Hi kate;...Higher order abstractions Mmmmmm ? Idealogical guesswork, wishful thinking in a higher order way?-galaxie
There is more to abstract thinking than just in the religious sense. It's more about dicernment and reading between the lines to come to conclusions, people who are good at making higher order abstractions in social situations can dicern a lot about people they meet without them being told everything in terms of black and white.
If I ask my friend to go out on Friday night and she says she's busy, I will say how about the following Friday and she says she's not sure what she's doing, I then dicern my friend really doesn't want to make firm plans with so I don't ask again. The next time I call her and ask if she wants to go out Friday and she says she's busy again.
What would a dicerning person do next?
I would dicern if I asked her if she wanted to go out the following Friday, she would not make firm plans. I would then say to her, okay contact me when you're free. I would leave the ball in her court.
Making higher order abstractions is about seeing situations before the concrete evidence gives you proof and being right. This was just a simple example in a social situation. Most people can tell if others don't want to engage with them, we learn this as we grow up and interact socially.
Abstract thinking is an important part of life and everyone should know that the world is not black and white. Abstract thinking is more than guess work, it's taking information and predicting a conclusion or outcome.
If one wishes to become an actuary, you need to be excellent at maths but you need to also be able to make higher order abstractions to get good results. They base probabilities on the figures and make predictions.
Kate xx