"Concept" is defined in the American Oxford Dictionary as "an abstract idea, a general notion". The Wikipedia article also defines concept as "a mental symbol", or "a unit of knowledge built from characteristics". In short, concepts are the hooks on which you hang your ideas, and thought heavily depends on concepts for structure.
Deep concepts are thought constructs that are fundamental to a lot of other, more specific thought constructs. In some of the next posts I will explore notions of "time", "causality" and "good and evil" as examples of deep concepts that underlie our worldviews.
So why are deep concepts important? Well, they really set the scene for us to develop a worldview, and in many cases shape our frame of reference.
For us, the deep concepts that form our frame of reference appear universally true, and many probably are. But not all, and the challenge is to find out which, and why not. But even if some deep concepts are not universally true, they may be useful, and even essential, in allowing us to model the world around us in our minds.
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