Thinking is a process in which the modeling of systematic environmental relations takes place. There are many other definitions that approach this process from different angles. The properties of thinking are significant characteristics that help to better understand the essence of this phenomenon and its direction.
Basic properties of thinking
Thanks to the specific properties of human thinking, we perceive the surrounding reality in the way that we perceive it. So, the list of properties includes the following:
- The main property of thinking is its orientation. This suggests that he always has some ultimate goal , thoughts answer the question posed (not always important or significant, sometimes arbitrary).
- Thinking can be positive or negative. For each situation, a person can treat differently, based on how exactly he used to think. Some people are accustomed to experiencing, to note only bad things in the event (negative thinking), while others are always determined to find positive (even positive) thinking in an unpleasant situation. Psychologists are sure: the latter are happier.
- Thinking can be directed to the past or to the future. In the first case, a person is inclined to talk about what happened, how it happened, how it should be done, and so on. If the thoughts are directed to the future, then the person will be inclined to talk about how to get out of the situation.
- Thinking necessarily forms concepts. The situation, the phenomenon, the object, it seeks to characterize, order, compare, find differences from the like, and so on.
- Thinking can not be objective, it is always subjective. In one way or another, personal thoughts, feelings, emotions always interfere with it. Due to this property, creative thinking makes a person engage in self-expression through the creation of something that conveys his images and ideas.
- Thinking is logical. Logic may not always be properly constructed. But she is obligatory.
- Thinking can be developed or not developed. Undeveloped thinking is found only in children and near-minded people who do not seek to analyze the situation and are ready to live, relying only on instincts and simple needs. In the vast majority of adults, thinking is developed and continues to develop throughout life.
The properties of thinking in psychology characterize the thought process from different sides and allow us to penetrate deeper into the complex essence of the phenomenon itself, which occurs every second in waking state every second.