Thinking that Defines Boundaries | Introducing the Mindset That Allows Me to Keep Writing on Note

People who can articulate their thoughts are talented.

Recently, I have had more opportunities to hear such words.

Whether at work or on social media, I feel that the term "articulation skills" is taking on a life of its own.

Certainly, people who can convey their thoughts clearly are attractive.

However, I feel that the definition of this word "articulation" is vague.

Is articulation really just a technique for writing?

In a previous article, I introduced three axes of articulation.

1. What are you articulating?

Is it your inner self, or the outside world?

2. Who are you articulating for?

Is it for yourself, or for others?

3. Why are you articulating?

Is it to understand, or to create new value?

Among these, I usually operate in a mode of:

• The outside world
• For myself to understand
• Organizing as a structure

I think in this mode overwhelmingly often. And I am recording the results of that thinking on note.

Work is the same.

Social issues are the same.

Philosophy is the same.

I want to understand the structure by which the world operates.

Therefore, for me, verbalization is not about writing sentences, but about "understanding."

So, how does that understanding progress?

Let me try to "verbalize" my own thinking and introduce it to you all.

My way of thinking is not about searching for words.

It is about searching for boundaries.

For example,

"Is lying a bad thing?"

Let's consider this question.

Many people might answer that "lying is not good."

However, is that really the case?

Withholding a diagnosis from a patient with a short life expectancy.

A surprise for a child's birthday.

Encouraging a depressed friend by saying "it will surely go well."

Conversely, deceiving someone to gain a profit.

These are all the same in the sense of "conveying something different from the facts."

However, we do not evaluate them in the same way.

What I do here is not to reach a conclusion.

First, I think of examples, no matter what.

And there is one thing I am conscious of.

It is to think of extreme cases.

If you only think about things near the boundary line, the differences are hard to see.

That is why I line up pure white examples and pitch-black examples.

Furthermore, I ask myself,

"Are there any opposite cases?"

I pose this question to myself.

People surprisingly only come up with examples within the range they can think of.

That is why I consciously expand my thinking domain.

Once enough examples have been gathered, I then switch my thinking mode.

Here, I do not access my own emotions.

I take a step back and look at the examples objectively.

"What can these be classified by?"

"What is the boundary?"

I think in this way.

Then,

"Is it to protect the other party?"

"Is it for profit?"

Is it sincerity?

Such words gradually emerge.

Of course, you don't reach the correct answer on the first try.

Formulate a hypothesis.

Apply that hypothesis to a case study once more.

If something feels off, correct it.

Look at it again.

Repeat this back-and-forth many times.

When you do this, strangely enough, at some moment, you encounter words that make you think, 'This is it.'

I believe this moment is the verbalization in this way of thinking.

Of course, if you read books, many scholars and philosophers have written definitions.

Learning those definitions is very important.

However, I find that definitions where I have searched for the boundaries myself resonate with me far more deeply.

That is because they are connected to my own experiences, knowledge, and values.

They are not borrowed definitions, but definitions I have acquired myself.

In the world, verbalization is often discussed as a 'technique for communicating well.'

Of course, that is not wrong either.

However, I want you to acquire the 'thinking that defines boundaries' that exists one step before that. I feel that the essence lies in this way of thinking.

Draw your own boundaries in a world that was once ambiguous.

Define that boundary in words.

Then, the world that had been shrouded in fog until then suddenly becomes clear.

It is not to write down the answer.

It is to search for the boundaries of a world that has not yet been defined.

Do you ever feel like you 'cannot put something into words'?

I believe that is simply because you have not defined the boundaries within yourself.

If you look at that question again from such a perspective, you might see a different landscape than before.