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Andrei Georgievich Teslinov- Professor of the Department of Methodology and Didactics of Business Education of the International Institute of Management "LINK", tutor of the Open University of Great Britain, head of the "Workshop of conceptual thinking of Andrey Teslinov".

Foreword

When the book was almost completed, an incident happened to me that influenced the choice of its title. It was in Kazan. Walking along one of the central streets, I accidentally stopped looking at a huge billboard, made in a competent questioning technique. In large letters it was written: "LIFE ON THE CONCEPTS?". I was taken aback, as happens, probably, with everyone who is instantly and decisively exposed in what he is busy and passionate about at that moment, as if someone is looking into his soul. My mental answer was unequivocal - of course, yes! It was during this period that I really lived in a state of creative upsurge, writing a book about thinking in strict forms - in concepts, about the art of conceptual thinking. I thought in terms, I thought about concepts, I used concepts in various ways. This has long been the essence of my profession and the intellectual way in which I master reality.

These thoughts captivated my imagination for a moment, only then I noticed the rest of the inscription: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs warns: PUNISHMENT IS INEVITABLE." This warning intensified the sad expression on the face of the prisoner, who was looking straight into my eyes from behind the prison bars...

It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of the gigantic gap between the possibilities that open up to the mind that has mastered the height of conceptual thinking, the height of elegant work with concepts, on the one hand, and the form of development that these possibilities have acquired in the world, on the other. However, the bizarre nature of human relations decreed just so - life "according to concepts" first of all mastered the world of backyards. Perhaps this is a regularity - the true values ​​of things and events are more easily perceived by consciousness, not burdened by education. However, it's a shame.

In the Confession, Aurelius Augustine has the following words: “If I were to write a book of the highest immutability, I would prefer to write it so that everyone would find in my words an echo of the truth that is available to him; I would not put into them a single, distinct thought, excluding all others, the fallacy of which could not confuse me. When I met this thought, it became clear to me that this is how I am aware of my inner intention regarding the intention of interpreting conceptual thinking. In this intention there is no claim to write a book of the highest immutability, but there is a sincere desire to sing of the possibilities of comprehending the truth with the means that we have by nature: reason and heart. From the very beginning of this intellectual journey, which I will make, imagining you next to me, dear reader and interlocutor, I am aware of the area of ​​​​practice in which I can be most useful. This is the level management of such decisions, which are usually called "conceptual". My experience is that, with a few exceptions, people rarely understand in detail what it is - conceptual, conceptual, conceptual. However, in any case, a completely fair expectation is found here - to think and talk about some initial, some "view", some generalizing preliminary decision or judgment, followed by a whole series of less important decisions - clarifying and concretizing. Often, conceptual solutions are also spoken of as original ones. But is it all so? And if so, in what sense? How do serious conceptual solutions really differ from naive generalizations? And how is it to think conceptually? What should be going on in our head when we decide to start thinking conceptually? What really distinguishes a complete product of conceptual solutions from newfangled imperfections?

You ask - why "newfangled"? The point is that already many intuitively recognize or feel the onset of some special time in the development of social practice. Observe: today it is not so much those who are able to maintain processes and procedures that win, but those who are able to create ideas and meanings. I would like to refer to the gigantic successes of branding in terms of the impact on the public consciousness. They are already writing about this coming time as about the advent of a new time - about the “conceptual era”. Business gurus are already preparing for it - I mean persistent calls for managers to think in archetypes - as still weak, but still forms of conceptual thinking. Of course, speaking and acting in the spirit of "conceptual" free style is already becoming fashionable. In this regard, I foresee the flowering of real conceptual thinkers and concept management techniques.

And yet, why do well-constructed conceptual-level solutions have cognitive and constructive power? In this book, and perhaps in subsequent ones, I will try to give clear answers to all such questions to the best of my ability. At the same time, I will try to behave both instrumentally and philosophically. I promise that in my text the so-called "practicality" and "manufacturability" will prevail. I realize that this is constructive, since most of the people in my circle and I myself are actively immersed in activities. Most of the time, our consciousness solves problems about the goals of activity, its meaning, means and fruits. And it's good that it is! That fusion, which is activity in essence, the fusion, as Aristotle said, "doer and deed" gives us rich material for the mind and soul. Only this material, without philosophical animation, usually turns into slag, on which flowers of understanding of activity itself and, through it, of life, will never grow.

I say this because ordinary consciousness, most likely, will never connect philosophy with "technological" and even more so with "practicality". But to think so is a delusion. Leo Tolstoy very accurately expressed this idea: “From metaphysical knowledge based on inner consciousness, it is possible and should deduce the laws of human life – how, why, to live?”. In other words, true philosophy must necessarily be practical. It is this meaning of philosophy that will prevail here in relation to conceptual thinking as the basis for the success of conceptual level management.

"Manufacturability" will be manifested here in a double sense. First, I want to show conceptual thinking as a powerful technology for making decisions and comprehending the complex reality that we see as modern business and modern people. This technology is close to philosophy, because it aims to streamline the "zealous pursuit of truth" of the mind and heart. Secondly, I want to show the subject itself - conceptual thinking is technological, that is, in such a way that you internally agree with the course of reasoning and can, if you independently follow its logic, get the same results. I see the meaning of this kind of "technological" in the possibility for you to make your own judgments about conceptual thinking and make your own decisions at the conceptual level. This will be helped by the Workshop, which I have built here in the form of exercises for training and developing conceptual thinking skills.

We have already begun to consider the "territory" around our subject, but have not yet come to the subject itself. The whole book will be about him. And yet, at the outset, it is appropriate to say that the phenomenon of thinking is still largely a mystery to people. And all the more a mystery - the phenomenon of "conceptual thinking". The successes of conceptual thinking, which have been especially pronounced in the last 30 years, give it a number of properties, such as, for example, universality, penetration, originality, perspective, creativity, and others. All this excites the consciousness of the uninitiated and, unfortunately, contributes to the vulgarization of conceptual thinking. However, it does have a number of properties for which it deserves deep study.

For various reasons, questions of conceptual decisions and mental constructions are reflected in public rhetoric very widely. It is probably possible to compile a list of more than 300 titles of publications where the adjective "conceptual" occurs meaningfully and professionally, and not for the sake of decorating the texts. However, these publications are of an aspect or applied nature in relation to the very phenomenon of "conceptual thinking". We will try to look at it holistically and philosophically.

The formation of conceptual thinking in me took place in the environment of the scientific school of Spartak Petrovich Nikanorov. I studied and practiced his "Method of Conceptual Analysis and Synthesis of Organizational Management Systems". Subsequently, it became clear to me that this method is much broader than the area for which it is applied. I will try to show that this is the same decision-making method that deep and successful managers and analysts use in complex, blurry situations in relation to obscure subject areas of practice. At the same time, it is both a method of generating meanings, and a method of comprehending a complex reality, and a method of streamlining thinking itself. This and much more I combine here and consider as conceptual thinking - a special and powerful form of thinking that has the powers of a truly philosophical level.

Such a view "forced" me to explore the essence, roots, techniques and possibilities of conceptual thinking. By this work I hope to serve to liberate our consciousness from the forces that weaken it. It seems to me that the real "thinking in terms" can become a way of recognizing by its echoes, available to each of us.

In the process of writing the book, I suddenly needed to create some kind of parallel between the properties of conceptual thinking and other forms of exploration of reality and self-expression. I chose art - photography. Where the terms of the skill of a photo artist are similar to the skill of a conceptualist or, on the contrary, diverge from it, I looked for examples that could enhance, emphasize the lines of my subject. This search led me to a meeting with a wonderful photographer from Magnitogorsk, Valery Minyaev, a member of the Russian Union of Photographers. I thank him for the opportunity to use his personal archive to select the examples I need.

I express my deep gratitude to my first mentors in the labyrinths of conceptual thinking. These were S. P. Nikanorov, Z. A. Kuchkarov, S. V. Solntsev, N. K. Nikitina. I thank Vladimir Razumov for gently introducing me to the circle of philosophy, which gave my conceptual exercises shades of freedom, depth and ... incompleteness. I am sincerely grateful to those who in different periods of writing the book and on various occasions acted as a listener, a benevolent critic and opponent: V. Mikheev S. Neretin, Y. Troitsky, Y. Shatin. I thank my friends and colleagues Galina Gorshkova, Sergei Sidorenko, Tatyana Munina, Igor Bashkatov, Viktor Noskov, Lyudmila and Dmitry Butenko, Nikolai Akatov and many others, whose joyful anticipation of the appearance of the book gave me spiritual strength.

1. The phenomenon of "conceptual thinking"

It discusses the outward signs of decisions and other mental constructs that reflect conceptual thinking. The examples show that high management of the conceptual level can be maintained only by thinking trained in conceptual practices. An instructive "line" of the formation of the conceptual design of solutions as an intelligent technology for working with complexities is being carried out, which is not yet equal in power in foreign practice. The possibilities of conceptually built solutions are shown.

Evidence for conceptual thinking

People rightly say, following the sages, that "surprise is the beginning of thinking." Every marvel, miracle, unseen, curiosity, every rarity enliven our thinking, lead us to out-of-mind- leniya, revealing exactly what up to this moment there was no thinking at all. There was only a simple touch of the mind accustomed to the “thing”.

But not everyone who is “amazed” will notice that the fact of conceptual thinking could also take place here. It would take place if the following thought arose along with surprise: “So, until now, I had a false idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthis thing, which did not“ fit ”that which surprised me. But now my view is different. It is possible in it that which surprised me, and, probably, much more that I do not see, but what I can think of ... ".

The fact of human betrayal, or, say, adultery, gives us the same opportunity to detect or manifest conceptual thinking. If the offense had not clouded the mind, then the deceived person could understand that there was only an exposure of a misconception about the beloved. It was a performance in which treason was perceived as impossible.

Here is a famous example.

The companies of the so-called "Big Detroit Three" (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler) were for many years the world leaders in the production of automobiles. The well-known failure of the success of these concerns in 1986 due to the influx of reliable Japanese technology contributed to the manifestation of the phenomenon of conceptual thinking. It “turned out” that the success was based on the idea of ​​the managers of these concerns something like this:

- in cars, the main thing is style and finish, and reliability is not so important;

– our companies do not make cars, but money;

- a car is a symbol of status, which means that it is more important than quality;

- the American car market is closed to everyone;

- labor productivity and quality do not depend much on workers;

- everyone connected with the production system should know only what he needs to know about the business.

In this example, conceptual thinking manifests itself in the recognition of some concepts(lat. conceptio- understanding, system, view, representation), through which this or that phenomenon is realized by us. True, this important recognition in the above example took place spontaneously, in a critical situation, that is, unprofessionally.

Here is another example.

It is known that in the 4th century BC, a student of Plato named Aristotle developed the doctrine of the rules for constructing inferences, which guarantee the retention of truth in the course of reasoning - syllogistic. This doctrine of how forms of speech can ensure the truth of the cognitive process lives to this day. Since then, syllogistics has been a kind of cognitive(cognitive) standard for conducting logically consistent reasoning. You can get acquainted with this standard in any textbook of formal logic.

Try to answer this question: how could the cognitive standard of the pre-Aristotelian type of reasoning of the seekers of truth look like? What's going on in your head right now as you're trying to answer this question has a sign of conceptual thinking, as you're trying to define the so-called "construct" some construction of concepts that would define a whole class of phenomena. Now we are talking about a class of methods of inference that were used before the advent of syllogistics.

Here is another simple example - exercise.

Now you are holding a book of a certain genre in your hands. Most likely, this is the genre of the monograph. And on what basis is this type of book production distinguished from others? In search of an answer to this question, your thinking does conceptual work - it looks for the logical foundations of judgments.

There will be many examples here, but first, let's have another one from the conceptualists' problem book.

You probably have an idea of ​​what "change" is. Surely you know what will happen in the world defined by this representation, taking into account the operation of the conservation law? Now watch how your ideas change as you answer the following questions.

- What will be the difference between the effects if two different conservation laws begin to operate in the world?

What happens if it turns out that there are actually N conservation laws?

- What will change in your idea of ​​change if it turns out that each single change has its own conservation law?

– What phenomena would you expect from a world in which two different conservation laws apply to two different but related faces of any object?

Agree that, firstly, each new question here introduces a change in the initial idea (concept) of change. Moreover, with each new concept created in this way, a new world with special properties “appears”. Secondly, behind each new concept, a new special space of distinctions can be deployed. Professionally arranged conceptual thinking performs both designated procedures (the procedure for constructing new "worlds" and the procedure for generating new concepts) consciously and instrumentally.

Perhaps already these initial loose evidence of some special thinking is enough to introduce into the conversation the first signs of the phenomenon of "conceptual thinking".

– It occurs where there are attempts to think the source of judgments and experiences, the source of emerging meanings. In other words, this is thinking, conscious of the existence of some initial idea of ​​reality in its “owner”. This representation acts as an intellectual condition, as a kind of cognitive the reason that determines our perception of reality and the construction of meanings. Touching such a reason for our judgments about "things" is a sign of conceptual thinking.

– Conceptual thinking takes place where, together with the thinkable, its logical foundations are realized, that is, the ways in which thoughts give rise to other thoughts. We are talking about the foundations associated with strict forms of mental constructions. Appeal to the strict rules of logic, the use of concepts as strict forms of thinking in the course of laying the intellectual path allows us to find pure, unclouded terminological garbage, undistorted by emotions meanings.

– Conceptual thinking occurs where there are attempts to think something universal through the singular and special.

Agree, these are strange attempts. It is strange, looking, for example, at an autumn leaf that has fallen on the asphalt, to think not about the leaf, but, say, about withering. But isn't this effect the goal of the artist?! What distinguishes a craftsman from a master artist is, first of all, the ability to express an abstract idea in a concrete form. This is what delights us in a drawing, in a song, in a photograph. A good photograph can always be seen by the extent to which, after a captured moment, the author managed to "show the" typical ", characteristic of many of the same objects or situations." In art, this is called "photographic" or sometimes "imagery" - an abstract image must certainly appear behind the concrete.

The difference between this effect and the one that occurs when conceptual thinking is excited is only that the latter does not care about a blurry and obscure image, but about some distinct concept. With this kind of thinking, when considering a concrete experiential idea of ​​something, we are actually dealing with one of the possibilities, with one particle of some concept.

However, being aware of my role as an interpreter of the essence of conceptual thinking, it is important for me to create not only exact formulas in your mind, but also images. I will use photos for this.

“Behind a specific “captured” moment, an image will certainly appear here ...”.

It can be seen that the property of ascending to the abstract-universal through the concrete is not only and not so much a sign of conceptual thinking as of philosophical thought in general. After all, it is "... she is mainly engaged in such studies that contribute to clarifying the question of a common world view." Indeed, this feature makes conceptual and philosophical thinking related. Is it worth talking about the differences between them here?

– This is thinking, ready to reveal the multitudes in every conceivable phenomenon. Conceptual thinking behind each concept or even word distinguishes varieties, implies worlds that are possible thanks to these concepts. So, for example, in the concept of "belly dance" the conceptualist will immediately see all forms, all varieties, all styles of belly dances, with which all possible dancers of all conceivable spectators can ignite. And only a few of them will remember only one single dance of a single dancer ... You understand why. Thus, here thinking recognizes the plurality behind the individual.

But does not seek to tell about it immediately, if there is no such need. This shows the ability of the mind and soul to hold the diversity of things in a certain unity.

- This is thinking, in which the trace of the thinker, his research intentions (intentions) as individual sources of generated meanings are noticed and recognized behind any judgment. Every concept is a fusion of the thinker and the conceivable. According to the product of conceptual thinking, one can always restore its creator. It is noticeable in the intentions that have served as the reasons for one way or another built assumptions about what is conceivable. In the course of conceptual work, these intentions become clear. Through the author concept passes the ultimate boundary of the world that is created by the fruits of conceptual thinking. The personal-boundary nature of intellectual work is a sign of conceptual thinking. This also makes him related to philosophy. G. Simmel wrote well about this property of philosophy:

“The reaction of philosophizing thought in reality and in its meaning does not mean the absorption of the world by the individual, not its humanization, but that, on the contrary, a typical picture of the world arises, in which the individual is also included; a whole is formed - just such as this type of “human” can think of it; and thanks to this, the individual, conscious of his undoubted reality, establishes the unity of the whole and can himself be understood through it.

These are not all signs of conceptual thinking. But let these testimonies be enough for the first "touch" on him.

Now let's do the second one.

DanielH., PinkA. A whole new mind How to Thrive in the new conceptual age. 2005. International, Padstow, Cornwall

I mean the work of Peter Senge. Sete P. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. - M .: CJSC "Olymp-Business", 1999.

Starting from this page, it will be useful for you to refer to the exercises from the Practicum (Chapter 3) For example, to develop the skill of restoring the logical basis of judgments, it is worth doing exercise 1

Struve G. Distinctive features of philosophy and their significance in comparison with other sciences (1840-1912) - Warsaw, 1872

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To focus, you need to calm the mind. As stated in some meditation instructions, this leads to a more natural state of mind. To be clear, we are not aiming to develop an empty, zombie-like mind, like a turned off radio. Otherwise, we'd better just go to sleep! Our goal is to get rid of disturbing states of mind. Certain emotions disturb us greatly, such as nervousness, anxiety, or fear. Our goal is to appease them.

When we quiet the mind, it becomes clear and alert. In this state, we are able to develop love and understanding or express the natural human warmth that each of us has. To do this, it is necessary to deeply relax not only the muscles of the body, but also to relieve the mental and emotional tension that prevents us from feeling natural warmth, clarity of mind, or even feel at least something.

Some people are under the delusion that to meditate means to stop thinking. In fact, in meditation, we stop extraneous, unnecessary thoughts that distract us: for example, thoughts about the future (“What do I have for dinner?”) Or negative thinking (“Yesterday you were so rude to me. You are a terrible person!”) . They all fall into the category of mind wandering and disturbing thoughts.

However, a calm mind is only a tool, not an end goal. If the mind is more calm, clear and open, we can use it creatively. We use it in daily life and during meditation to better understand our life situation. When the mind is clear of disturbing emotions and extraneous thoughts, we are able to think more clearly about important questions: “What am I doing with my life? What happens in our important relationships? Is this relationship healthy or not? We can analyze: this is called introspection. Understanding these issues and engaging in effective introspection requires clarity. A calm mind is needed, and meditation is the tool that brings us to that state.

Video: Dr. Alan Wallace - "Meditation for Busy People"

Conceptual and non-conceptual states of mind Arrow down Arrow up

Many meditation texts advise getting rid of conceptual thoughts and staying in a non-conceptual state. But these instructions do not apply to all types of meditation, but only to advanced ones in which practitioners focus on reality. And yet there is one form of conceptuality that should not be in any meditation. However, in order to understand the kinds of conceptuality discussed in the meditation texts, it is necessary to understand what Buddhism calls "conceptual."

Conceptual thinking is not just a voice in your head Arrow down Arrow up

Some think that the conceptual ones are ordinary, everyday verbal thoughts that arise in the mind - the so-called "voice in the head." Therefore, in order for thinking to become non-conceptual, you just need to get rid of this voice. In fact, in this way we take only the first, albeit a very important step. This is one of the stages in the process in which we rid the mind of extraneous and disturbing thoughts so that it becomes more clear and peaceful. Others think that true understanding can only be non-conceptual and that conceptual thinking and correct understanding are mutually exclusive. But this is also false.

In order to understand the complex issues of conceptuality, one must first distinguish between verbalization and understanding. You can verbalize something in your mind, understanding or not understanding it. For example, we are able to repeat a prayer in a foreign language and understand or not understand its meaning. Similarly, one can understand something, for example, what a lover feels, knowing how to explain it in his mind in words, or not knowing it.

The opposition between conceptual and non-conceptual states in meditation is not about whether we understand something or not. In meditation, as in everyday life, it is necessary to constantly maintain understanding, whether it is conceptual or non-conceptual and whether we verbalize it in the mind or not. Sometimes verbalization is useful, sometimes it is useless or even unnecessary. For example, we lace up our boots and understand how it is done. But do we need to say in our minds what we do with each of the shoelaces when we tie them? No. In fact, it would be extremely difficult for many of us to describe in words how to tie our shoelaces, although we understand how to do it. Without understanding, we couldn't do anything, right? We couldn't even open the door.

In many ways, verbalization is useful: it is necessary to communicate with others. However, in the process of thinking, verbalization is not always needed, although it is neutral in itself: we can use it both constructively and destructively. In fact, there are useful meditations with verbalization. Thus, the repetition of a mantra in the mind is a form of verbalization that creates and maintains a certain rhythm or vibration in the mind. The measured rhythm of the mantra is extremely useful: it helps to focus on a particular state of mind. If we develop compassion and love while chanting a mantra such as “Om mani padme hum”, focusing on this loving state is a little easier. Of course, one can stay in this state without repeating anything in the mind. Thus verbalization in itself is not a problem. On the other hand, we absolutely need to calm the mind if it is engaged in useless chatter.

Conceptual thinking is the distribution of phenomena into mental boxes Arrow down Arrow up

If the problem of conceptual thinking is not related to verbalization and understanding, then what is it? What is the conceptual mind, and what do the meditation instructions mean when we get rid of it? Do these instructions apply to all stages and levels of meditation as well as daily life? These questions are important to clarify.

The conceptual mind means thinking in terms of categories, that is, putting things into “boxes”: “bad” or “good”, “black” or “white”, “dog” or “cat”.

Of course, when going shopping, it is necessary to distinguish an apple from an orange, and a ripe fruit from an unripe one. In everyday affairs, thinking in terms of categories is not a problem. But there are other kinds of categories that create problems, and one of them is the so-called "bias".

Here is an example of prejudice: “I assume that you will always treat me badly. You are a terrible person because you have done this and that in the past. Whatever happens, I expect the same terrible behavior from you in the future.” We are sure in advance that the person is terrible and will continue to behave towards us just as badly. This is prejudice. Mentally, we have identified this person in the category, or box, "terrible person." Of course, if we think this way and project onto him the thought: “He is evil and will always do terrible things to me,” there will be a huge wall between us and this person. Our prejudice affects how we feel about it. Thus, prejudice is a state of mind in which we categorize or box things in our mind.

non-conceptual thinking Arrow down Arrow up

Non-conceptuality has many levels, one of which is simply being open to the situation that arises. This does not mean that we give up conceptual understanding. For example, we have a dog that has bitten several people. Based on the "dog that bites" category, we're careful when it's around. We have good reasons to fear this animal, but we are free from the prejudice: "This dog will definitely bite me, so I won't even go near it." It is a soft balance: we accept the situation that arises, while not creating prejudices that would prevent us from experiencing it in its entirety.

Freedom from prejudice is a level of non-conceptuality that is essential in any meditation.

The most general instruction is to meditate without expectation or anxiety. Prejudices about a meditation session can be: we expect the session to be great, or we worry that our legs will hurt, or we think we won't succeed. Expectation and worry are prejudices, whether we verbalize them in our minds or not. Such thoughts pre-define the meditation session in the mental box - the category of "fantastic experience" or "painful experience." A non-conceptual approach to meditation means that we simply accept everything that happens and, guided by the meditation instructions, deal with it without making judgments about the situation.

Video: Khandro Rinpoche - "Practice for Beginners"
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Summary Arrow down Arrow up

Without understanding the types of conceptual thoughts, we may mistakenly think that all of them interfere with meditation and even daily life. In most meditation practices, it is necessary to get rid of the voice in the head and discard all prejudices. However, in order to understand a phenomenon, whether in meditation or out of meditation, it is necessary to place it in one mental category or another, expressed or not expressed in words. This does not only apply to the most advanced practitioners.

Phenomenal intelligence. The Art of Thinking Effectively Sheremetiev Konstantin

Chapter 3 Conceptual Thinking

Conceptual thinking