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More ways to have new ideas and new ways to think; that's what this lesson is about. It's another of the fun ones. In fact, some of the techniques below could be used as humorous games to play with friends, like the "What They Really Mean" technique. But even those that lead to funny ideas can bring you to new and useful insights as well.
Asking good "what if" questions is not entertaining, but sometimes leads to great new ideas. You can do it anywhere and anytime. Turn on the television, for example, and watch the news. When a report on unemployment comes on, you might ask, "What if there was no unemployment?" "What if unemployment was a good thing?" "What if everyone was unemployed?"
Each of these suggests different ideas. No unemployment? Hmm... Maybe companies located in all major cities could guarantee jobs for anyone the government sent their way, in exchange for being allowed to pay a lower minimum wage and no taxes. Unemployment good? It could be a time to take an intense training course that prepares one for a better job. Everyone unemployed? There would be no jobs if we all had businesses. If we were paid as businesses - even for typical work - it could change our thinking, possibly making us all more productive and independent at the same time.
Ask "what if" questions until it becomes a habit. Most thoughts this question suggests will be silly or worthless, but that's just the nature of creative ways of thinking. You produce a lot of ideas and then pick through for the gems.
This is an activity to get you asking why things are the way they are, and how they could be different. Just take any important document and rewrite it, changing what you think could be or should be done in a new way. For example, you can rewrite the ten commandments from the bible. This makes you consider which moral rules should be most important, and why the ones there were chosen.
Other documents you could work with are the political ones, ranging from the Communist Manifesto to the Declaration of Independence. My own rewrite of the U.S. Constitution authorizes congress to pass only single-issue bills, thereby eliminating much of the expensive nonsense they slip into to bills now. It also expressly states that democracy is not the ruling principle of the government. It exists only to protect individual rights, and voting is only used to determine who will carry out that purpose.
Politicians sometimes say things in ways that hide true intentions. There are also unspoken premises hidden in much of what people believe. Digging into "doublespeak" and "code words" provides good material for political cartoonists, but it is also a good mental exercise for anyone who wants new ways to think about things.
For example, what does a man mean when he says something is your "duty?" In my mind, he means, "do what want or I'll make you feel guilty." You may not agree with this perspective, but you can see that the concept of duty has a lot of hidden assumptions (Duty to who? Why? Who decides?). What do people mean when they use the word?
What does it mean when a soldier is called a hero after joining the army to pay for college and then dying in an accident? What do people mean when they use the term "social justice?" What is meant by the "right" to medical care, education, or a job? The word certainly has a different meaning than when we speak of rights which only require us to leave others alone.
To have new ways to think more creatively it helps to expose yourself to new ideas, or unusual people. You can do this through movies. Watch the movie "PI" with Sean Gullette, for example, or "The Rapture" with Mimi Rogers, or "Fight Club" with Brad Pitt. This isn't necessarily about watching great movies, but just ones that approach things a bit differently.
This was covered more thoroughly in the last lesson on finding the good in bad ideas and the bad in good ones. But as a simple exercise for exploring new ways to think, you can start with a simple list of common platitudes and sayings that are either lies or exaggerations. Then you find the "nugget of truth" in each and see if there is actually some new insight to be had.
For example, the statement "anything is possible," is overused and plainly unsupportable. But there is a reason it exists, which may be that we recognize our deep ignorance of just what is possible, and our tendency to underestimate the possibilities. That's worth exploring.
Other cliches and beliefs to challenge and explore include, "it was meant to happen," "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," "what we think is what we get," and "freedom comes with responsibilities."
Choose one of the mental exercises or techniques above and use it several times this week. Make a note of any new ideas or ways to think about an issue come to mind.
Until next time,
Steve
www.RadicalNewThoughts.com
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