Overview
Conceptual gearing is a way to describe how you shift between different speeds of thinking. Low gear means slow, deep analysis. High gear means fast idea generation. Each gear has a different cognitive cost and output.The notion of “thought RPM” treats the pace of idea generation like a measurable rate. When you increase RPM, you trade depth per idea for breadth of ideas. When you lower RPM, you trade speed for precision.
Gears in Practice
- Low gear: Slow, careful reasoning; best for synthesis and decision‑making.
- Mid gear: Balanced speed and depth; good for planning or structured creativity.
- High gear: Rapid ideation; ideal for brainstorming and exploration.
- Overdrive: High speed with coherence; a rare flow state.
Why Gearing Matters
You avoid the trap of forcing high‑precision thinking when you need exploration, or pushing high speed when you need accuracy. Shifting gears is a skill, not an accident. It lets you adapt to the task instead of being controlled by it.How to Shift Gears
- Change environment: walk for high gear, sit for low gear.
- Change medium: speech for speed, writing for depth.
- Change constraints: free‑form prompts for high gear, structured questions for low gear.