Bottom Up, Top Down

BOTTOM UP, TOP DOWN

Sometimes operational before descriptive, and sometimes descriptive before operational.

by Dan Fodor

I sometimes get ‘operational’ before I get ‘descriptive’ : I can spend hours running “simulations” of the math problem I’m trying to solve in my head (simple ex: visualize a cube to deduce its properties).

This gets problematic if I forget to eat or forego attention to various mundane details around me. Anyway, the point is, when getting descriptive (or when passing from operational to descriptive), I need the lenience to speak vaguely (even if only to myself) before I can speak clearly.I suspect this is true for any new concept.

Something must first be thought of before it can be spoken of.

(a subtle bit of genius)