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Are we, outliners fans, just a bunch of outlined mind maniacs?
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Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Jun 7, 2013 at 08:48 PM
The current psychological jargon for right- and left-hemisphere is far- and near-mode. I’ve concluded that the important factor determining which mode outlining uses is whether the hierarchy is built by abstraction (far-mode) or logical entailment (near-mode). I think mindmapping software tends to encourage abstraction-level outlining, and that’s the reason it lends more support for far-mode (right-hemispheric) thinking.
I’m thinking here about preliminary outlining for writing; I haven’t tried to analyze approaches to, say, task management. The blog entry where is discuss this: “Self-inducing far-mode: Approaches to preliminary outlining” — http://tinyurl.com/62zwpr2 .
By the way, if you’re interested in the resurgence of thinking about lateralization, the book “The master and his emissary” is excellent” in its first half.
Alex wrote:
Of course I’m not really serious when I talk about “outlined” mind, it
>is just a thought that came to me when I was talking to some friends
>about how the things we use leave their trace in the way we think.
>Scientifics say that even language some how sets up our perception of
>the world. Not so that it can determinate our thinking, but an important
>influencial factor (bty, sorry for my bad English, I hope I’m not so
>confusing).
>
>I agree that we can’t generalize on “outlining” concept, nor on the
>personality of outliners users. Nevertheless if one feels better when he
>write down his thoughts in a hierarchal manner, and like to work with
>outlining tools, then I think he’s using preferentially his left side
>brain, I mean the logical side. Maybe that’s why some people rather use
>mind maps (vs outlines).
>
>I’m not psycologist, I just wonder if outlining tools help us to develop
>our logical skills, but they are too an obstacle to our creative skills.
>I guess all depends on how much we use them and when we use them.
>
>I confess that since I begun to use BrainForest for Palm, and then
>Natara Bonsai, I can’t imagine my work and my personal notes without a
>tool like those. And yes, I’m a very logical-thinking guy, though my
>friends take me as a specially creative. I don’t like mind maps. I don’t
>know if I should try them so it can help me to develop more the creative
>side of the brain. What do you think?...
Posted by Cassius
Jun 7, 2013 at 11:32 PM
First - Outlining with pencil and paper:
I believe the real/original reason for encouraging outlining with pencil and paper was to help/encourage/pressure students to learn to think in an organized, logical manner. Of course, there probably were some teachers who didn’t realize this. I can remember that in high school, some teachers would read essays, etc. that students had written. Some were far worse than stream-of-consciousness, they indicated that the author had a totally chaotic thought process.
(There seems to be a fair bit of stream of consciousness in Taleb’s “Antifragile.” He admits as much! He also displays his erudition to the extent that the book is at least three times long as it need be.)
Second - Mind Mapping and brainstorming:
About the only diagrams I ever created for myself were Venn Diagrams, org. charts, and the layout created by Cantor for demonstrating that the cardinality (infinity value of Aleph-0) of the set of rational numbers is the same as that of the natural numbers. (I.e., the sets are of the same infinite size.)
However, I have created diagrams for others, as it seems that most people think visually when dealing with a process.
I don’t know if the way I think is the result of “nature or nurture,” no doubt both. As a young boy, my mother drilled into me, “Think for yourself, don’t just go along with the others.” As a result, I take very few things for granted and tend to look for alternatives to the “accepted.” Perhaps this is a form of internalized brainstorming. It has stood me in good stead.
Thanks Mom!!!
-c
Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Jun 8, 2013 at 06:28 PM
To avoid a false unanimity, I’ll admit I loved outlining in school. Locating propositions in a hierarchy produced a sublime thrill comparable to ... diagramming sentences. Of course, doing it on a computer is much better. When I got my first copy of MS Word (3 I believe), I was thrilled to have an outliner built in. Does anyone remember the Mac software called MindWrite, built around an outliner. Very exciting, but it was an unfinished product, which didn’t even have automatic page numbering, not to speak of footnotes.