THOUGHT 



5799 



THRACE 



servation, reading and reflection. Thought is 

 the blending, or weaving together, of these bits 

 of knowledge into new and abstract ideas. For 

 example, we may perceive a particular object, 

 such as the Mississippi River, and observe its 

 color and current, or remember when it was 

 discovered, but when we piece together the 

 products of our observation and reading and 

 concentrate our attention upon some particular 

 attribute of the river, such as its importance to 

 commerce, or its relation to other rivers, we 

 are said to think or to arrive at our conclusion 

 by processes of thought. The observation of an 

 object is often unconscious and performed in- 

 voluntarily, but thought, or the singling out of 

 a particular attribute of the object, requires 

 conscious effort. We think only when we have 

 some purpose, such as that of discovering like- 

 nesses and differences. Oliver Wendell Holmes 

 says that "a thought is often original though 

 you have uttered it a thousand times. It has 

 come to you over new routes by a new train 

 of association." 



The psychologist seeks to discover how we 

 think. He divides the powers of the mind into 

 feeling, intellect and mil, each of which is more 

 or less represented in every mental act. Every 

 thought is accompanied by a certain amount of 

 feeling and is colored by it, while the will con- 

 trols thought. The poet Lowell says : 



; All thought begins in feeling wide, 

 In the great mass its base is hid, 

 And narrowing up to thought stands glorified 

 A moveless pyramid. 



Similarly there is thought in all emotion, and 

 here again the controlling agency is the will. 

 Further, there are both thought and feeling in 

 every act of will. The first step in the process 

 of thought is analysis, or abstraction, which is 

 the singling out of the characteristics and quali- 

 ties of an object and the concentration of the 

 mind upon one of these. The next step is known 

 ;is, or the combining and relating of 



the qualities of a certain thing to those of other 

 objects, and comparing them to determine their 

 likenesses or differences. 



This concentration of the mind always in- 

 volves a muscular tension and an adjustment 

 of the nerves and muscles, especially those con- 

 trolling the movements of the eyes and head, 

 and intense thought cannot be maintained for 

 long periods at a time without physical ex- 

 haustion. 



The logician is interested, not in the processes 

 of thought, but in how to think correctly, and 

 divides thought into three stages: first, the 



formation of a general idea which he calls con- 

 ception; then the combination of concepts to 

 form a statement, or judgment, and, lastly, the 

 passing from one judgment to another, or the 

 process of reasoning and drawing a conclusion. 



Method and concentration are required to 

 produce clear thought. Writing and conversa- 

 tion constitute the harvesting of thought. Not 

 only do they enable us to give our ideas defi- 

 nite form, but they suggest new ideas and open 

 new channels of thought. 



"Thoughts shut up want air 

 And spoil like bales unopened to the sun." 



The influence of thought upon character is 

 incalculable, for thought is the impelling force 

 of every deed. "As a man's thoughts are, so 

 is he" is a saying so old and well known as to 

 scarcely need repeating. It is thought that 

 distinguishes man from animal and civilization 

 from barbarism, and it is thought that has pro- 

 duced the moral, scientific and economical de- 

 velopment of the world. W.F.R. 



Consult Tichener's Experimental Psychology 

 of the Thought Processes; Pillsbury's Psy- 

 chology of Reasoning. 



Related Subjects. In connection with this 

 article on thought the reader is referred to the 

 following articles in these volumes : 

 Apperception Judgment 



Association, Law of Logic 



Attention Memory 



Brain Mind 



Concept Perception 



Feeling Psychology 



Imagination Reason 



Interest Will 



THOU 'SAND ISLANDS. See SAINT .LAW- 

 RENCE RIVER, subhead Thousand Islands. 



THRACE, thrays, the ancient name of an 

 extensive region in the Balkan Peninsula. Its 

 boundaries were somewhat vague, as it was 

 subject to constant change, but it was situated 

 to the north of Macedonia and possessed rich 

 meadows arid corn lands and had also great 

 mineral wealth. At one time the territory is 

 supposed to have extended from Macedonia to 

 the Danube and eastward as far as the Black 

 Sea. 



The Thracians were of Indo-European origin, 

 akin to the Phrygians of Asia Minor. They 

 were barbarians, warlike and fond of plunder, 

 and were ruled by many petty kings. After 

 having been made nominally dependent on Per- 

 sia the Thracians were subdued by Macedonia 

 about 399 B. c. They regained their independ- 

 ence for a short time on the fall of Macedonia, 

 but were conquered by the Romans, and Thra- 



