SCIENCE OF THINKING
FUNDAMENTALS
What we know from neuroscience and philosophy
The human brain is a master piece. It enables us to grasp very complex problems extremely quickly and uses different “operations” to solve them.
Typical “operations” the human brain applies are comparative patterns, causal relationships, consistency evaluation, categorizations and conditional thinking. They have been described by scientists as ‘perspectives on thinking’.¹
On the other hand, human thinking has its cognitive limitations. Especially when thinking through massive amounts of information or when dealing with probabilities. It is also vulnerable to framing, biases and emotional distractions. Fortunately, these ‘limitations in processing of complex information’ are known to some extent. Through better understanding of these limitations, scientists identified ways in which our thinking process can be supported.
WORKING WITH THE STRENGHTS
By applying the following principles we can actually play to the inherent strengths of human thinking – making the process faster and achieving much better results.
Visualizations
When presented with information in the form of pictures our brain is able to ‘broad-band process’ it through our visual sense – the best developed competence of the human brain. Hence, using visualizations is key.
Storing knowledge as knowledge
Information and data need context in order to ”make sense“ for us. Visual reasoning architectures show how different pieces of information, reports and supporting documents are related – representing a synoptic overview. Human thinking has a natural desire to grasp things as a whole, which makes synoptic overviews so appealing.
Computational power
The human brain is well prepared to execute basic cognitive operations such as comparisons or causal relationships. With the help of software such operations can be outsourced and executed much faster. The advantage of having software perform the exact same operations the human brain would do as well – just a lot faster – adds transparency and trust to this kind of calculating support.
JOINT STRATEGIC THINKING
As much as the above is true for one human brain it is true for many. Discussions for constructive problem solving are much faster and yield much better results when playing to these inherent strengths. The different perspectives can be integrated best in a common visualization. And the visual overview represents a coherent body of knowledge for the whole team. The SAME coherent body of knowledge for ALL participants.
This joint strategic thinking is very satisfying and participatory as the discussion feels natural. Last, but not least, it increases ownership, which is key for getting the things done that were jointly thought up.
¹ Towards a Theory of Thinking, Britt M. Glatzeder | Vinod Goel | Albrecht von Müller, Springer 2010
² Parmenides Foundation, Germany; https://www.parmenides-eidos.com/eidos9/us/eidos/rationale#limitations