KEY CONCEPTS ARTICLES
Key Concept Usage
A Surprising Point Of View
Functional Intelligence
Open Comparison
Cooperation Model
Integrated Thought Processes
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A Surprising Point of View
Unstacking Blocks
Intro
Many mental and creative blocks may gradually be minimized with integrative thought
processes Not surprising to many, open mindedness is a necessary ingredient in
developing integrative thought. More surprising may be the idea that thought processes
in general and creative patterns of thought in particular, are seriously crippled by
avoidance of, or unfamiliarity with integrative thought. Surprising to almost everyone
is the critical role of fair-mindedness in both openness and mental integration. Since
both are critical to creative processes, patterns of fairness facilitate them, removing
many of the usually invisible barriers to discovering new and original points of view,
insights, and possibilities.
I consider the model of conceptual thought that I, and I assume many of you, were
taught in primary school, to be a major obstacle to establishing a more functional
mental structure. It was a metaphor of words being like building blocks arranged
and stacked to create new blocks of meanings that would eventually fill in what we don't
yet know. They can also be arranged according to certain rules to think and
communicate. Actually thinking wasn't mentioned. I filled that in myself later.
Although most people don't think much about it if after their primary school
introduction they are subconsciously left with the impression of a very two dimensional
model of how the mind works. At any stage of their education their impression is
that they more or less know it all up to that point and everything that comes later
will be stacked on top of the solid foundation that they have. Few individuals have
experience that trains them to think conceptually in three dimensions or feel free to
move blocks to make room for unanticipated extra blocks. This subconscious sense of
knowing everything about something because all of the space between the blocks is
filled in is so far from correct that I am sure most creative individuals will
recognize it. I view this model as a structural mental obstruction equivalent to having
to live with the limited meaning vocabulary and speech development of a two year old.
I call this the Building Block Theory Of Knowledge. (BBTOK) I liked that name
when I noticed that the first letters look like they would be pronounced beebeetok
which sounds like a baby talk pronunciation of baby talk.
Back in the middle 1960s it occurred to me that concepts were much more like focal
points of information. Fairly quickly, I realized that the stars were a better
analogy for concepts and the universe for the possibilities of new knowledge. This
was a life changing experience! All of a sudden there were no limitations what so ever
on where you could look for new connections or insights. Only Occam's Razor and the
relationships in reality tested the usefulness of the unlimited possibilities. Even
the relationships in reality seemed far less rigid and were easier to test with many
variations. The mandatory conventions of separating practically everything into linear
and closed hierarchical patterns seemed very questionable.
From an early age my Grandpa, D.M. Byler had tried to teach me to 'Think In
Principle.' It had always seemed to give me a bit of an advantage in learning new
things. I was also primed by reading the work of Edward Debono to think beyond linear
patterns. Soon, I began to see how and why principles worked in the new open model.
Since then I continue to discover more ways that The Star Model can work even better.
Patterns of thought have extremely valuable connections to reality far beyond
linear. As soon as you understand that concepts are just points of light with the
space flexible and not filled in at all, creative exploration of ideas feels totally
unencumbered.
I haven't referred to the open model as 'the star model' since the early eighties.
It is now the "ENDSLAT Model." I won't say more about that. Many new concepts need to
be explained before I can even attempt describing an n-dimensional conceptual framework.
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