Thoughtcraft – Realizing the abstract

Abstract concepts are hard to grasp; this makes applying them more difficult and therefore a chore. To deal with this, I often like to project the concepts into physical representations. After all, humans are ultimately creatures of concrete: we understand and learn with our bodies as much as our minds.

I’m not alone in thinking this: master thinkers, communicators, and scientists have employed metaphors, similes, and analogies as tools to further their craft. Einstein popularized gravity with his elevator thought experiment, Camus used Sisyphus to capture the essence of existentialism, and Orwell used Animals to describe the failure of governance.

Thought-shaping should be a key addition in your mental toolbox to both understand and to affect the world. As a persuasive tool, it gives people something solid to hold onto and to comprehend. From the perspective of personal development, creating figures of speech is also a great exercise to train one’s creative muscles. As a learning aid, it helps to mold and sharpen concepts, like water help to wear away imperfections and shape clay to form better ceramics.

So take advantage of the fact that thinking exists in both the mental and physical space: Augment your thoughtcraft with shape, color, edges, smell, taste, sound, and texture.