As we grow up, initially our mind is a blank canvas. We feel and observe the world around us with our five senses. To comprehend something, we consciously or semi-consciously plot certain reference points in our mind which is initially blank. We then try to derive the meaning of the things around us in reference to those reference points. With the passage of time our reference point increases, and we develop a model of mapped framework to facilitate our capacity of understanding.
It is something like whenever we visit an unknown city. Our priority will be to identify fews reference points. Generally, the airport, railway station or a bus station will be our first reference point depending on the fact that whether we will reach there by plane, train, or a bus. The next reference point for us in that city will be the actual destination where we want to go, say a library.
So initially we are blank about that city and now we have two reference points, the station and the library after that we try to map our understanding about that city with various other spots as we get familiar with other places in it. Subsequently after spending some time, we will have a wholistic picture of that city mapped in our mind. Then we can easily identify the places of that city randomly from any point or direction.
Similarly, while trying to understand something, consciously or unconsciously we try to have a definition of it. The mechanism we use here while defining something it is that first we compare it with some general reference and then we focus on its specific characteristics. It is always assumed that all references in the definition are already known.
For example, Lets take up the definition of a Bird?
Say if we define the bird as “a creature with feathers and wings which can (usually) fly”.
Here we can observe how the bird is compared initially with general known information and then the specific characteristics are pointed out .