Elements of Thought, Essay Example

Elements of though represent all the concepts that are present whenever any thinking occurs. They are the vocabulary descriptions of the all the concepts that occur whenever any thinking takes place (Mueller,& Kirkpatrick 1999). Understanding the elements of thought is always important for any individual involved in thinking process.

Whenever a meaningful thinking occurs, the following elements are always present. First, there must be a desired result or reason for the thought. Every thought has a purpose or goal. This means that there has to an issue to be solved for there to be the desired goal. So every thought is aimed at providing a given solution to a given problem. Thinking also involves the use of unstated reasons or assumptions which always help the thinker to arrive to a conclusion in their thinking. All these is done under a given points of reference. Point of reference is the body of knowledge that the thinker uses to arrive to their conclusion. Every thought is supposed to provide a solution under a given circumstance. Point of reference is also affected by the role that the thinker occupies when thinking. Another element of thought is empirical evidence which consists of data or information that the thinker can readily see. Empirical evidence is provided by available statistics, or other information that the thinker is sure of. Another element of thought is inference which represents the interpretations made by the receiver of thought information. In most cases they are factored during thought. Finally there are the implication and consequences of a thought. Implications represent the message or the information that the thinker sends while the consequences represents what the thought has achieved. All the above can be simplified to provide the elements of thought as, stimulus, behavior and consequences

The right questions are questions that always lead to the right answer. They are questions that are aimed at providing a single solution to a given problem at given situation. The right question always is a product of critical thinking. A right question should be meaningful, has an impact. It should also indicate the reason why the question was asked and should relate with the reality. It should also know what to do with the answer to the questions. Compared to elements of thinking, what make a question a right question are all the elements that are common in both thinking and right questions. They both need something to stimulate them, they are all aimed at providing a solution to a given problem and all are only functional in a particular context. However there still difference between elements of though and right question. The right question only is a way of directing the production of solution while thinking provides solution to the problem.

Despite their small difference, right questions and thought process can work better if blended to complement each. Every thought process always starts with a question (Spencer, 2009).Thinking always is simply a process of asking and answering questions. Asking the right questions before thinking always increases the chances of arriving at a more desirable solution. This is because right questions act as direction givers during the thought process (Buckles,2003). The use of both at the same time to blend each other can be useful in providing solutions to very critical problems in the society. The right questions helping in providing the direction of thinking while the thought itself actively engage in the production of the solutions to the problem

References

Buckles, T. (2003). Laws of evidence. New York: Cengage Learning.

Mueller, C. B. & Kirkpatrick, L.C (1999). Evidence: practice under the rules (2^nd ed). New York: Aspen Publishers Online.

Spencer, H. (2009). The Principles of Psychology. New York: BiblioBazaar, LLC.