Parallel Thinking - From Socratic to de Bono Thinking
Publisher: Penguin
Year Published: 1994
From the back cover: With today's rapid changes, judgment is not enough;
we need to design forward from parallel possibilities. Two thousand five
hundred years ago the Greek 'gang of three' (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle)
endowed Western civilisation with a thinking system based on analysis,
judgment and argument. While it has its place, this system lacks the
constructive, creative and design energies that are needed for modern
life.
After twenty five centuries it may be time to shift from Socratic thinking -
the search for truth - to de Bono thinking - design forward for value.
Those problems that can be solved by analysis have been solved, now the
rest can only be solved by 'design':
- accept possibilities without judging and lay them down in parallel
- accept both sides of a contradiction and lay them down in parallel
- then design forwards from paralllel possibilities
Edward de Bono's new book is not about philosophy, but about the
practical operation of thinking. Parallel thinking outlines the system's
techniques and applications in both personal and professional life.
Updated: Thursday, 19 April 2001
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