rethink thinking
quick summary of the book:
“sparks of genius” - 13 thinking tools for the most creative people
1. Observing Observing is not simply watching something, it is an applied skill. Observing something goes beyond just the visual aspect of seeing. Observing requires all the senses and is really a way of thinking. The two are connected, bringing the senses and the mind together. “The patience to look and look again is therefore a trait that characterizes great artists” (Root-Bernstein 33) and anyone looking beyond the surface.
2. Imaging Creating visual representations in the mind, or imaging, is certainly a skill that can be improved through practice.
Imaging, or visualizing, is more than an artistic ability, it is crucial to all fields, even science and inventing. Imaging, like observing, is more than visual. You can also hear, feel, smell, all the senses, in your mind.
3. Abstraction Abstraction is taking something and simplifying it to it’s most important, single element. Finding the most simple, basic component of something can lead to significant insight. Once again, abstracting something means using more than just your eyes.
“One must learn to see past the obvious reality that we observe through our senses to perceive them with the “eye of the mind.”” (Root-Bernstein 76)
There are many different ways to abstract something, there are also many different abstractions for the same thing.
4. Recognizing patterns Recognizing patterns “is the basis for our ability to make predictions and form expectations.” (Root-Bernstein 93)
From our expectations, we fit in our new experiences, looking for more and new patterns. Recognizing these patterns requires all of the senses, including the mind. Patterns can be found everywhere, even among complete chaos. Patterns can be found in questions, and good questions can lead to more patterns.
5. Forming patterns Forming patterns means combining two or more elements together, often creating something different or more from it’s parts than the original item.
When forming patterns, you have to start with what you know. By combining, you can create something new.
Combinations of small elements can lead to huge new ones: a few chords become an entire song, a few words to a poem. Even in reverse, there are some ideas that can arrived at using many different combinations of vastly different elements.
Creating patterns is useful to all disciplines and can be improved upon with practice and lead to more knowledge and understanding.
6. Analogizing Analogizing is finding a feature or relationship that is the same between two things. Analogies can reveal relationships and understandings that were previously unknown, leading to greater knowledge and understanding.
Even when analogies appears to be wrong in the “literal” sense they can still lead to great insights, despite being “wrong.”
“Only when we can see things for what they might be not just for what they are can we begin to use them in novel ways.” (Root-Bernstein 156)
7. Body thinking Body thinking is how we can know what our body is doing through space as we move. Body imagination can happen by creating through physical work.
“They [ideas] burst upon awareness in a kinesthetic form, feeling their way into varying types of muscular expression. Fingers ‘itch’ to play; music ‘flows’ from the hands; ideas ‘flow’ from the pen. Movement expresses the ‘idea’ of the dancer or orchestra conductor; the almost sensuous desire to model plastic form becomes compulsive in sculpture” (Root-Bernstein 164).
Body thinking moves beyond our own actual movement. Knowing how to do something physically can help to understand seeing something that was also done physically, even if you did not do it. Body thinking “extends to our experience of other people and even of other things” (Root-Bernstein 174).
8. Empathizing Empathizing is a way of putting oneself in someone else’s shoes. This skill can improve a doctor’s touch, an actor’s performance, and a writer’s story. Reading and theater can help someone practice and improve their ability to empathize.
To solve a problem using empathy, one has to “enter into your problem situation in such a way that you almost become part of it” (Root-Bernstein 187).
Empathizing can move beyond other people to animals, plants, and even inanimate objects.
9. Dimensional Thinking “Dimensional thinking involves moving from 2-D to 3-D or vice versa; mapping, or transforming information provided in one set of dimensions to another set; scaling, or altering the proportions of an object or process within one set of dimensions; and conceptualizing dimensions beyond space and time as we know them” (Root-Bernstein 204).
Creating a map, sculpting a piece of stone, origami, even creating scale size cars, are all examples of dimensional thinking. In our thinking, we need to be able to move from different ways of thinking or viewpoints, from something specific to wide spread
10. Modeling Modeling means taking something and creating representation of it in a physical form, making a functional model that shows how it works, making a theoretical model showing the concepts, and/or imaginary model showing something that cannot be seen. The model makes it easier to see what it is representing.
Models require the use of other creative tools, like analogies and abstractions. They do have their limits, because of this.
11. Playing “Play is simply for the fun of it, for the enjoyment of doing and making without responsibility. There is no success or failure in play, no holding to account, no mandatory achievement.” (Root-Bernstein 248).
Playing can help encourage all other creative tools. Play can also help foster inventive creations and new ideas. Playing allows one to break the rules and learn new things from it, testing limits.
Play allows one to take risks without fear of failure or criticism.
12. Transforming Transforming or transformational thinking is using multiple creative tools in such a way that they act upon each other.
“Transforming concept from one form to another can yield discoveries in any field.” (Root-Bernstein 286).
Learning in this way is more effective, creating more ideas and solutions. A variety of transformations will apply to more people and help give more insights. Every transformation shows a different way to look at a situation and allows one to use different tools.