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It's a human thing to have a preconceived notion about meaning that isn't always shared.The biggest misconception about communication is that it's happening... We think that if we explain things well enough, there's no question that we are communicating clearly. This is absolutely NOT the case... It's also very normal to be so boggled by complexity, that it's easy to skip steps or miss some important detail when we only talk about our plans, schemes or systems. I often find myself sitting in a room full of people who "agree" whole heartedly about what they want to do (policy to implement, system to inflict on innocent bystanders... whatever). I say they "think" they agree, until I make a drawing that shows them what they seem to be saying. |
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In every case about half the people in the room say "Oh yes, that it exactly." and the other half "What! are you crazy?". After that the argument begins. And then their is culture... A lot of what we do depends on how we think about it. Our approach to learning and thinking modifies what we come up with, what we God gave us two sides of a brain for a reason...The "left/right" model of brain function (which gets me in no end of trouble since it's incorrect at the synaps level) gives a good generalization of basic thinking models. (Thanks to Dr. Scott Simmerman. Those familiar with the "left brain/right brain" model will usually notice that in a majority of people, linear, logical, procedural thinking goes on in the left lobe of the brain, while what is called the right brain processes tend toward the non-linear, conceptual and intuitive thinking skills. The basic ideas about the sides of the brain having different functions was discovered in World War 1 when the machine gun drove the cavalry into the trenches and the most common injury was the head wound. After noticing that getting shot on the right side of the head caused the left side of the body to stop working, doctors began to get curious. Books like Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain explain in greater detail than I can here about what is going on in various brain locations, but the basic idea in a nutshell is, that most people let one side or the other dominate - with the majority of right handed western Europeans gravitating toward the left brain linear, logical thinking processes. believe our options to be, and whether or not be believe we can accomplish the thing or not. |
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Most "left brain" processes are about logic, facts and data, doing things in order and getting the details right. "Left brain" processes breaks big things down into parts so one can look at the pieces (this is called "reductive thinking") and pay attention to the details. This approach to thought is re-enforced by our western educational system, and seems to work pretty well, for the most part.
When an engineer designs something complicated, they build schematics, drawings, figure out all the steps needed to perform all manner of furious calculations and tests.
A manufacturing engineer will figure out what tools are needed and in what order things have to be build and assembled, struggling with schedules and manpower questions.
A Computer system designer will employ formal modeling formats like process models (Yourdon-Demarco) Entity Relationship models or Data Models (James Martin) and the assorted variants that have elaborated on these basic techniques.
The point of the schematics, drawings and models is to get the facts and data nailed down hard and clear so that everyone knows what to do when.
First, while we need facts and data to build anything properly we often face the problem of logic breaking down. Our western culture emphasizes logic and linear processing, which is great, until an individual becomes so "wrapped around the axle" with complexity as to become overwhelmed. It's at this point that the ability to conceptualize large ideas begins to become important, and the need to break through the complexity becomes paramount.
The second thing is, that the natural order of things isn't nearly so logical and straight forward as we were once convinced it was. It seems that there's a bit of "magic" loose in our physical universe, and the erratic, unpredictable and illogical needs to be addressed.
The right brain is about seeing the big picture (rather than looking at the details). It's about putting things together, seeing connections, letting intuition and "the gut feeling" have it's say.
EXAMPLE of a "BIG PICTURE":
The right brain sees patterns in the most unexpected places. The ability to get a concept out of a load of facts and data is a right brain skill that most of us use to one extent or another. There are things you know, but you don't know why you know them. For the most part, you've drawn conclusions or discovered information in the non-linear, conceptual manner of the right brain thought process. You often my find yourself searching for a logical reason why you know something is so, and you usually do, but the right brain process is what permitted you to come to the conclusion you have, not your logic.
So even if you are a hard core left brainer, you DO use the other side of the brain at least a little, even if you would be embarrassed to try to explain your thinking.
Analogy and metaphor are the
right side of the brain counterpart to the facts and data
oriented thinking that goes on in the left brain. The essence of
an analogy is -- This thing we DON'T understand is LIKE this
other thing we DO understand in the following ways. Using
analogous thinking is the business of "looking bigger",
or thinking about the really big things in life that are
otherwise hard to get our minds around.
Some of the best examples of this sort of thinking are found in the New Testament where 2000 years ago, Jesus is reported to have told many stories or parables that would begin with the words, "The kingdom of heaven is like..." Where there was no way he was able to quantitatively describe this concept using facts and data (the "how far, how big questions). He was able to express ideas about the value and importance of his ideas, through analogy-where the unknown was shown to be like the known, in known and familiar ways.
Analogies cross cultural and language barriers. (What greater cultural and language barriers can you find but those that exist between the technical disciplines?).
The notion visualization of patterns, recurring patterns, and similarities in pattern is another "right brain" capability. Albert Einstein is reported to have used his imagination and a lot of visualization in his theoretical investigations to "see" the solution. He was then required to spend a great deal of time working out the logic and process that "proved" that what he saw was really true.
The break throughs in thought come from being willing to use many different approaches to thinking through the problem at hand. Getting "stuck" thinking only one way (or from one perspective - or window) limits our options, and the kinds of solutions we can come up with.
How we think effects how we understand, and modifies our conclusions. I believe it pays off grandly if one can develop the discipline to slip out of the "normal" approach to thought we use, and try looking at our problems in as many different ways as we can. If we are predominately "left brain" oriented, then we can benefit from a little analogy or visualization, conceptualization and intuition. Conversely, if we are predominately "right brain" oriented, then learning to "logic" ones way through a problem, or break something down into steps or smaller divisions makes a lot of difference in our abilities to find solutions and create the future.
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