Comparing Knowledge And Thinking

In the real world, each of us is considered different, because people have different opportunities, different purposes, and different ways of thinking. And of course, one person cannot have the same thought train as another. As individuals, we base our thinking on what we know, or our knowledge. Our knowledge is another aspect of thought, which we have chosen to accept. Individual thinking is an essential quality that every person performs. I believe that everyone is unique and no two people can possibly be the same, that no two people can ever think the same exact thoughts or feel precisely the same emotions. Every person will have his or her own personal ideas about a particular object, place, or subject.

For instance, in my life, I have to think a lot to deal with reality. I have to control my own destiny. It is very important for me to realize that I control my life with my mind. I can only do what I think I can do, and only become what I think I can become. I must use my body of knowledge to think and make appropriate choices.

It is quite difficult to define accurately what thinking is. Again, people have different opinions. In my opinion, the basic sources of knowledge come from observation, experience, and research. These facts are considered in processes of thinking, and we then have understanding and intelligence. Knowledge understands facts, but thinking is the ability to utilize these facts in a meaningful way. Knowledge gives me the facts of the problem, but to solve the problems, I need to analyze the problem critically in order to be successful.

Carl Sagan in Can We Know the Universe, believes that our knowledge is limited by our perceptions since experience cannot give us full knowledge of a particular subject. "Our perceptions may be distorted by training and prejudice or merely because of the limitations of our sense organs, which of course, perceive directly but a small fraction of the phenomena of the world." Even so, we must use the knowledge that we have to try our best to process that information so that we may find a possible way to understand the world. Sagan understands the limitations of knowledge but thinking is a process without any limitations.

A person who is a good thinker has intellect because he or she can analyze and process information thoroughly. The more intelligent person is in control of others who are less intelligent. If I am less intelligent than you, than you are smarter than I am. You will most likely be the leader, whereas I would know no better than to follow, and you will have the larger capacity for success in your endeavors. However, simply having knowledge is not enough. One must know when and how to use it to be a thinker.

Research is a method to identify relevant information, and thinking is the process of reflecting on what has been discovered and concluded. For example: Let's look at the phrase "to think" in a general way. It is not the only process of reflecting on what the senses perceive, but it is also an interpretation of the senses. It is quite possible to hear but not to listen. Listening requires the mind to be used in interpreting what has been heard. For the purposes of this explanation, consider hearing as the senses, and listening to be part of thinking. This is only a convenient definition since certain aspects of listening or seeking information will demand actions that could not easily be described as thinking.

Thinking includes searching for data and inferring missing information. These processes are sometimes linked together. I can search for knowledge, but I cannot know everything. Therefore, I make inferences about things that I do not know by recapping on my previous concepts. My knowledge also includes my thoughts on an area that I do not know yet, but infer to be true.

Moreover, thinking is also an essential procedure of exercising free choice. Free will is used to reach conclusions and make decisions about future thinking. Whatever limits I may think I have, I have discovered that I can think in another way that is beyond those limits. For example, if I discovered that I tend to make bad decisions because I am biased