thinking in epistemology

Talking to oneself and retrieving knowledge {thinking, epistemology} can lead to further thoughts.

thinker

Thought processes seem to imply thinking things, selves, or persons.

process

Thoughts use previous-moment thoughts. Thoughts can arise spontaneously. Thought processes can use categories and meta-qualities. Thought includes self-model.

stages

First thinking stage is to perceive. Second stage is to process perceptions using logic, concepts, and propositions, to form new perceptions, judge existing patterns, and find causes and effects.

First thought stage describes objects and events. Next thought stage describes how objects and events work. Next thought stage explains why objects and events work that way or are that way. Next thought stage relates objects and events to nearby things. Next thought stage relates objects and events to distant things in space, time, or abstract spaces. Next thought stage predicts what objects and events will be or do. Next thought stage demonstrates how objects and events fit theory or principles. Next thought stage is theory construction.

thought

Thought includes all mentation and cognition, conscious and unconscious. Thoughts are mental states and events with content, which people use to know how to perceive and act. They are always changing, are continuous, and are about objects. Thoughts can think other thoughts, so thinkers are thought-systems. Only thoughts have intrinsic value. Human biology makes thought, perception, and relations to world similar, allowing understanding and communication.

thought: mental content

Content is objects, properties, and relations. Mental states and cognitive systems have symbols and representations about something else. Experienced features are intrinsic, non-intentional features that cause phenomena. People can introspect such features. Such features can be different even if representation or intentional content does not change. Such mental features relate to physical-object properties. Beliefs or desires change will, which causes actions.

thought: non-conceptual content

Content {non-conceptual content} can be about abilities and experiences.

thought: infinities

Infinity is uncountable and has parts that have as many terms as whole. People can conceive of all space. People can conceive of being outside space. People can conceive of all time. People can conceive of being outside time, with no past, present, or future.

thought: motions

Animals can know motion directions, speeds, and endpoints. Animals can distinguish living-thing and non-living-thing motions, to protect against predators. Some animals can tell if animals are looking and in what directions.

thought: number

Number is plurality of plurality of pluralities. It is for counting individual objects. It applies to nouns and verbs as countable things vs. continuous amounts {mass noun, number}. Primates have object and number concepts, which allow numerical reasoning.

thought: object functions

Animals have interest in object and event functions, with which they interact. Animals can know other-animal and inanimate-object behavior frequencies. Animals can know other-animal and inanimate-object reactions to actions.

thought: idea relations

Relations conjoin two predicates or are one proposition with two variables. Relations can be about things inside {internal relation} or things outside {external relation}. *Relations are pairs: origin-destination, action-actor, difference-cause, recipient-method, motive-obstacle, trajectory-instrument, object-vehicle, and time-place.

Objects and object parts are connected/disconnected, inside/outside, left/right, vertical/diagonal/horizontal, large/medium/small, and above/below, as well as related by relative distance.

thought: space and cause

Spatial reasoning is causal reasoning, because to explain cause requires space.

thought: communication

Animals use communication to get others into same mental state.

thought: expression

People do not express thoughts with no reports or intentions to report.

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Date Modified: 2022.0224