Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.
- Edward de Bono
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Broadly speaking, there are two general strategies for proving that God exists. One we might call the scientific approach. This is where you point to some empirical fact and argue that it is beyond the reach of natural forces. The classic example is Paley's version of the argument for design.…
Somewhere south of San Francisco, there is a billboard that declares that there is physical proof of the existence of a god, and which suggests that you read their website. A reader sent it to me, and being the sort of open minded fellow who doesn't believe in any gods but is happy to look at any…
Larry Moran is unhappy with me. This is fine; I knew that posting "On the need for grownups" would get people angry, and it did. I hoped it would spark some productive discussion, and it has, at least via email.
What bothers me is that the reasons Larry is upset seem to entirely misconstrue…
This post has been sitting in my mind for quite some time. Really, it is about mechanics - not about pendulums. What is the goal in mechanics (classical mechanics, if you like)? Generally, it is to find out how something changes over time. If you could get an equation of motion, that would do…
Edward. Read his book on Lateral Thinking in ca 1973. I believe he was the first to re-formalize brain-storming as a valid problem solving methodology by introducing lateral thinking principles. Bit of a tough read IIRC, he tried very hard to use language in a conservatively-acceptable fashion but was talking about something that was in fact emerging from the drug+TM culture of the time (reaching back to the early 1960's).
This is a nice quote of his that relates well to a technique I use myself (probably as a result of digesting his works): one does not "solve problems", rather one iteratively re-states what is initially perceived as "the problem" until one either arrives at a description of what is wanted, or the hole in which what one wants resides is clearly revealed.