THINKING

Thinking

Thinking

Introduction

Thinking is the highest mental activity present in man. All human achievements and progress are simply the products of thought. The evolution of culture, art, literature, science and technology are all the results of thinking.

Thought and action are inseparable - they are actually the two sides of the same coin. All our deliberate action starts from our deliberate thinking. For a man to do something, he should first see it in his mind's eye -- he should imagine it, think about it first, before he can do it. All creations-- whether artistic, literal or scientific --first occur in the creator's mind before it is actually given life in the real world.

 

The Purpose of Thinking

The purpose of thinking, paradoxically, is to arrive at a state where thinking is no more necessary at all. In other words, thinking starts with a problem and ends in a solution. Thus, thinking is a tool for adapting ourselves to the physical and social environment in which we are in.

Can We Improve Our Thinking Ability?

Dr. Edward de Bono says that thinking CAN be improved just like any skill because thinking according to him is a skill. He has developed many useful techniques for training thinking skills.

Why Should We Improve Our Thinking Skills

The benefits of developing thinking ability are manifold. By developing one's thinking skills one can make achievements; can become successful; can shine in social life; can attain emotional, social and economic maturity and so on. By developing one's thinking abilities it is possible to transform one's aggressive tendencies, bad temper and other negative tendencies creatively and constructively. It has been found by Dr.Edward de Bono that when school students were taught to think effectively, their ill-temper and aggressive tendencies reduced significantly. Clinical Psychologists have also found that those who have neuroses are poor thinkers compared to normals. Neurotics scored significantly lower scores in decision making, problem solving and creative thinking. Interestingly, when neurotics were taught to think effectively, they showed a remarkable reduction in their neurosis.

 

Misconceptions Regarding Thinking

There are a lot of misconceptions about thinking even in highly educated people. These notions have been deeply rooted in the society and thus have become very detrimental to the development of thinking skills. It is time and enough that we removed them. The most important of such misconceptions are:

Misconception No.1:

The present education system develops and enhances thinking and so the more educated you are the better thinker you are.

Fact:

Actually, education suppresses free thinking. Creative thinking has almost no place in current education. Moreover, education even destroys creative thinking abilities by its over emphasis on logical thnking and critical thinking which are relatively lower types of human thinking.

Since reasoning, argument, problem solving are given over importance a need to become correct and successful all the time is developed in the student. Again, our present education system is so information oriented that it gives ready-made answers. This kills the student's natural tendency to explore, experiment and to experience. Thus, the highly educated person ends up having lesser ability ...