Apart from the academic aspects of school, navigating the complex social situations presented during a typical school day also involves abstract thinking. Sometimes the ability to imagine ...

‌Concrete thinking is a more literal form of thinking that focuses on the physical world. Concrete thinkers may take information at face value without thinking beyond or generalizing the ...

An example is the adding of integers, fractions, complex numbers ... Teachers and lecturers can improve this abstract thinking by being aware of abstractions in their subject and learning to ...

Both the “powerful” and the “powerless” volunteers chose among the cars, but some spent time consciously thinking ... of us—more abstract and better when it comes to complex decisions.

System 2 thinking, on the other hand, is slow, deliberate and analytical. It requires conscious effort and is used for complex problem-solving, such as manipulating abstract symbols, solving ...

I've found that design thinking can be particularly effective for tackling complex problems, which will become more common in a future marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

This iterative approach—prototyping, testing, refining and sometimes starting over—creates a feedback loop where abstract thinking continually informs concrete development. The “fail faster ...