On 4/2/00, Stewart Harrison<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
<< All of the above methods presume or imply an "Opponent". Is this a
necessary prerequisite? Should a proposition be looked upon as a universal
fact which is to be discovered or a phenomena which can exist with more than
one "truth"? How can one define a fact? Is the reality of a phenomena
dependent on its context and
the observer? >>
***This refers to any idea or person which puts forward a viewpoint that is
in any way different or diametrically opposed to the premise that you are
most immediately attached to or focused upon. The term "opponent" is used in
the sense of philosophy, Grecian and Eastern thought, as in the symbolic
"battles" between mythical heroes, gods and demi-gods. In that sense, if an
idea cannot be examined in the presence of other theories, then it can never
be proved to be applicable, "correct", "accurate" or "false". All classical
philosophy is based upon the existence of "opposites", while modern
relativism has altered this polarised approach to one which recognises
shades, "fuzziness", "chaos" and co-existences, despite apparent
contradictions.
<<Were you unconvinced by de Bono's methods before putting them into use. If
so, is it reasonable to expect not only a less than optimum performance in
their use, but also a bias in your assessment of their effectiveness (or did
you do a RCT?)
***When I consulted for a major international bank and worked with their
human resources development team over a period of several years, a few
different methods were experimented with there and later applied in the
university Communication Studies Division in which I lectured for many years.
The effectiveness of methods, including those of de Bono and others, was
examined by industrial psychologists and the bank eventually developed its
own system, based upon some already effective management theory, that was
more effective in terms of the number of ideas generated, the quality of
those ideas in leading to actual abstract solutions or engineering
constructions, the rate of generating practical solutions, and adaptability
to different types of practical problem (e.g. mathematical, computational,
engineering design and graphic design).
My theoretical analysis of de Bono, Busan and similar disciples of a fairly
simplistic "right brained" approach was based upon some fascinating years
that I spent in completing a multi-disciplinary (psychology, mathematics,
medicine and physiology) Masters in EEG-based brain research (some references
relating to the thinking process appear at the end of this letter).
<<My impression from reading de Bono's books is that he fully advocates a
balance between lateral (creative) and vertical (directed) thinking. His
stress on the lateral element aims to redress what he sees as too much
emphasis on vertical thinking in modern society. >>
***Other researchers have concluded that a major problem in modern society
may also a great deal to do with an inability to use logical, "vertical",
well-structured thinking, especially in situations that demand
"flip-flopping" (to borrow a term from electrical engineering) between
different modes of problem-solving and decision-making. Creative thinking
may be "logical", "intuitive" or "mixed", so it very misleading for any
thinking theorist to create the impression that left brain, logical thinking
is not associated with creativity.
By the way, I do not subscribe to the simple models of left-right brain
functioning, especially since research has found that the thalamus and other
parts of the mid brain can play a central role in the management of different
aspects of thinking, while the cerebellum is involved not only with movement,
but also emotion and other aspects of abstract behaviour. This latter point
has some interesting implications for the use of pleasurable or challenging
active movement in physiotherapy and motor learning.
For instance, the well-meaning modern relegation of rote-learning,
structured problem analysis, disciplined thinking, linguistic accuracy and
precise organisation to minor roles in order for youngsters to become "free
thinkers" may well have skewed mental training in an equally incomplete
direction. Some educationalists are investigating if the seriously
deteriorating results of American school education is one of the fruits of
this skewed form of teaching.
Ideas like de Bono's seem to have been incompletely based upon the Jungian
model which examines the mind in terms of Thinking, Feeling, Sensing and
Intuition. "Lateral thinking" is an attempt to introduce more of the last
three factors into human thinking, but this is a major area where such
theories have not implicated an adequate knowledge of the nature of exactly
what Jung meant, and what experimental neuroscience has revealed, especially
regarding intuition, which can be enhanced by various altered states of
consciousness alternating with profoundly cerebral logic.
The idea of some sort of ideal balance between vertical and lateral thinking
is a noble one, but far too simplistic, because it assumes clear-cut
polarities and not the possibility of a continuum or simultaneity of several
different states.
Carl Jung himself stated that "There are things in the psyche which I do not
produce, but which produce themselves and have their own life". The
discoverer of the benzene ring in chemistry, Nobel Prize winner, Kekule,
said: "Let us learn to dream - then perhaps we shall learn the truth."
Then Einstein gave some very interesting insights into the thinking process
when someone asked him about genius. He remarked that:
"The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to
play any role in my mechanism of thought. The physical entities which seem
to serve as elements in thought are certain signs and more or less clear
images which can be 'voluntarily' reproduced and combined. . . . . This
combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought-
before there is any connection with logical construction in words or other
kinds of signs which can be communicated to others. The above elements are,
in any case, of visual and some of muscular type, Conventional words or
other signs have to be sought for laboriously in a secondary stage, when the
mentioned associative play is sufficiently established and can be reproduced
at will."
Just those few quotations above enable one to produce a thinking course (like
the one that we developed for that major international bank) that embraces
and hugely extends the commercial models that I commented upon in my last
letter. One can readily identify the importance of ongoing simultaneous
interaction of different processes, the existence of different hierarchies of
stages of thinking, the value of dreaming and day dreaming, the role of
muscular action and movement, the contribution by emotive or affective
processes, semiological manipulation (the science of signs and symbols), and
an element of the mystical.
<<Perhaps the commercial success of Pilates over other systems is also in
part
due to its accessibility. Perhaps the success of Buzan, de Bono, and Pilates
practitioners is that they give busy people more than they can get by their
own means. >>
***A most valid point.
<<They are willing to pay for the work done by others to produce the
effects they get. Ultimately if this did not / does not happen their methods
would be seen to be ineffective, people would stop paying and they would fall
by the wayside. (Or perhaps I underestimate the power of marketing!!). >>
***Unfortunately, this hardly ever appear to be the case, because there are
few commercial schemes that are total nonsense or totally ineffectual. As
some management theorists state: "It is not necessarily the best product
which sells, but the one that is early and most prominent on the market".
Marketing ensures that one hears only the success stories and none of the
failures or "undecided" outcomes. As we have often heard in the realm of
medicine and therapy, the placebo effect ensures that as much as 30 percent
of any treatments will 'work', and managerial studies produce similar results
for the use of different managerial models.
In other words, since almost any scheme that is well marketed will produce
positive results in a commercially adequate numbers (say, among over 25% of
all clients), despite any obvious lack of scientific validity. Don't forget,
too, that inefficiency or failure in the medical world can lead to serious
damage, death and litigation, while equivocal results from some trendy human
development course, at worst, will lose you one customer, whom one can easily
placate by stating that there are "some individual cases where our methods
may not be appropriate" or that "one cannot expect statistically significant
progress after only one course".
Regrettably, it is true that "one can fool most of the people most of the
time" - if anyone thinks otherwise, just look at the people whom you elect to
government and the many useless artefacts that you buy - or what the average
fitness client believes!
Thank you for your useful and relevant remarks, Stewart!
Personal References Relating to the Nature of Thinking:
1. Siff M.C. "Deeper Structures of Giftedness" (Metamind Journal, University
of the Witwatersrand, S Africa 1984, Vol 1). One of my extramural
activities was teaching highly gifted children (from elementary to
matriculation level) and my understanding of "giftedness" was summarised in
this article.
2. Siff M.C. "Brain Lateralisation Theories and Suggestopaedia" (Language
Teaching Workshop, University of the Witwatersrand, S Africa June 1986)
3. Siff M.C. "The Neurophysiological and Somatic Foundations of Human Symbol
Systems" (Annual Congress of Linguistic Soc of Southern Africa, Rhodes Univ,
SA July 1982)
4. Siff M.C. "Connections between Art, Mathematical Physics, Neurophysiology
and Linguistic Theory" (Annual Congress of Linguistic Soc of Southern Africa,
University of OFS, SA, 30 June 1983)
5. Siff M.C. The Neuropsychological Importance of Infraslow Electrical
Phenomena in the CNS" (Brain & Behaviour Congress, Univ of Cape Town, Sept
1986)
Mel Siff
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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