I have a theory that abstract thought is built on language, and that learning new words (conceptual words like “fear” or “equality”) allow for thought that one might have not otherwise had.
I think one of the fastest ways to become more creative, innovative, etc is to expand ones vocabulary.
If new conceptual-words were created constantly who knows how in-depth our thoughts/understandings might be. Unfortunately new concept-based words are rare. Probably a few per lifetime at this point haha
Anything that allows your thoughts to expand in a direction they might not have been able to otherwise probably qualifies.
Most profound thoughts come through analogy in my opinion. My most creative thoughts through comparison. Concepts (and the words that describe them) allow for more analogous thinking. More analogous thinking allows for new discovery.
For example knowing the German word (and concept) “Zeitgeist”, has influenced my social marketing ideas a lot, causing me to consider things I wouldn’t have without that vocabulary to use in my internal dialogue (my thoughts).
Side note: ever noticed how all historical prodigies in one particular field often all have one thing in common, their nationality (therefor, their native tongue)
Side note: this holds true with modern stereotypes as well (e.g. Russian Hackers, German Engineers, French Chefs, etc.)
Someone who never learned language at all would have an impossible time reasoning through logic. Someone who never learned math and its vocabulary (symbols) would have an even more impossible time reasoning through an algorithm. These tools allow us to expand our means of thinking.
Long-term-thinking is a very valuable skill to have but for most people it is not the default. Consider a language in which it were gramatically incorrect to talk about an event or action without also somehow declaring its future state / reprecussion as well. This forces all thought and internal dialogue to always consider the long term effects of everything, long-term-thinking would become a guarantee for anyone natively speaking that language, and learning this language would actually shape the way in which you think. Therefore I believe you can beneficially control your thought-processes by manipulating your vocabulary, syntax, structure, language, etc.
Side note: I personally believe that a language that gramatically forced everything to be discussed in "analogy" would lead to some of the most innovative/creative thinking ever witnessed.
I am particularly interested in concepts that are known, but do not have adequate words to describe them and therefor we are left rarely thinking in those terms (instinctively), even if we know the concept, because our vocabulary (the driving force behind our internal dialogue [thoughts]) don't support words that allow us to naturally think towards those concepts.
Therefor I have dedicated this page to documenting those concepts, and creating and defining words that allow us to easily and naturally talk about the concepts at hand, and hopefully, align our minds to include those concepts naturally as we think.
Of course, my theory that extended vocabulary is a key ingredient to compounded/advanced/abstract thought, is not a good theory without supporting evidence! I'll try to update this list as I find things: