The world, its objects, the phenomena and processes represent a complex system. Truly to reflect all features of reality, thinking of the person also has to have system character. System thinking is characterized by the complete perception of the phenomena considering an interconnection inherent in them.
Usually understand organized set of the elements some in a special way connected among themselves in a whole as a system. At the same time system performance cannot be reduced to properties of the elements entering it. Being organized unity of the parts making it, the system has the special qualities.
Any phenomena of reality, including material objects and social processes, scientific theories, artistic images and so on, represent a system. Its elements connect among themselves stable or temporary relations and function so that all system could carry out the appointment. But ordinary thinking is not always capable to reflect all complexity of interrelations in systems completely.
The system organization of thinking helps to make the correct idea of reality. It is under construction on provisions of the system approach long ago applied in science. The world at such organization of perception and the analysis of reality appears at the person in all variety of the communications. System thinking differs in integrity and comprehensiveness.
The concept of a contradiction is the cornerstone of system thinking. But the speech goes not about a confused and confused thought here, and about the dialectic contradiction reflecting duality in a condition of any phenomenon. Existence of opposite trends is the driving force of development of each system. Conscious search of contradictions for the purpose of their removal is distinctive quality of the strong thinking having system character. Consecutive use of operations of the analysis and synthesis is characteristic of system thinking. At the first stage the thought reveals the internal structure of the phenomenon, displays it on components. After such analysis there is an establishment of communications between elements of a system and different levels of its hierarchical structure. Operation of synthesis, connection of parts in the uniform and interconnected whole helps to create a complete image of the phenomenon. System thinking allows to see reality in development. Each system has the past, the present and the future. One of the tools helping to present development of an object in time is the so-called system operator. Conditionally it can be presented in the form of several mental screens on which there are images describing a condition of the object, its subsystems and more general system which this object enters as a component. Such screens are projected in the past, the present and the future. "Multidisplay" thinking – only one of ways to reflect a system and stages of its development in integrity and temporary dynamics. Unfortunately, during evolution the nature did not provide the built-in mechanisms of system thinking. The correct, systematic and purposeful organization of mental activity based on recognition of that fact that the world has system character helps to bring cogitative operations into a system.