Thinking
“By speaking, by thinking, we undertake
to clarify things, and that forces us to exacerbate them, dislocate them, schematize them. Every concept is in
itself an exaggeration.”
- José Ortega Y Gasset -
I thought that I would write an article about thinking
and the more I got into it, I found that I could be caught up in wishful thinking. I was torn between creative
thinking and critical thinking. Should I think outside the box or just concern myself with thinking about those
things that I had previously thought about? At times when my Pop was disappointed with me he would often say things
like: “No one would ever accuse you of thinking!” or “Get your head out of your A**”. Once when he was really disappointed
he pulled out an art book, pointed to Rodin's statue
The Thinker and said: “He is just like you... He’s
not thinking, he is just contemplating his navel.”
Those experts who do a lot of thinking indicate that there are several ways to do it. My pop only taught me
one. He called it engaging the brain as in ‘Engage brain before opening mouth’. Now what he meant by that was for
me to think about what I was going to say before I said it. This was kind of like what the experts identify as
Systems Thinking. As I understand it, systems thinking is fundamentally different than the more traditional form
of analysis thinking which focuses on separating or isolating the pieces or parts of the thing being contemplated.
System thinking works by expanding the view to take in larger and larger numbers of interactions with the thing
being contemplated. It’s kind of like throwing a rock or pebble into a calm body of water and watching the ever-expanding
ripples. Pop wanted me to think about how others would react to what I was about to say.
One of the most popular theories about thinking is the Left Brain - Right Brain stuff. This theory of the structure
and functions of the mind suggests that the brain is split in to two halfs and the two different sides of the brain
control two different "modes" of thinking. It also suggests that each of us prefers one mode to the other.
It is suggested that our thinking per side is something like this:
Left Brain Right Brain
Logical Random
Sequential Intuitive
Rational Holistic
Analytical Synthesizing
Objective Subjective
Looks at parts Looks at wholes
If you noticed the last thing listed in Left Brain is Looks at parts and the last thing listed in Right
Brain is Looks at wholes you will note that this follows the pattern of Analysis Thinking opposed to Systems
Thinking. The funny thing is that most of the education we receive in school is directed toward the left brain.
That is because left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy while right-brained
subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.
There is another theory about thinking that puts forth the idea of Male vs. Female thinking or brains. This
new theory was presented by Simon Baron-Cohen who is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and
CO-Director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University in his work The Essential Difference:
The Truth about the Male and Female Brain. In that study Baron-Cohen stated: “My theory is
that the female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy, and that the male brain is predominantly hard-wired
for understanding and building systems.” He went on to clarify that thinking with: “Empathising is the drive
to identify another person's emotions and thoughts, and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion. The empathiser
intuitively figures out how people are feeling, and how to treat people with care and sensitivity. Systemising
is the drive to analyze and explore a system, to extract underlying rules that govern the behavior of a system;
and the drive to construct systems. The systemiser intuitively figures out how things work, or what the underlying
rules are controlling a system.”
I indicated that I was torn between Creative and Critical thinking as I began this article. This kind of thinking
follows the patterns established in Analysis Thinking vs. Systems Thinking, Left Brain vs. Right Brain and Male
vs. Female. Critical Thinking is thought to follow or create a logical argument, figure out the answer, eliminate
the incorrect paths and focus on the correct one however, Creative Thinking is thought to focus on exploring ideas,
generating possibilities, looking for many right answers rather than just one. For a comparison or differentiation
the following is offered:
In reality both kinds of thinking are important to me, it just depends on the situation.
First, I like to analyze the problem; then generate possible solutions; next I like to choose and implement what
I think is the best option; and finally, I like to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution. As you can see,
the way I do it is really an alternation between the two kinds of thinking, critical and creative. For me the practice
of using both kinds of thinking together most of the time leads me to believe that they need not to be independent
of each other.
If you are going to attempt creative thinking you need to have a couple of things going
for you if you want to be successful. First you need to have the ability to imagine or invent something new. This
doesn't mean that you must have the ability to create something out of nothing (only the man/woman up stairs can
do that), but the ability to generate new ideas by combining, changing, or reapplying existing ideas. Secondly
you need an attitude, which allows you to accept change and newness, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities,
a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it.
If you are going to attempt critical thinking you need to stop plowing through situations
and start stopping frequently to reflect on what you have seen, heard, felt, tasted or smelled. You especially
need to be good at listening, considering all the facts, deciding what is relevant (or not) and then rendering
a thoughtful judgment. Those who are good at critical thinking always display specific mental abilities, attitudes
or habits. The first are cognitive skills such as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation
and/or self-regulation. The second is having affective dispositions such as a probing inquisitiveness, a keenness
of mind, a zealous dedication to reason and a hunger or eagerness for reliable information.
Final Thought
Some people I know have spent their entire working life telling others how busy they are.
Sometimes they're just busy, sometimes they're really busy, and sometimes they're so busy (they say) that they
don't even have time to think. I hope that they meant that they were busy doing things that they do instinctively
and didn’t have to think. The thought of doing things without thinking takes me back to the place (out back) that
Pop and I visited way too often while I was growing up. Somewhere during that trip he would always ask: “What
were you thinking?” More often than not we found out that I was too busy to think much, especially about the consequences
of my actions.
There are another two ways of thinking that we would be remiss if we didn’t bring up. Those
are thinking outside the box and the alternative. The phrase "thinking outside the box" is often used
to describe the creative process of coming up with a unique idea or process outside the norm. The alternative,
confining our thinking within the ‘box’ or the existing restraints we know as the norm. In reality these are no
different than those other thoughts we have presented herein. Creative thinking is looking for new norms and critical
thinking is finding reason to maintain the existing ones. I think!
The final, final thought.
I guess that if I am going to say or write those words, ‘I think’ I really ought to do it
every once in a while. What do you think?
PS: Stay tuned for Part II – Thinking about Timesharing.
JS 11/04
