TOOLS OF THINKING

Tools of Thinking; An Introduction Written and Created by DALE L. JUNE From his Book So you want to be a writer, do ya?

COPYRIGHT WARNING THE FOLLOWING PRESENTATION IS COPYRIGHTED AND ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, EDITING, OR SIMILAR EXTRACTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THE MATERIAL PRESENTED HERE IS FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF INFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT OF ITS VIEWERS.

TOOLS OF THINKING Everyone Thinks! Or Thinks They can Think! But are they using all their tools? PROBABLY NOT!!

WHY DO WE THINK? To Gain Knowledge To Be Creative To Make Decisions To Understand Consequences of Decisions To Understand Others

TOOLS As we look at the tools, in no particular order, we must keep in mind that to be really thoughtful and creative… You must use all your tools and we can readily see that taken as a whole each tool interacts with all the others.

LANGUAGE: The Foundation of Thinking…and Talking Without a Language, There Can be No Communication… Without Communication, There Can be No Relationship

VOCABULARY: Words are Symbols of a Language No idea or thought can be transmitted without adequate words to express the intent of the communication

Memory: Stores information and is a crucial part of the thinking process. Without memory we would have to relearn even simple things time and time again. The bad or good part of memory (depending how it is perceived) is that memory deteriorates and can be fallible and is not reliable.

Input: - To have something to remember, something must be input into the memory. This comes from our senses, education, experience, and training; it is a gathering of information. Input is received through the senses, touch, taste, smell, feel, hearing, perception and balance.

Experience: Accumulation of sensory input, environment, education and training. Experience is accumulative and may become an instigator of instinct; Replying and responding to something merely without having to stop, think and plan because experience has taught its lessons well.

Reason(ing) Deductive and inductive Deductive means going from a general assumption to a conclusion based on facts and thoughtful analysis. Inductive is the cognitive process of understanding. Base Conclusion on Facts… Not Facts on Conclusion

Creative thinking Being original and unique The ability to form new images and sensations that are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses. Imagination helps us solve problems and to mentally view dreams, innovations, to craft fantasy.

Intuition Knowing something without knowing how you know it; A “gut feeling”; Feeling and understanding what you don’t see; An “Ah ha” moment.

Creation of a Hypothesis Forming a theory or idea. Asking “What if…” and building a scenario around that imaginative thought.

Invention: A means for testing the hypothesis Formulating or building something new, such as a story, a mechanical device, or another way of approaching a problem.

Experimentation Testing the Hypothesis and Invention

Aptitude Natural ability A “born in” feeling for doing something We are what we are

It may be a good attitude or it could be negative When we are having a “down day” or our bio-rhythms are out of sync or we don’t feel particularly well, our attitude could well be affected into a negative posture and not be creative. Attitude

Observation: This is a very important skill because it involves seeing, recognizing and reacting “... being able to distinguish the ordinary from the extraordinary” To really see something is to recognize what we are seeing as our input (based on our experience, memory, intuition, imagination, etc) and to react accordingly.

Perception: A matter of a viewpoint, how we see and understand things “The appearance of something may change but the essence doesn’t “ – “reality of things resides in their essences (actual being) and not in their appearance. – Plato A Picture of a Horse is not a Horse The objective of good observation and perception is to “See the ‘Big Picture’”

Recognizing Patterns: Observing one thing you are reminded of something else entirely unrelated to the primary observed object and you recognize a specific pattern that can be turned into another object.

Association: Linking one idea to another Ideas are born from association with other ideas. Smelling peanut butter, for example, reminds you of those grade school days in the cafeteria and the brown bag lunches your mother made for you.

An adult, who has forgotten how to play imaginary games, should observe and listen to children at play. The children will create worlds of their own and maintain a running dialogue of their imaginative creation. Play:

Common Sense: Native intelligence. Having the Ability to reason based on experience and prudent Judgment of the perception of the situation and facts. Not as common as in the past

Concentration and Focus: Focus on what you are doing while you are doing it…and nothing else.

Walking: Increases blood flow to the brain, eases stress and lets those thoughts grow. A nice walk out of doors, easy breathing, sights and sounds stimulating the thought process allows the imagination to bypass barriers blocking clear thinking

Transformation and Synthesis Merging all the tools of thinking; sensory impression, memory, feelings, knowledge, experience, imagination, perception, invention, etc to come to the greatest conclusion – Thinking!

Questions???