MOOC: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving (Part Deux)

If the human brain is a computer, what software does it run?

Creative Thinking Expert Edward de Bono

I’m developing a hoarding problem. With MOOCs. I keep seeing new, interesting topics and going “OoooOOO! Do Want!” Next thing you know, I’ve got… well, I’m not going to actually count how many tabs I’ve got open right now (nor how many I just culled), but we’ll just say that it’s a SUBSTANTIAL number and leave it at that. I tell you this to explain why my posts and updates seem to be hopping around from course to course and topic to topic; they’re like Pokemon. Gotta catch ’em all.

Today I’m back to talk about the very enthusiastic Mike Johansson at Rochester Institute of Technology, or RIT, and the Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving course. When we last touched on this, we were getting down into the nuts and bolts of creativity and how it relates to critical thinking and problem solving.

Notes:

Some brief video clips from Creative Thinking Expert Edward de Bono (I capitalized the title because it seemed like it should be A Thing, given his perceived expertise) presented the following concepts:

If the human brain is a computer, what software does it run?

I think de Bono then implied that our ‘software’ hasn’t been updated since the days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle…

Moving right along from that, though…

• A creative idea must have value
• Just being different for the sake of being different is not creativity; de Bono posits that this kind of thing gives creativity a bad name
• Example: Suppose you decide that instead of a rectangular door, you want a triangular one. What does it solve? Does it even work? Or are you just doing it to be different, you unique rebel, you? (For the record, I want a perfectly round hobbit door–which then leads into a cozy little hobbit hole, full of food and comfy furniture.)
• The fear of failure impedes creativity because anything that doesn’t work is deemed ‘a mistake’
  • de Bono posits that English should have a word or term that means: ‘fully justified venture which for reasons beyond your control did not succeed’ (I’d be willing to bet that they have something at least close to that in German. UPDATE: I tried a Google search and didn’t come up with one, but if you speak German and know a word that fits the bill, hit me up.)
  • Thomas Edison is widely known for his seeming lack of fear in the face of failure
  • the overarching societal opinion seems to be that anything that doesn’t succeed is automatically a mistake, and people don’t like to/want to make mistakes because it hinders their professional successes (such as getting a pay raise/promotion/etc) and/or you lose face in front of your peers
• Creativity provocation (this puts me in mind of Monty Python’s ‘Ministry of Silly Walks‘ skit and I have no idea why)
• ‘Outside-the-box’ thinking
  • when we’re thinking ‘inside the box,’ we’re hindered by any constraints, expectations, concepts, and perceptions that we use/have

• BUT, when we think ‘outside the box,’ we change the constraints, concepts, perceptions, and rules to develop new ideas
  • also known as ‘Lateral Thinking’ – moving from the main pattern to a side pattern
    • once you’re on the side pattern you can make your way back to link up with the initial starting point (I need to research this more, as the presentation is a bit ambiguous on this part. UPDATE: Oh good, there’s a Wikipedia page.)

Next, there’s a link to an article called ‘6 Ways to Boost Your Creative Thinking‘ on Inc.com

Main Points:

• Consume content that’s way outside your comfort zone
  • don’t just read about things that fall within your industry/field
  • read blogs and books outside of your usual genre
  • talk to strangers (presumably from outside your normal professional arena/specialty)
• Write a 500-word article with no topic whatsoever
  • Just sit down and start writing. I actually more-or-less did this one yesterday. My head was just not in the game, but I had to write up a recommendation. It had to get done, so I just… started typing. Elephant. Why did I just type the word elephant? To demonstrate what it might look like if you just… choose a word and go. Pick a single word and just type. Go ‘stream of consciousness‘ style. I didn’t use elephant yesterday, but I don’t remember what I started with, either. Once the words started flowing, it just happened. Even if you start out with nonsense, something will eventually ‘click’ and you’ll get there. Before I knew it, it was done and I was relieved. The End. (You might say I wrote this passage as a stream of consciousness. See how it just kind of… meanders? That’s okay. I’m not editing it or primping it at all because I want you to see how these things might start out. Creation is chaos.)
  • even if what you write is crap, it gets the proverbial pump primed
  • don’t do any editing or self-critique; just produce
  • When I was a kid, my grandmother bought me a book called The Right to Write. (I wanted to be a writer. Or a chef. Or both.) One of the first directives in the book was to just sit down and put pen to paper every day. Don’t have to have a topic in mind, just start writing words and see where it goes.
• Go… see a movie in a… movie… theater… (well, this is awkward. #Covid)
  • So, the ‘movie theater’ thing is probably not a great idea right now, but if there’s another relatively populated place where you can safely be (FACE MASKS, people), I think people/life-watching can be just as immersive an experience. I like doing this at the arrivals gate at airports. Watching the various shows of emotion and whatnot is super engaging. The article author calls this process a ‘sensory-captive experience.’ So, the next time you’re stuck in traffic or waiting in a (socially distanced) line in a store or at the mall food court, just sit back, listen, watch, taste (eat a snack or something–don’t lick your steering wheel or a stranger), feel the air and materials around you. Take it all in and let it overwhelm you–until the light turns green, at least.
• Take a call from someone you don’t know
  • I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I usually don’t answer my phone if it’s a random number. (Stupid spam calls. Yesterday one left me a message that said I ‘failed to identify as human,’ and then hung up. I felt so judged.) So, if you’re at work and happen to come across someone you don’t know, I suppose you could engage them in chat with the same idea in mind. The concept behind it is to gather new stories, perspective, and knowledge from a stranger. The older I get, the easier I find it to engage strangers in conversation if I feel like there’s something I want to share (usually food recommendations, because that’s how it be, but also compliments on their hair or wardrobe, and sometimes I’ll flag someone down if their car tire looks low). But apparently this is a sign of turning into an old person, so…
• Eat differently
  • Eat healthier and see how your brain reacts. If you normally eat a lot of junk food, your brain might be in a near-continual lethargic slump. Throw some radishes at it and see if it doesn’t perk right up.
• Perform the ‘No Bad Ideas Brainstorming’ Exercise
  • So, this one I’ve done and liked. Gather at least one other person (allow a safe amount of space between participants) and have an idea or topic in mind. For about 45 minutes to an hour, just toss out ideas and write them ALL down. We did this on post-it notes, but I don’t see why you couldn’t do this virtually using Google Docs or something. No negative feedback or critiques are allowed. Every idea gets written down. You’ll probably end up with a LOT of bad or infeasible ideas, but you’ll also likely walk away with some very useful and valid ones (and even ideas that could be applied to other projects/things you weren’t talking about).

Mike put together a great list of ’10 in-the-moment creativity exercises’ that I also went through, but this post has gotten a bit long so I’ll save that for next time. I went through one of the exercises for a work project, so I’ll probably share photos of my chicken scratch and you can laugh along with me at the strange places my mind wandered during the process. But hey, it turned out to be productive, so whatevs. Have a great weekend!

-hxrg