What Abstract Thinking Is All About

You’ve probably heard of abstract thinking. But do you really know what it is? In fact, it refers to a type of thinking where you can think about things that are not present in the present space and the present moment.

Furthermore, it allows you to think about general concepts and principles, both in your daily life and in a more academic or professional setting.

Are there any benefits to abstract thinking? A 2006 study by the University of Amsterdam showed that people feel more powerful when they are allowed to think abstractly. This shows how abstract thinking is sometimes more beneficial than concrete thinking, which is more restrictive.

Do you want to know more about this type of thinking, how it differs from concrete thinking, what it is for and its benefits? Then keep reading!

Abstract thinking: what it is and what it’s for

According to the Psychological Dictionary , abstract thinking is the ability to understand essential and common properties. It serves to keep in mind different aspects of a situation, foresee and plan the future, think symbolically and draw conclusions.

It is the opposite of concrete thinking which in this case refers to literal thinking based on the present time and space.

What is this kind of thinking good for? As you can see, abstract thinking allows you to see the connection between different ideas, beliefs or elements of both the external and internal environment.

In addition, it helps to innovate, create, invent, develop new ideas, learn from past experiences and think about the future.

In addition, this kind of thinking also forms a cognitive ability. More specifically, it is one of the last cognitive skills that humans acquire at an evolutionary level. Without further ado, we’ll teach you a little more about this kind of thinking. Let’s look at some of its features.

Characteristics

These characteristics focus on the form, content and functions of this type of thinking. In short, abstract thinking:

• Focuses on the elements that are not present (it goes beyond the current environment).
• Let yourself imagine, create and innovate.
• Stimulates reflective and deep thinking.
• Helps find different meanings for each situation.

• Makes it possible to create interesting and abstract ideas.
• Is hypothetical-deductive thinking. In other words, it allows people to build hypotheses without having to test them empirically.
• Is flexible and therefore stimulates discussion.

Examples

Let’s think about concrete examples, to better understand this kind of thinking, about someone who thinks beyond what is in front of him.

Let’s put it this way; imagine someone thinking about a specific book. That is not abstract thinking. He uses this mindset when he (or she) imagines multiple books that don’t have to be in the same room or in front of them.

You can also think about the books that you think represent you, the books you’ve read, the books that mean a lot to you, and so on.

As you can see, imagination plays a big part in abstract thinking. When an artist thinks about the best colors for his painting, or when a musician thinks about the best note to finish his symphony, that is also abstract thinking.

Let’s look at some other examples. For example, a composer who uses his ideas to write the lyrics of a song or a mathematician who analyzes numbers to draw a conclusion, in the same way a physicist extracts meaningful relationships from his data.

Believe it or not, you use it daily when analyzing certain situations where you need to think beyond the present moment.

When does it occur? Piaget .’s Hypothesis

The Swiss epistemologist and biologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) spoke of abstract thinking in his day. Specifically, he developed a hypothesis stating that abstract thinking, as well as reasoning, arose in the final stage of development (the stage of formal actions). In fact, Piaget called abstract thinking “formal thinking” because it belonged to this evolutionary stage.

The stage of formal actions begins between the ages of 11 and 15 and lasts until adulthood. The following elements are essential at this stage:

• hypothetical reasoning.
• Abstract reasoning.
• Systematic problem solving.
• Abstract thinking.

According to Piaget, this kind of thinking is closely related to logic and the ability to solve problems. This is one of the distinguishing features of humans, which sets them apart from other animal species.

How do you apply it?

Can you apply this way of thinking in your daily life? On which levels? Well, it can be incredibly helpful for your personal development in areas as abstract as spirituality.

On the other hand, it can be useful in e.g. mathematics or science as analytical reasoning requires the use of abstract thinking. Remember that in order to understand a particular topic or knowledge, you need to be able to connect it to real life so that it becomes more practical.

Differences between abstract thinking and concrete thinking

At the beginning of the article, we noted that concrete thinking was the opposite of abstract thinking. But are these two kinds of thinking different? With abstract thinking you can process, describe and manipulate mental information. Concrete thinking does the same thing, but with objects in the physical world.

On the other hand, we already mentioned that abstract thinking was hypothetical-deductive. This means that it makes it possible to form hypotheses without having to test them empirically. Knowledge through concrete thinking, on the other hand, can only be formulated through direct experience with the phenomenon in question (this would be a kind of inductive thinking).

Abstract thinking moves from the general to the particular, through which, for example, laws and theories can be formulated. Instead, concrete thinking moves from the specific to the general.

Finally, abstract thinking allows reflection and debate as it is flexible thinking while concrete thinking does not allow variations as it is based on the tangible and the obvious.

As you can see, abstract thinking is everywhere and has remarkable advantages when it comes to stimulating other types of thinking such as reflection or reasoning.

There are multiple types of convergent, divergent, practical, theoretical and literal thinking. But which one is the best? All and none of them. The best will always be the one that best adapts to the task at hand. This explains why flexibility is a great virtue of human cognition.