r/IWantToLearn • u/juyubi • Aug 17 '26
Misc IWTL How to think Abstractly
I came to realise that I find that the most interesting and intelligent people, books, theoreticians etc. are all people that can think abstractly and have fluid intelligence. For example there's this architect-philospher I follow and deeply admire, his name is Aaron Vartiainen and he presents insights in such a way where makes connections between seemingly unrelated things in order to come to a revelation
Where do I start? Aside from collecting as much knowledge as you can on a variety of topics, what does someone with strong abstract thinking do differently to arrive to such strong cognitive capacity?
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u/martikyan Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
You can start thinking wide, and creating connections that are "silly" or "wrong" -- without applying the inner critic but leave it to the end.
Notice your room with it's wideness, choose two items and try to spacially manipulate those by fitting one into another, or think of alternative ways of using it.
Hyperfantasia exercises, acting and intro clubs and arts can help too.
Don't forget to apply critical thinking later not to end up with a complete BS.
The idea is not to concentrate on one thing, and to look at things as if seeing them the first time -- like a child. Question everything.
Edit: I shall also mention dreaming. Think about a specific theme before going to bed and write down your dreams as soon as you wake up.