Concept Definition and 1000 Threads

Concepts are defined as abstract ideas or general notions that occur in the mind, in speech, or in thought. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by several disciplines, such as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy, and these disciplines are interested in the logical and psychological structure of concepts, and how they are put together to form thoughts and sentences. The study of concepts has served as an important flagship of an emerging interdisciplinary approach called cognitive science.In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what a concept is:
Concepts as mental representations, where concepts are entities that exist in the mind (mental objects)
Concepts as abilities, where concepts are abilities peculiar to cognitive agents (mental states)
Concepts as Fregean senses (see sense and reference), where concepts are abstract objects, as opposed to mental objects and mental statesConcepts can be organized into a hierarchy, higher levels of which are termed "superordinate" and lower levels termed "subordinate". Additionally, there is the "basic" or "middle" level at which people will most readily categorize a concept. For example, a basic-level concept would be "chair", with its superordinate, "furniture", and its subordinate, "easy chair".

Concepts may be exact, or inexact.
When the mind makes a generalization such as the concept of tree, it extracts similarities from numerous examples; the simplification enables higher-level thinking.
A concept is instantiated (reified) by all of its actual or potential instances, whether these are things in the real world or other ideas.
Concepts are studied as components of human cognition in the cognitive science disciplines of linguistics, psychology and, philosophy, where an ongoing debate asks whether all cognition must occur through concepts. Concepts are used as formal tools or models in mathematics, computer science, databases and artificial intelligence where they are sometimes called classes, schema or categories. In informal use the word concept often just means any idea.

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  1. P

    Concept problems. multi choice check my answers.

    Ok i am studing and the book doesn't give answers. Here are a few questions i gave. What do you think. I will list pictures and test. For pic/question 1 - Will the answer be d - roatating the loop 90 degree ? Would it make sense that since the magnetic field is going into the paper i...
  2. B

    Why Can't the Motorcycle's Contact Point with the Wall Serve as a Pivot?

    look here: http://www.mut.ac.th/~physics/PhysicsMagic/wall.htm" scrolling to the motorcycle section, my question is, why is it that you cannot consider the point of contact of the motorcycle with the wall as a pivoting point? I have done some calculations, and this leads to a physically...
  3. A

    Why Does Current Distribution Vary in Different Electrical Configurations?

    INTRODUCTION: I had been doing some current electricity froblems but now and then I'm having some problems with the distribution of current.I'm really confused. I have attached a figure with this thread, in which I've tried to combine all situations of current distribution in which I'm facing...
  4. M

    How Does Projectile Motion Determine Maximum Height and Time to Peak?

    A child kicks a ball with an initial velocity of 8.5 meters per second at an angle of 35° with the horizontal, as shown. The ball has an initial vertical velocity of 4.9 meters per second and a total time of flight of 1.0 second. [Neglect air resistance.] what is the max height? what is the...
  5. S

    Velocity->Force, concept problem

    Ok, so I have a problem in which an object is thrown tangentialy to a surface which makes 45o with the orizontal. So we know, that there is an MOMENT OF FORCE, an instant acceleration, which give the object the initial velocity : Vo. The object is thrown in the upside direction(so is slowing...
  6. S

    A little concept problem with those vectors

    A little concept problem with those vectors :) Ok, so I got two objects which somehow interacts to each other, or I have two electomagnetic waves which interact in that same way. I know the angle between those two vectors, and I know let's say the result vector of that impact, the module of...
  7. W

    Concept of quantization-Schroedinger equation

    I have a little problem with giving the solution for this question: Explain the concept of quantization on the example of energy levels for particle in the box of length L if the solution to Schroedinger equation is Psi = C sin ( sqrt( 2 m E ) / h x ) Maybe I don't understand this question...
  8. F

    What is a Particle? Understanding the Concept

    Marlon: I'm having a bit of a crisis about particles. Can you tell me, what is your concept of a particle?
  9. B

    Why is push gravity concept considered not viable by mainstream science?

    [SOLVED] Why is push gravity concept considered not viable by mainstream science? Hello guys, I would like to know the main reasons why the push gravity concept is not considered as a viable concept by mainstream science. I know it gave rise to numerous published works, amongst which we have...
  10. O

    Is Displacement Current Used to Explain Non-Flat Capacitor Fields?

    I have a question in regards to displacement current. Is this theory mainly used to describe the field when a capacitor has a shape other than a flat one? Can anyone link me a site that clearly explains how we can use the concept of displacement current? From what I understand through...
  11. R

    Unravelling the Concept of Mass

    What is mass ?? Text books define it as the "amount" of substance... You can also use some equations and toss Mass out, giving other definitions. But my question is about the wording "amount of substance" > What is this "amount of substance" ? > Because "amount" refers to counting.. How...
  12. Jameson

    Exploring Love: Defining the Meaning of a Universal Concept

    The human concept of love has been something that has puzzled me for some time now, but I must admit I've many a time used those three words that by observation of the world around me seem meaningless ("I love you") I claim that words are a means of expressing thoughts, feelings, emotions...
  13. K

    Help with the concept of eigenvectors

    Hi, I just need a little bit of help with the concept of eigenvectors. I have a basic 2x2 matrix and have found the eigenvalues to be: 4 and 9 I have also tried going through the process of finding the eigenvectors that my lecturer has shown me, but I'm not sure where to go from there, I'm...
  14. G

    Verify EPE of 2 Particles Attached to Elastic String

    EPE...Verify this concept? I think I am on the verge of solving a question that has been bugging me for an hour or so but before I give myself a pat on the back can someone just have a look at a certain facet of the problem (that I will explain) and tell me if what I think is happening *is*...
  15. A

    How does the BMW turbosteamer concept work and what challenges does it face?

    http://www.gizmag.com/go/4936/ theres the link in case anyone hasnt seen it already. pretty simple concept, and it sounds like a great idea to me, but I don't quite understand 2 areas of the specific design, maybe somone can help. Firstly, is the heat from the exhaust gasses really enough...
  16. C

    How Do Apostol's and Le's Definitions of Measurable Functions Relate?

    First I had learned this definition of a "measurable function" (Apostol): "Let I be an interval. A function f: I -> R is said to be measurable on I if there exists a sequence of step functions (s_n(x) ) such that s_n(x) -> f(x) as n -> infinity for almost all x in I." But now in other...
  17. V

    Friction Concept: Understand Dynamics & Calculate Back Velocity

    Please someone of you help me in this concept. My Prof told us that if we need to move with contact with respect to an object, then friction is essential. I cannot think the dynamics behind it. There was a question was like somone jumped from a platform and we had to clculat the back velocity...
  18. K

    Understanding Uniform Circular Motion: The Role of Perpendicular Acceleration

    What does it really mean when forces are perpendicular to each other? Is it that they are independent of each other? And if so, why is that so special? I ask these questions to answer this homework question: Describe the path of a moving body whose acceleration is constant in magnitude at...
  19. I

    Help With Stats Concept, Please?

    Hello everyone, I just started taking Stats and I have a question that the book doesn't explain really well. I was hoping someone could explain how an answer was achieved. The question is about trimmed means -- not the means, I can do those, but specifically how you figure the percentages...
  20. M

    Confused on concept of finding voltage drop across a resistor

    Hello everyone I have a slight problem. I am confused on how you know what path current is going to travel and also what voltage sources your suppose to add up to a specific resistor. For example here is my picture, already solved: The directions where to find the value of ix, the orignal...
  21. Loren Booda

    How is the concept of free will incorporated into physics?

    How is the concept of free will incorporated into physics?
  22. vincentm

    Why Is the Night Sky Dark If the Universe Is Infinite?

    I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this, can someone explain this to me? Thank you, Vincent
  23. S

    Karma is a logically scientific concept?

    Do you think karma is a logically scientific concept and can be proven to be true?o:)
  24. E

    Concept with Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution Curve

    Does this have something to do with definite integration?
  25. N

    Physics cannot be based on the field concept

    Can someone clarify the following quote? I consider it quite possible that physics cannot be based on the field concept, i.e., on continuous structures. In that case, nothing remains of my entire castle in the air, gravitation theory included, [and of] the rest of modern physics. (Albert...
  26. B

    Concept MC Questions - Clarifying Earth's Rotation & Ladder Friction in Space

    Hi, I have some review multiple choice questions, and some of them, I can't understand why the answer is so. If you could clarify the concepts, that'd be great! Which statement best describes the Earth’s rotation about its axis? a)The tangential velocity is the same at all points on the...
  27. A

    What Concepts Should You Review Before a Chemistry Test?

    I think I got these right but I wanted to check first before I took my test... The ones that don't have any answers are ones I need help with. Concept Review: 1. Which of the following is most likely to form a cation? Xe Cl Ca S 2. Which of the following is a chemical...
  28. T

    Basic concept in special relativity

    I was asked (on another non physics site) how an observer can measure the speed of light to be the same as someone who is moving away/ towards the light source. I know that it is a fairly simple idea but I couldn't find the words to answer comprehensively. Here is what I wrote: In...
  29. T

    Explaining the concept of Watt to me

    A guy was explaining the concept of Watt to me, using a drawing of a machine that used 1 Joule per second, i.e. an oven. This one watt is now converted into heat, but excactly how much heat does 1 watt equal in terms of temperature? I'm not even sure if there is a relation, but if not, how is an...
  30. A

    How to Make a Chemistry Concept Map in Microsoft Word

    I have to make a concept map in Microsoft Word (Not necessarily but that's the only thing I know how to use.) but I can't figure out how. I've done it before so I can't figure out why it isn't working now...:confused: Anyone have any suggestions for making a concept map?:smile:
  31. A

    Finding the Force Concept Inventory

    I hope I'm in the right section. :smile: This is more or less a question about finding some published documents... I'm a little curious about Hestenes' FCI. I've encountered it a few times over the past year through papers and talks about science education, but they only mention its name and...
  32. B

    Understanding the concept of vector

    Hi , I have hard time understanding the concept of vector, matriecs in relation with rank and independent/dependent columns / rows. I have two question that I would like to have help: The set of vectors {v1,v2,v3,v4} would be linearly dependent if 1-v3 is the zero vector 2- each of the...
  33. M

    Can an Artificial 24th Pair of Chromosomes Create Superior Beings?

    I saw Doom the movie last night and there was an interesting concept in it. They said that an artificial 24th pair of chromosomes was created to manufacture greater beings, they were basicly far more superior. And I thought, is this possible? Could chromosomes be added or change to make a...
  34. F

    Explaining the Concept of a Swinging Atwoods Machine

    hi there i was just wondering could anyone please explain to me the concept behind a "SWINGING ATWOODS MACHINE"-i mean as to why it works that way!"? I really want to know the concept! thanks fahd!
  35. J

    Juggling Concept: Equal Accelerations, Opposite Velocities | Quick Question"

    A juggler throws two balls to the same height so that one is at the halfway point going up when the other is at the halfway point coming down. At that point: Their accelerations are equal but their velocities are equal and opposite. Right?
  36. J

    Understanding the Physics of Thrown Balls: Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration

    A ball is thrown vertically upward. Consider the following quantities: 1)speed, 2)velocity and 3) acceleration. Which of these will be zero when the ball has reached the maximum height? Won't all three be zero?
  37. C

    Why the concept of tensor was invented

    why the concept of tensor was invented. I always see that tensors are provided in matrix format. example inertia tensor is there in a 3x3 matrix. why?
  38. M

    Dot product with 3 dimensions, confused on concept, easy question i think

    Hello everyone! I'm confused on what I'm suppose to do here, I think i might got it though but i need to make sure... Here is the problem and my work: http://show.imagehosting.us/show/764032/0/nouser_764/T0_-1_764032.jpg he let r(t) = f(t) i + g(t) j + h(t) k. So if i multiply this by...
  39. P

    Concept of Field: Canonical Formalism in QFT

    can ne 1 explain 2 me the canonical formalism of generalising the concept of field in QFT...i m not 2 sure abt the replacement of generalised coordinates q(i) i=1,2,... n with phi(x)
  40. K

    What happens when two people pull on a rope with different forces?

    I know that if two people are pulling on a rope with the same force, the tension in the rope is the force that one of them is pulling at because the rope is pulling back or something like that. I don't really understand how this concept works. What happens if they are pulling on the rope with...
  41. G

    Max Electrical Force of Two Protons Aimed Toward Each Other

    not clear on concept Q Two protons are aimed directly toward each other by a cyclotron accelerator with speeds of 1650 km/s, measured relative to the earth. find the maximum electrical force that these protons will exert on each other? K_a + -U_a= K_b + U_b and K_a=0, U_b=0 -U_a=K_b K_b=...
  42. D

    Significant Figures in Scientific Calculations

    I don't really get the concept of significant figures. Anyone can help me out? 1200 X 23.4 What is that in significant figures?
  43. I

    Concept of the pigeonhole principle

    This question applies with the so called "infinite" pigeonhole principle. Why is it possible to construct a one-one function out of two sets where the codomain has a length smaller than the length of the domain?
  44. I

    Using the concept of finite difference

    I am trying to find the ▲cos x. By using its definition. It simply turned out to be cos(x+1) - cos(x). How do I express this in terms of sine? (and as only one term)?
  45. DaTario

    Is the Electric field a well defined concept ?

    This question bothers me since ever... At a given time in a EM course, we stop talking of forces relation between two particles and start conceiving electric interaction as something where one of the charges acts upon the whole space and the other, since it occupies some portion of the space...
  46. G

    What is the Relationship Between Money and Time in this Novel Concept?

    [(Money) = (2 ^ - 1) ] / [( Time) = (1 ^ - 1)] (2 ^ -1) / (1 ^ -1) = (1 / 2) / (1 / 1) = ( 1 ^ -1) / (2 ^ -1)
  47. S

    Why Does Air-Lock Reduce Fluid Flow in Tubes?

    Hi, I have come across "air-lock," as a concept to explain decreased flow of fluid in a tube as a result of air bubbles introduced into the system. I'd really appreciate an explanation for why this happnes? is it because air is compressible? is there a text that would recommend as a...
  48. K

    A different Brayton Cycle concept.

    This is a revisit of a site that we have seen in the past, but there has been some updating and it looks promising. This is definitely not what most have in mind when they talk about the internal combustion (re. Otto/Diesel cycle)engine and list the limitations of it. In fact, it's not even...
  49. F

    A New Concept of what Gravity really is?

    A New Perspective of what Gravity really is? A New Perspective of what Gravity really is? We all know how Einstein showed us that flat space is warped when matter is present, and that the more matter there is, the more warped space becomes, this showed us that the further you are into the...
  50. G

    Unifying Gravity and Quantum Mechanics: Exploring the Concept of Spacetime

    Hello, I'm new to the forums here but I just wanted to ask a couple of questions. Is the theory of Relativity unique in its proposal that space and time are interwoven? Basically, was it the first theory to make such a claim that there exists not only space and not only time but spacetime...
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