Today we're going to be interested in the way we think aboutHIP: tree thinking.
If you're a gifted man, it'll help you better understand how your brain is thinking. In any case, it's been good for me to put words on the operation of that locomotive I've got up there. It is thanks to this understanding that we can begin to tame our thoughts and no longer let our brain govern in a boil.
Where does tree thinking come from?
So I'm not teaching you anything, the gifted a little special way of thinking. It's going fast and it goes all the way. You must certainly live it like me. Sometimes it's the bazaar up there, it's a fireworks in the head with all these ideas. Really, everything goes very fast and in all directions.
So I wondered where that difference came from? Because it's nice to say it's aintellectual quotienthigh who does that, but just a score on a piece of paper it's not everything.
1- Tree thought comes from a different structure of the brain: myelinization rate
At the beginning of the answer, what I can offer you is a research, a study that suggests that this difference comes from an important rate of myelination. So what's a myelin? That's what I put in blue.
It is a kind of membrane that surrounds the axons of the neurons. It's like a protection between the bonds of different neurons. And what does this protection do? It allows better exchanges, better quality of exchanges between neurons, but also exchanges that have a higher speed. So this high rate of myelinization is correlated with stronger and faster neuronal connections – and therefore with high intelligence.
Basically, what we must remember is that high potentials have a priori as many neurons as neurotypical people but what they have is connections between these different neurons that do better, easier.
Imagine a country with different cities that are neurons. If in some countries roads are better made, there is a good surface, we drive better, and of course the cars will pass better, the distances will be made faster because we will ride better than in a country where there are potholes everywhere. This is gonna be slower.
2- The callous body is more permeable in the brain of high potentials, allowing better circulation of neuronal information
Now we're going to go on another study that was done in Lyon. I already put the video on the blog. Don't hesitate to ask me. I can send her back to you. But basically they've passed MRIs on to people.children HIPto see the activity of the brain according to certain tasks they were doing to children. I'm not going to go into the details of the study because that's not the subject.
What they noticed was that in the brains GiftedThe information passed much better between the left brain and the right brain – between the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere – through what is called the callous body. Usually it's quite hermetic according to them, but there they noticed that the news is going very well from one hemisphere to another.
The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that there are more links between different ideas and different themes. That is, the right brain is used to saying that it is more based on emotion, feeling, feelings, colors, smells, etc. The left brain is more in reason, in intelligence a little as we usually see it. And there in fact by making connections between these two parts we manage to make links more easily, for example, between a smell and a theory, between a color and I don't know what else. This is at least what one can think of the conclusion of this study. Despite everything I do not hide from you that it is a subject that remains very mysterious.
The two theories of thought
What we say about the way we think of the gifted is just theories. There's nothing to prove it right now. So be careful. Don't drink everything I tell you. I just want to show you what we think we know right now. Your call. For example at the level of thought (the theme of this article) there are two schools. There are some who say that it is arborescent thought and others rather divergent thought. I'll introduce you both.
1- The tree thinking
We start with tree thought, or thought in tree.
2- Linear thought
It must be distinguished from linear thinking, which is the fact that we have an A idea that leads to an idea B that leads to an idea C. It's a logical path between ideas and you can easily see how you've moved from one idea to another. The link is really logical and easy to follow.
On the contrary, we have the arborescent thought where there an idea A will lead to two or three ideas and each of these ideas will lead to two or three ideas and so on. It grows like branches of a tree – where the name tree.
Example of tree thinking
If I am now trying to illustrate what I have just said, for example with linear thought, if one starts from the word "boat" one can think after the sea (because the boat navigates on the sea). And then to the ocean. There's a logical sequence of ideas, it's holding.
On the other hand, if we go back from the same word "boat" but from the point of view of tree thinking, we can leave on one side on the sea, as for linear thought. But a boat also made me think of pirates. Then with the sea I left on the ocean and shells. On the other hand with the pirates went on the Caribbean and a treasure (the spoil of pirates with gold and everything). So we see that we're going on ideas that are very different on the tree side. In each branch we can see the links. But if we take for example the sea and the treasure, the link is still quite distant.
The limits of tree thinking
I confess that this idea of tree thinking poses a small problem to me. When does this idea stop? When does this tree end and leave on a new tree?
Because in this idea, so if I go on my boat my brain continues to make a lot of nonstop ideas. After a while I had to bring together all the ideas of the world. But this tree no longer ends.
Except it's already going too fast in my head so I don't know if that's how it goes or not. But I know that at times I go on another idea, and that this idea is on another theme and does not necessarily have any connection with what I just saw before. So it's that at some point I put an end to a tree of thought. And in theory there is no end to the tree of thought. That's why this idea of tree thinking bothers me and I tend to prefer the divergent thought that we will see right away.
Different thought
The idea of divergent thought is that one idea will give plenty of others. It is finally a bit like a branch of tree thinking, but there it is really an idea in the center that radiates on many other ideas.
The converging thought
It is different from the converging thought where it is full of ideas that will go towards a single idea. We search and converge to a common denominator. I think this way of thinking looks like brainstorming. At first we go towards a rather divergent thought, that is to say we have a problem (the central idea) and we think about a lot of ideas to answer it, full of themes, lots of things. Then, at the end of the meeting, we have all these ideas, all these things, which we seek to centralize around the same idea. So this alternation/convergence makes me think of a brainstorming meeting. It was more to illustrate.
Example of divergent thinking
For example if I'm looking for a way to get more followers in my email list, I can increase my presence on social networks, make contests, talk about a newsletter, increase the quality of my content, make partnerships, when you sign up somewhere to put links to other accounts to create a chain spirit... So the main idea is to increase my number of followers and I've had a lot of ideas coming since the divergence. This could be the beginning of, for example, a brainstorming meeting where we wonder all this.
And then, when we have all these ideas, the common theme could for example decide to hire a social media manager who could take care of all these tasks. I hope this example allowed you to illustrate a little... I did what I could!
The benefits of thinking diverge from tree thinking
But if I try to put it back in my head it might look a little more like that.
That is, we have an idea. If I take, for example, the "home" center that can make me think of the notion of family and then the work and investment that the house represents, at rest because in it I can rest. This idea of rest reminds me of other things. And in the end we really get on this spider web.
I prefer that over the tree because there is no hierarchy here. There is no idea which is the basic idea. You can return to the house several times (for example) or from rest (I rest and then it can make me think of the house where I am well). Otherwise I go on the family that can also make me think about home, my investments, etc. And in fact I can go back several times by the same idea having in the meantime thought about other ideas. Which makes me come back to my basic idea but with more background ideas if you want, having gone through other paths. So I see her with a new eye.
And this way of thinking where I come back several times on the same idea but with different angles and thinking about other things that correspond much more to the way I think. That's it. You tell me if you care. That's how I interpret it.
FAQ on tree thinking
How to manage your thinking in a tree?
Managing one's thinking in an arborescence implies first recognizing and accepting this way of thinking as a force rather than an obstacle. To channel this creative energy, it is useful to organize with tools such as mental maps, which allow to visualize the connections between ideas. Practice meditation or techniques of full consciousness helps to concentrate its flow of thoughts and reduce overthinking. It is also beneficial to dedicate moments to give free rein to his divergent thought, while setting limits to return to specific tasks. Surrounding an environment that stimulates creativity while providing support structures can also promote effective management of thought into a tree, transforming this feature into a unique advantage for problem solving and innovation.
How do we know we have a tree thinking?
Knowing if you have a tree thinking can be manifested by several indicators. Typically, people with this form of thought tend to establish connections between seemingly disparate ideas, seeing links where others do not see them. They can easily be lost in their reflections, moving quickly from one subject to another in a continuous flow of associations. These individuals are often creative, curious, and have a penchant for solving complex problems. If you find yourself exploring multiple perspectives and possibilities in everyday situations, or if you have a remarkable ability to generate innovative ideas and think "out of the box", you are likely to experience tree thinking. This can be both stimulating and exhausting, requiring strategies to manage an overdose of information and stimuli.
Sources:
- Davies G., Deary I., Gale C., Hagenaars S., Hill W., Maghizian O., Marioni R., McIntosh A., Ritchie S., (Molecural Psychiatry),A combined analysis of genetically correlated traits identified 187 loci and a role for neurogenesis and myelination in intelligence, 2019.
- Sappey-Marinier D., (Hôpitaux de Lyon),Children with high potential, contribution of functional imaging, 2016.
