity is a process of our mind, as a result of which conclusions are drawn based solely on personal feelings, which have nothing to do with any facts.
Let's try to prove this with an example. Suppose we are going to work in public transport, and a woman sits next to us, on whose ring finger there is no wedding ring. And for some reason this fact interested us, and we begin to mentally unwind the information received: if her right hand is unadorned, then she is not married. Where does such a conclusion come from? Exclusively from our consciousness. Maybe she just turned it in to a jeweler or something like that, but we have already started the process of our speculation. And, perhaps, after talking with this woman, we could be convinced.
Place in science and religion
It is surprising that speculative activity has been the foundation of all philosophical teachings for many centuries now. Any sources that tell about the essence of our being are nothing more than an ordinary conclusion, which is in no way based on facts and has no practical background. Neither in ancient times, nor in the Middle Ages, nor now, in the period of prosperity of high technologies, any, even the most experienced philosopher, who devoted his whole life to the search for truth,cannot back up the results of these exercises with facts.
It can also be said that speculative activity is fundamental to any religious teachings, since it is difficult to prove the fact of the true existence of a particular deity without experimental evidence. Human faith is just the product of the activity of consciousness.
Speculation in psychology
In the 17th century, the luminaries of the psychological science of that time came to the conclusion that the state of mind of a person can be determined through philosophical reflection, refusing to experiment. It was in those days that such a direction as speculative psychology got its start. And in fact, this discovery was a real breakthrough, which is actively used in our time.
In the modern world, the activity of psychoanalysts can be summed up under this concept - a specialist listens to the patient who has applied and, on personal conclusions, helps him to open his own so-called "spiritual corridors".
Therefore, we can say that each of us, without knowing it, daily uses the speculative practice that has become widespread in science. It's worth considering.
