Abstract Thought

There are two types of information: abstract and concrete. Abstract information:

• Focuses upon generalities rather than specifics.
• Looks at the meaning behind physical reality.

Teacher and Perceiver modes work with abstract thought. This is because of the way in which the physical body interacts with the human mind.

Teacher strategy works with words. Words are inherently general. For instance, when I say the word ‘table’, I am referring to many different specific tables. In English, it takes extra effort to go from general to specific. I have to add a modifier such as ‘my’ or ‘the’ to ‘table’ in order to indicate that I am referring to a specific table and not a group of tables in general.

Words are artificial. There are no words in the real world. Instead, communication only becomes possible when people agree to assign meanings to acoustic vibrations. Because words are artificial, they go beyond physical reality.

Perceiver thought works with facts. A fact is inherently general because it looks at connections which are common to many individual experiences. For instance, if I know that a stop sign is octagonal, that is because I have looked at many different stop signs and have observed that they all have the same shape.

Perceiver facts also look at the meaning behind reality. The real world is not divided into neat presorted categories. Instead, reality is messy, and shapes tend to blend into one another. Perceiver strategy takes this confusion of experience and organizes it into neat categories. Thus, Perceiver strategy looks for meaning behind physical reality.