What is Thinking

What is thinking?
Melanie Stokes
PHL/251
March 7, 2014
University of Phoenix

What is thinking?

“I think, therefore I am”, a famous quote by the French philosopher René Descartes, brings up the question what is thinking? It is possible that the human species is the only species that thinks. What makes human thinking unique? How and why do humans express their thoughts? If humans can’t think without memory, then it is obviously very important. And last but not least, in what ways can one enhance once memory? Many questions, many different answers; as with thinking there are no right or wrong answers.

How and why do humans express their thoughts?
Humans have evolved and became more then the animals. We have learned to form words and to use them to speak and express ones thoughts. Thoughts are nothing else then pictures in our mind, memories of images, events, or things we seen. Expressing our thoughts allows us to look at them more objectively; others, then, can share their ideas about our thinking, and so, ultimately, we can think better (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007).

If humans can’t think without memory, then it is obviously very important.
What we think depends both on our ability to remember and on the content of that remembering (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007). I do have to agree that without remembering we would not be able to have memories. Therefore memories are the most important part of human thinking. A great example is the movie 50 first dates; a young woman had only memories prior to her accident, but could not create new ones. Imagine waking up and looking into the mirror and being old and gray and only remembering being in your mid-twenties; Shocking and scary.

In what ways can one enhance once memory? I have found an app that is like a game. “Luminosity brain trainer” is the name and it helps enhance your memory simply by playing games. Other ways of improving your memory is by making the information more meaningful, by associating information with what we already know well, by using mnemonic techniques, and by repetition and practice (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007).
I have a hard time explaining a situation in which my perception of the real situations was far from the actual fact, as I have not experienced a situation like that. I take situations as they are, I do not think about them any other way. In Combat, it keeps your head on a swivel and complacency out of the picture and you stay alive.

Perceptual blocks
We perceive things a certain way. “We develop habits of 'seeing' the world, which sometimes can get in the way of finding the best solution to a problem, e.g. seeing only the most obvious solution” (Tripathi, 2014). In other words, Thinking outside the box is not a regular behavior. One starts building personal barriers such as, fear of failure or humiliation. With such fear one would choose not to finish a presentation and take a bad grade rather than doing the presentation and feel humiliated due to incomplete work.

Conclusion
Plato said: “Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.” This explains the fact of why humans express their thoughts in a few simple words. It is the evolutionary way of processing memories and thoughts. Where one cannot think without proper memories and these can be enhanced with little games, or other helpful tricks such as making information meaningful. Humans have the tendency to think and handle in a comfort zone. One creates their own barriers. Our Brain is complex and much is still to be discovered.

References
Kirby, G. R., & Goodpaster, J. R. (2007). Thinking:An interdisciplinary approach to critical thinking (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Tripathi, A. (2014, 02). Blocks in problem solving. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 02, 2014, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Blocks-In-Problem-Solving-47804988.html