In thinking conceptual thinking is problem solving or thinking based on the cognitive process of abstraction andconceptualization -is a process of independent analysis in the creative search for new ideas or solutions, which takes as its starting point that none of the accepted constraints of “today’s reality” need necessarily to apply to or to shape the future. Thus it does not accept received wisdom, the status quo nor inertia as necessary determinants of every bit of the future.
Conceptual thinking can be a valuable analytic or problem solving tool in any field; for instance, Environment Canada in a note on “competencies meteorologists” defines it as follows:
- Conceptual thinking is the ability to understand a situation or problem by identifying patterns or connections, and addressing key underlying issues. Conceptual thinking includes the integration of issues and factors into a conceptual framework. It involves using past professional or technical training and experience, creativity, inductive reasoning, and intuitive processes that lead to potential solutions or viable alternatives that may not be obviously related or easily identified.
Conceptual thinking requires an openness to new ways of seeing the world and a willingness to explore. But once the work of analysis is completed and a new concept or mind map emerges, the hard work of communicating this new vision begins. Conceptual thinkers if they are to succeed must understand that new, and to many people, unfamiliar ideas need nurturing and support.
In more common terms it is often referred to as “lateral thinking” (Edward de Bono) or “out of box thinking”, in both cases the terms referring to the conscious omission or putting aside of commonly accepted beliefs or constraints.
Conceptual Blending (aka Conceptual Integration) is a general theory of cognition.[1] According to this theory, elements and vital relations from diverse scenarios are "blended" in a subconscious process known as Conceptual Blending, which is assumed to be ubiquitous to everyday thought and language. Insights obtained from these blends constitute the products of creative thinking, though conceptual blending theory is not itself a theory of creativity, inasmuch as it does not illuminate the issue of where the inputs to a blend actually come from. Blending theory does provide a rich terminology for describing the creative products of others, but has little to say on the inspiration that serves as the starting point for each blend.
The theory of Conceptual Blending was developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. The development of this theory began in 1993 and a representative early formulation is found in their online article Conceptual Integration and Formal Expression. Mark Turner and Gilles Fauconnier cite Arthur Koestler´s 1964 book The Act of Creation as an early forerunner of conceptual blending: Koestler had identified a common pattern in creative achievements in the arts, sciences and humor that he had termed "bisociation of matrices" - a notion he described with many striking examples, but did not formalize in algorithmic terms.[2]
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