comparing knowledge and thinking

In the real world, each of us is considered different, because people have different opportunities, different purposes, and different ways of thinking. And of course, one person cannot have the same thought train as another. As individuals, we base our thinking on what we know, or our knowledge. Our knowledge is another aspect of thought, which we have chosen to accept. Individual thinking is an essential quality that every person performs. I believe that everyone is unique and no two people can possibly be the same, that no two people can ever think the same exact thoughts or feel precisely the same emotions. Every person will have his or her own personal ideas about a particular object, place, or subject.

For instance, in my life, I have to think a lot to deal with reality. I have to control my own destiny. It is very important for me to realize that I control my life with my mind. I can only do what I think I can do, and only become what I think I can become. I must use my body of knowledge to think and make appropriate choices.

It is quite difficult to define accurately what thinking is. Again, people have different opinions. In my opinion, the basic sources of knowledge come from observation, experience, and research. These facts are considered in processes of thinking, and we then have understanding and intelligence. Knowledge understands facts, but thinking is the ability to utilize these facts in a meaningful way. Knowledge gives me the facts of the problem, but to solve the problems, I need to analyze the problem critically in order to be successful.

Carl Sagan in Can We Know the Universe, believes that our knowledge is limited by our perceptions since experience cannot give us full knowledge of a particular subject. “Our perceptions may be distorted by training and prejudice or merely because of the limitations of our sense organs, which of course, perceive directly but a small fraction of the phenomena of the world.” Even so, we must use the knowledge that we have to try our best to process that information so that we may find a possible way to understand the world. Sagan understands the limitations of knowledge but thinking is a process without any limitations.

A person who is a good thinker has intellect because he or she c...

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...can only be answered by thinking, because only thought can produce or improve anything we create or interact with. Everything I do, any circumstances, problems, and experiences that I go through every moment of every day, cannot be surmounted without thought.

Often, people are afraid to make their own decisions because they don’t want to be wrong or ridiculed for outlandish ideas. So, instead they choose to be secure and follow others, and imitate what they see the majority doing. When people do not make their own choices, sovereignty is lost. We must struggle for ourselves. We must think.

Wherever you live, whatever you do to reach your goals; without thinking, you wouldn’t be there. Whenever I consider a certain idea, the more I think about it, the more apt I am to receive or seek the knowledge, and the more probable I will solve my situations successfully. Although I may be hesitant to entertain radical and differentiating thoughts at times, I rest assured that if I am thinking for myself, the results will be in my favor no matter what the outcome, because I did not surrender sovereignty of my knowledge to anyone else.