Re: Outlining and Fuzzy Thinking

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 868

Posted by aaces
2000-12-11 19:37:22

Some musings.

We all think differently…sometimes to the extent that our modes of logic (or, if you will, our “world views”) are incompatible. Thus, the use of outliners, mind mapping, diagramming, etc is a very individual thing.

Example:

When my son was in 7th grade, his science teacher assigned 10 words each week for the students to learn their definitions.

He was absent once, and got the list via telephone from another student. Although my son’s spelling was not “standard,” he did not ask for the spelling of the words.

On a Thursday night he handed me the list of words and definitions to quiz him in preparation for the test. I was able to figure out his spelling on the first 9 words, but could not decipher the tenth word to save my soul.

I handed him the list, saying, “What is that word?” He told me. I took back the list. The word was spelled correctly!

The inference I have drawn from this episode is that I became so used to his spelling logic, that my “standard” spelling logic was blocked—it was inconsistent with his. From this I have inferred that a lack of understanding among individuals can well be more than a lack of knowledge…it may be the result of incompatible modes of thought, logic, “world views,” or whatever term you may wish to use.

For me, when solving a tough problem, I don’t say fuzzy thinking or logic (by the way, I attended one of the very first lectures on F.L.) I just say that one stumbles around until things begin to become clear. I find that outliners are a good way to assemble or “dump” the facts and my thoughts. (Outliners like PC Outline, GrandView, etc. that have powerful tools for rearranging, cloning, etc., NOT outliners with weak tools.) The real, hard thinking occurs in my head.

I may eventually use diagramming to put my thoughts on paper with the relevant interconnections, but this step is almost an afterthought.

One problem with “The Brain” is that one cannot assign a direction between nodes. Two of our most powerful thinking capabilities are to categorize and to make cause—>effect associations. We often (perhaps always) are not quite right, but even if so, these abilities have yielded many riches in our lives. As George Box said, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.”

Finally, I have found one of the most powerful tools for creativity is asking oneself tough questions and being persistent about it. This works whether one is developing a new mathematical concept or figuring out how to fix a car when one doesn’t have the right parts available.

-Steve C

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