Reading Challenge 1 Follow-Up (The Believing Brain, Rethink, I Am, Therefore I Think, The Position)

I succeeded with the initial reading challenge, but a lot happened towards the end of it and afterwards that caused me to be a little out of it, and not "review" these books in the usual format that I do, unfortunately. So, rather than post a full-blown review, since the books aren't clear in my mind anyway, I'll just post brief thoughts I had on them.

Rethink is the 'story' of how Edward de Bono's teachings and exercises influenced Australia. It was really interesting to hear all about the practical work of de Bono from a third perspective, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is also nice to have a book purely on Australian case studies. (I had to add this to Goodreads, which is a first for me!)

The New York Public Library was extremely captivating, and will interest any bibliophile. It tells of how the libraries came into existence, and is littered with pictures of the buildings themselves and the collections. Sigh.

The Believing Brain is probably this weeks favourite, and definitely the most informative. I particularly liked how it ran through all the types of biases that can taint a person's judgement (such as hindsight bias). While the anecdotes do get tiresome, this is only a brief part of the book, and worth pushing past to get to the good stuff.

I Am, Therefore I Think is a philosophy book presented in a back and forth question and answer style. If you have read philosophy texts before, give this a miss. However, Pete picked it up off our bedside table curiously, and ended up devouring it over the week. It is a great introduction book for anyone new to the subject.

The Position, by Meg Wolitzer, did not disappoint. Wolitzer is now my fast fiction favourite. Once again I was caught up in the plights of her well textured characters, delightfully oblivious to the fact they were fictional as long as I could keep turning to the next page.

Edward de Bono’s ‘Think! Before It’s Too Late’

For those who aren’t familiar with Mr de Bono, he is one of the great thinkers of the 21^st century, and has a huge list of publications to back it up. He coined the term ‘lateral thinking’ in 1967, and has gone on to write many books dealing with this particular subject.

He is a firm believer that current thinking methods need to be improved if humanity ever plans to greatly progress. Almost all of his books campaign that thinking is a fundamental skill that belongs alongside literacy and numeracy, and should be taught in schools to the same extent. He holds logic, creativity, and perception to very high esteems, and they are all incorporated in his concept of “new thinking”.

‘Think! Before It’s Too Late’ is another light piece in the de Bono series, and reiterates and explores points from previous books without delving too deeply into the subject matter. A few concepts are plainly illustrated in diagrams, while most are presented or argued with delightful anecdotes; personal, historical, or figurative.

It is very much written for the average reader, and can be easily knocked out in a day without straining your eyes or time budget. The paragraphs are short, and are clearly divided into their own chapter, like ‘Schools’, with each topic within that having a precise heading, such as ‘ Research on thinking in schools ‘, however, subjects do often over-lap.

Early on, de Bono makes sure to clarify that modern thinking is still good, and merely just not enough. He uses the analogy of comparing current systems as just one wheel of a car: “The rear left wheel is excellent – but it is not enough.”

“I would like to see my methods used to supplement traditional thinking – not to replace it.” The term ‘my methods’ is used to mean a variety of de Bono thinking styles, including lateral thinking, parallel thinking, perceptual thinking using the CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) method, POs (Provocative Operations), and the concept of the Six Thinking Hats.

The book opens with the subject of creativity after the introduction, and splits this up into two notions: “artistic creativity” and “idea creativity”. The latter is a huge deficiency in the current schooling system, and is much more a skill to be learned than a natural “born” talent. Creativity follows a certain amount of logic that is clearly available only in hindsight of an idea, and de Bono refers to this as an asymmetrical patterning system.

 In the chapter ‘Knowledge and Information’, de Bono likens the concepts of speculation and possibilities back to creativity. He states that information is vital, but not enough when used alone without thinking. There is the same problem with problem-solving and critical thinking. These are essential skills to develop, but need combining with other thought processes.

The great thing about de Bono is that his great ideas seem really obvious, and leave you wondering why no one publicly held this view before, or why they didn’t extend it like he did. If you read this, and like me, you are blown away by the simplicity of the methods in improving your thought processes, you’ll probably be left with a de Bono-shaped hole in your heart and mind.

To fill these potential cravings, check out some his other books. If you are interested in his works on logic and thought processes, check out ‘The Mechanism of the Mind’, ‘New Think’, ‘Lateral Thinking’, ‘Parallel Thinking’ and ‘Water Logic’.

On the other hand, if you are interested in bettering yourself in more general ways, look out for ‘How To Have A Beautiful Mind’.

For books that offer more of an oversight, check out his ‘Textbook of Wisdom’ or ‘New Thinking For The New Millennium’, which are both set out in short paragraphs dedicated to a particular idea (the perfect bus books).