How to Think Different

Wonderful post on thinking differently...by Dave Pollard. An old one.....but missed reading it before.

Genius...!

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why." - Albert Einstein

I guess if there is a feeling that comes very close to that of 'seeing' God (for both a believer as well as an atheist alike :D )then this must be the one...!

In tune with Intuition?

Came across an article entitled 'The power of intuition' in The Week dated Nov 5th 06. This article was probably inspired by Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. Found some interesting tidbits that I thought I'd share with you...

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become" - Steve Jobs

"A uniformed man with a gun in hand and an enemy in range definitely acts on intuition" - Sarabjit Singh - former director-general of police

"The misconception about intuition is that it is different from logical thinking. It is an advanced stage of logical thinking" - David Myers

"It is by logic that we prove. It is by intuition that we discover" - Henri Poincare

"Intuition is how you turn experience into action. It is the set of hunches, impulses, insights, gut feelings, anticipations and judgements stemming from pervious events in your life..." - Gary Klein in The Power of Intuition

Intuition apparently does not work when one is in an emotional state - stressed/bad mood etc

Blink-Some Points

Category: Post for personal use

Blink – Summary for reference

·         Intuition is something that we mostly cannot immediately articulate

·         What if we stopped scanning the horizon with our binoculars and began instead examining our own decision making and behaviour through the most powerful of microscopes

·         Thin-slicing – ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behaviour on very narrow slices of experience

·         Free will is largely an illusion: much of the time, we are simply operating on automatic pilot, and the way we think and act – and how well we think and act on the spur of the moment – are a lot more susceptible to outside influences than we realize

·         Allowing people to operate without having to explain themselves constantly turns out to be like the rule of agreement in improv. It enables rapid cognition

·         Decision making – truly successful decision making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking. Second – in good decision making, frugality matters

Blink Blink...What Do I Think?

Thoughts on Blink (The Book by Malcolm Gladwell): Warning: The thoughts are raw/unfinished

One reason why one should rely on intuitive feelings rather than on technical/scientific analysis, at times, is that those who gather data and utilize statistical tools to analyze could be parties with vested interests. They are prone to pick up information that are advantageous to them and simply base their analysis on those few selected numbers and conveniently ignore/turn a blind eye or, even worse, mask the other numbers. And anyways - vested interests or not - in most situations - analysis or no analysis - it is all about the one of the most-abused words 'perception'. Even analysis can be based on perception; The inputs taken for analysis can be CHOSEN/FILTERED/TWEAKINTERPRETEDTED to suit one's preferences/prejudices/biases/understanding. In other words, using intuition to decide what to analyze is a possibility that may lead to an intuition based decision despite an analytical process occurring in between the preliminary data collection and final decision!

Having said that, I should also add something that is a contradiction of sorts - I think that practiced and deliberate analysis irrespective of whether they lead to successes or failures (rights/wrongs) also teach, in the long run, us to be intuitive. Yes... because, ultimately they give you a feel for whatever you're doing; they get things ingrained in you; they become your extension and transform your thinking by converting continuous analysis into intuition (inherent knowledge not necessarily uninfluenced by external factors). In the book Blink, the very first example of art connoisseurs involves snap decisions, but one has to take into consideration these snap decisions are made by experienced folks, that is, people who've seen, felt, analyzed (etc etc) art before. It is this very experience and practice that eventually leads to a situation wherein one can make snap decisions. Snap decisions rarely come without practice/experience. If a small child shows exceptional talent in a particular field, the phenomenon is admittedly almost impossible to explain except if it has medical roots. But in the case of adult skill sets and expertise, it is probably only information overload over a period of time that helps one learn how to filter information in the first place, distinguish between the important and the insignificant and eventually almost automatically/mechanically, get to only that which is required. This does not mean that this person can do without outside data - An essential trait to be retained would be the ability to listen to one's own reasoning and feelings despite overwhelming data from the outside world. One should be able to think her way out despite contradicting information bellowing for attention. That is also intuition to be able to analyze (speed of analysis may vary from person to person and this would perhaps be a reflection of one's inherent intuitive abilities) and make sense out of the multitude.

Update - Hey, what the hell am I trying to say here, after all? Okay. It all boils down to 2 things:

- Let's not forget that analysis does not mean absence of intuition and 'subjectivity' as we do use subjective opinions to choose what to analyze and ignore data that doesn't fit into our paradigms

- Intuition (as in the talent) is many a time, the result of shrewd analysis and pattern recognition over long periods of time!

And, ahem....I recently read in an article (The discipline of innovation) by the late Peter Drucker that even he believed that intuition does not come easy...it comes after arduous years of analysis!

Fast Company Now - Curiosity

Fast Company Now:

"Curiosity Key to Personal Brilliance 7 Tips

Curiosity helps you clarify problems, ideas, and situations, and it encourages you to explore how they could be different. Actively exploring the environment, asking questions, investigating possibilities, and possessing a sense of wonder are all part of being curious. Questions are key. Once you open up to the nuances of life, it's easy to find things that fascinate you and to begin wondering 'why?' and 'how?'

1. Think Like A Child
2. Look Beyond the Obvious
3. Fire Your Inner Critic
4. Vary Your Daily Routine
5. Identify the Most Impossible Solutions
6. Work Like a Detective
7. Try New Things

1. Think Like A Child
Children are like miniature reporters, constantly asking who, what, when, where, and particularly why. They also have very few preconceived notions, so they are open to taking in new information without being constrained by biases and judgments.

2. Look Beyond the Obvious
The obvious can mask information that may be vital to learning the truth of a situation. The next time you catch yourself thinking, writing, or saying, 'Obviously...' make a note of your assumption. Then invest a few hours in looking beyond what appears to be true. Keep searching until you find at least three pieces of information or sources that conflict with what you classified as 'obvious.'

3. Fire Your Inner Critic
Remember that someone had every great idea in history. Why not you? We can be so critical of ourselves. Fire that inner critic. Give your ideas time to develop. Respect your intuition. Let ideas percolate for a time prior to applying a critical eye.

4. Vary Your Daily Routine
Take different routes to work, or school, or the market. Use your curiosity to see how many ways you can get there from here. Ask directions of a number of people and evaluate how many variations you hear in these directions. Try them all and evaluate the differences.

5. Identify the Most Impossible Solutions
When faced with a challenge, try to identify the most absurd solutions possible. This can be a fun exercise and may unmask a solution. This process tends to expose the boundary lines in your thinking.

6. Work Like a Detective
Good detectives follow all potential leads, often gathering a huge amount of possibly relevant information, much of which turns out to be useless. However, your attention to detail can eventually pan out when you find the one thread that leads you to a solution.

7. Try New Things
Take a class. Try a new mini-hobby. Taste a food that is new to you. See a movie that you normally wouldn't be attracted to. Read a book on a topic that is unfamiliar. The more you put yourself in learning and questioning mode, the more you develop curiosity as a habit.

Subconscious Mind!

I am getting sucked into the concept of using the subconscious mind to do just about anything! I swam into the concept for the second time a few weeks ago and have fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Everything (else :)) is gradually falling in place. To give your subconscious mind the power to do whatever you wish means getting the conscious mind out of the way – to be precise, it is about getting rid of the limitations set by your conscious mind. It is about teaching your conscious mind to simply trust the subconscious to do what you want it to once you’ve dreamed it all up in a perfect and precise way. This is how Jack Addington puts it – “Man can do whatever he is able to conceive in his mind, receive in his consciousness, expect with assurance, and accept in actual experience”

As I sat reflecting on the two states of the mind, I unexpectedly recalled a scene in the Tamil movie, Chandramukhi. While watching this scene in the movie left me thinking for a while, I did not really bother to go back to it and reflect upon it once I was outside the theatre. The movie is about a woman (the heroine) who is subjected to split-personality disorder. The heroine and her family move into an erstwhile palace, in a village, much against the wishes of the villagers. The villagers believe that the palace is haunted as a lady that lived there had been killed by her own husband, the king. After being exposed to the new circumstances and getting engrossed in the story, supported ably by paintings, books, and attire that she finds in a dusty room in the palace, the heroine is so influenced that she assumes the character of the lady - a dancer who was wronged by the king - when she (the heroine) is not ‘herself’. In her newly ‘acquired’ personality, the heroine is out to seek revenge against her ‘real’ husband who she thinks is the king who wronged her. OK, cutting the story out, the scene that I am referring to is one where she suddenly assumes the personality of the killed lady and lifts a bed that weighs tons, literally, single-handedly. Her husband is aghast and watches her do so unable to believe his eyes.

What I am coming to is that, the heroine who suffers from the split-personality disorder is obviously going through a patch where her conscious mind disappears and subconscious mind comes to the fore, whenever she takes on the personality of the lady killed by the king. The conscious mind has already done the job of telling her that she is the lady in the old story before it makes a disappearing act. Now, when she lifted the bed that weighed tons she was being directed by her subconscious mind! This, if true, confirms the fact that the subconscious mind knows no barriers; it knows no failure! Are there any doctors (actually psychiatrists) out there who can verify this? Have you seen patients that do ‘impossible things’ when they are subjected to such mental disorders? I am dying to know!

See my related posts:

Deepak Chopra’s thoughts on intuition

The Book Behind These Thoughts

The Sewing Machine story

Harry Potter, JKR and Imagination

The sewing together of two concepts – Intuition and Paradox Thinking

The other day, I was reflecting on the books that have made a difference in my life (for a blog post) and ended up going down memory lane to recall one of the first ever self-help/intuition/thinking books that I’d read – 100% mind power. The realization and acceptance of the fact that this book had made a difference and the act of writing about it itself kindled in me, a strong desire to go back to it. And so I did.

Here’s something that I found to be profound. (Actually, the book is full of such profound thoughts) Though the author relates this real-life incident only for the purpose of highlighting the role of intuition in life, yours truly also saw it from another angle – that of paradox thinking.

100+ years ago, Elias Howe was working day and night for weeks together to create a sewing machine. He had one problem - How to thread the needle and still hold the upper (thick) end in the machine? (Think of a regular needle that we use for stitching. It has a hole in the thick end). After another such thoughtful day, he went to sleep and dreamt of cannibals. They were (amusingly enough) dancing around Elias. One of them declared that Elias would be eaten if he did not create a perfect sewing machine in 24 hours. Then, Elias noticed that one of the cannibals had a spear in his hand and the spear had a hole in the pointed (thin) end! Elias thus woke up in a cold sweat…with the answer to his problem!!!! The modern sewing machine was created...!

I don’t have to explain the role of intuition and can’t resist the temptation of reiterating the role of paradox thinking. The solution was ‘simple’. It was just about trying the opposite of what was. It was a result of paradox thinking – though, in this case, not by the conscious but by the subconscious mind; shall I say, it (the subconscious mind) stood with him through thick and thin? ;-)

The Power of Intuition

Q. How do I know I am making the right decision in any given moment ?

A. There is only one choice, out of the infinity of choices available in every second, that will create happiness for you as well as for those around you. It's the action that nourishes you and everyone else who is influenced by that action. There is a very interesting mechanism that the universe has to help you make spontaneously correct choices. The mechanism has to do with sensations in your body. Your body experiences two kinds of sensations: one is a sensation of comfort, the other is a sensation of discomfort. At the moment you consciously make a choice, pay attention to your body and ask your body, "If I make this choice, what happens?".If your body sends a message of comfort, that's the right choice. If your body sends a message of discomfort, then it's not the appropriate choice. For most people, the message of comfort and discomfort is in the area of the heart. Consciously put your attention in the heart and ask your heart what to do. Then wait for the response - a physical response in the form of a sensation. It may be the faintest level of feeling - but it's there, in your body. Only the heart knows the correct answer contrary to what people think that it is mushy and sentimental. The heart is intuitive; it's holistic, it's contextual, it's relational. It doesn't have a win-lose orientation. It taps into the cosmic computer - the field of pure potentiality,pure knowledge, and infinite organizing power - and takes everything into account.

- Deepak Chopra

Do you believe in Destiny?

Earlier on, I'd blogged about having the uncanny knack for spotting vehicles that don't belong here (Karnataka). Every time I lay my eyes on a vehicle registration plate, the probablity of it being a non-karnataka vehicle is perhaps 0.8 on 1. But here's something else that has been happening for about 2-3 months now. I don't seriously know what to make of it. Sometimes, I feel it is an omen - that the world is telling me where I'd be many years down the line and sometimes I feel it is a naughty game that nature is playing with me and some other times, I feel it is just my intuitive filter that's at work. HEY, WHAT IS IT THAT I AM RAMBLING ABOUT?

Here it is - I've spotted around 15+ vehicles that have "CKO" in their registration plates. Additonally, I've also spotted 5+ vehicles that have "CKM" in their registration plates. Now, that is something to think about as a huge chunk of the Karnataka vehicles' registration plates start off with KA - for KArnataka. I don't know if what I am doing is right, but I am trying hard not to give this thing too much of importance. Anyways, what is to happen will happen! :)

Note: For those of you who are clueless about what I am saying - CKO can be expanded as Chief Knowledge Officer. CKM can be expanded as Chief Knowledge Manager. :-). Now, you know what I am talking about...don't you?

Latest update (8th Sept, 05): The count's as follows: CKO = 27+ and CKM = 17+

Idealists

Gurteen's Knowledge Letter (April 4th Issue) speaks about a Temperament Sorter.

Of course, I couldn't have resisted the test. So, I tried it out and found that I am categorized as an Idealist by the test. Idealists are:

...passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are rare, making up between 20 and 25 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.