Many times we summarize all the mental processes related to the intellect by simply calling them thoughts. However, reality is more complex than this abstract concept. In reality, the individual psychology of each person is composed of various types of thinking
When we make a decision, when we perform mental calculations, or when we reflect on issues that have to do with politics, for example, we are using different mental processes, which are guided by different logics and even involve different parts of the brain.
Now, how many types of thinking are there and what characteristics are associated with them? Let’s see it.
The concept of thought refers to relatively abstract mental processes, voluntary or involuntary, through which the individual develops his ideas about the environment, others or himself. That is, thoughts are ideas, memories and beliefs in motion, relating to each other.
Now the thoughts They do not exist as “pure” intellectual activities since they always go hand in hand with other mental processes that have to do with emotions and that are generated and regulated by a part of the brain called the limbic system.
The latter means that thoughts are always “tinted” by emotionality, they are not alien to feelings and emotions.
The main types of thoughts
With what we have seen so far it is clear that thoughts are highly complex and, in many cases, so abstract that pigeonholing them into hermetic categories means falling into reductionism However, knowing an indicative classification of the types of thinking has been very useful to better understand the human mind.
Taking this into account, and that many of the categories that we will see below overlap with each other in certain aspects, let’s see what the main types of thinking proposed are and what characteristics they present.
1. Deductive thinking
Deductive thinking starts from statements based on abstract and universal ideas to apply them to particular cases. For example, if we start from the idea that a Frenchman is someone who lives in France and France is in Europe, we will conclude that René Descartes, who lived in France, was European.
2. Inductive thinking
This type of thinking does not start from general statements, but is based on particular cases and, From them, generate general ideas For example, if we observe that pigeons have feathers, ostriches have feathers, and herons also have feathers, we can conclude that these three animals are part of an abstract category called “sauropsids.”
3. Analytical thinking
Analytical thinking creates pieces of information from a broad information unit and reaches conclusions by seeing the way in which these “fragments” interact with each other.
4. Lateral or creative thinking
In creative thinking you play to create original and unique solutions to problems, by questioning the rules that at first seem to be obvious. For example, a swing chair seems “predestined” to be used in a very particular type of toy, but It is possible to violate this idea using it as a support for a flower pot hanging from a porch. This is one of the most used types of thinking in art and crafts.
This type of thinking is characterized by using concepts with very diffuse and unclear boundaries, often metaphorical, and the tendency not to avoid contradictions. Currently it is very characteristic of currents of thought linked to postmodern philosophy or psychoanalysis. For example, you can see an example of this style in the description of the concepts used by Sigmund Freud in the theory of psychosexual development.
6. Hard thinking
Hard thinking uses concepts as defined as possible, and try to avoid contradictions. It is typical of the type of reasoning linked to science, in which a slight nuance in the vocabulary used can lead to completely erroneous conclusions, and therefore it can be difficult to advance from it, given that it requires a good amount of cognitive skills working at the same time to achieve an end.
7. Divergent thinking
In divergent thinking it is established a division between two or more aspects of an idea, and the possibilities of maintaining this “partition” are explored. For example, if someone uses the same word making it have a different meaning each time, detecting this error is a case of divergent thinking in which the different meanings are detected. You can see examples of this by looking at the common use of the concept of “natural” as applied to food products, unusual sexual orientations, or generalized behavioral tendencies in general.
8. Convergent thinking
In convergent thinking there is a process by which we realize that there are different facts or realities that fit together even though at first it seemed like they had nothing in common. For example, if a family of monarchs realizes that in a war they are interested in siding with one of the sides, they will have started by analyzing the different actors in the conflict until reaching a global conclusion about the most convenient option.
This is a type of thinking used when detecting common patterns and regularities, and can lead to abstracting a general concept that explains specific parts of reality.
9. Magical thinking
magical thinking confers intentions on elements that do not have will nor self-awareness, and even less the ability to act according to plans. For example, a girl who, because of her young age, believes that the waves on the beach are trying to soak her hair is using magical thinking.
On the other hand, magical thinking is not only typical of the childhood stage: it also appears in adults belonging to societies and cultures little familiar with writing and science. The reason is that they have not developed a system to submit hypotheses to a validity test, and therefore mythical explanations can be sustained about the reality that surrounds us.
