Conceptual thinking

Conceptual thinking is an alteration to the nature and content of one's internal thought stream. This alteration predisposes a user to have thoughts that are no longer primarily comprised of words and linear sentence structures. Instead, thoughts become equally comprised of what is perceived to be extremely detailed renditions of the innately understandable and internally stored concepts that words exist to label. Essentially, thoughts cease to be spoken by an internal narrator and are instead “felt” and intuitively understood.

For example, if a person were to think of an idea, such as a chair, during this state, one would not hear the word as part of an internal thought stream, but would feel the internally stored, non-linguistic, and innately understandable data that comprises the specific concept labelled within one's memory as a chair. These conceptual thoughts are felt in a comprehensive level of detail that feels as if it is unparalleled within the primarily linguistic thought structure of everyday life. This is sometimes interpreted by those who undergo it as a sort of "higher level of understanding".

During this experience, conceptual thinking can cause one to feel not just the entirety of a concept's attributed data, but also how a given concept relates to and depends upon other known concepts. This can result in the perception that the person can better comprehend the complex interplay between the idea that is being contemplated and how it relates to other ideas.

Conceptual thinking is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as personal bias suppression and analysis enhancement. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of hallucinogenic compounds, such as psychedelics and dissociatives. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of entactogens, cannabinoids, and meditation.