17 World Thinkers’ Ideas

The idea behind World Thinkers’ Ideas was to make a list where the focus is on the thinking that lead to  “successful ideas”. Many new ideas and suggestions are immediately rejected.

Exploring ideas and the thinking that lead to the ideas  is a great way to give your “creative muscles a workout”.  Good ideas can come from using a range of different methods and techniques. Go here to read about “What is Really a Good Idea”. Since these blog posts have been popular, we have made a list of all the blog posts so far. More to come later, so check at the top where there is a special page to see if there has been any additions since your last visit.

Click on the link to read the blog post, often there is a video where you can learn more about the person and get inspiration from their ways of approaching different problems. Happy Thinkibility reading and listening.

1.  Fitness Club for the Brain – Alvaro Fernandez

Alvaro Fernandez predicts an increase in the emphasis on brain maintenance. There will also be a more integrated approach where physical and mental exercises will be better integrated in the future.

2.  Lawyer for the Animals –  Antoine Goetschel

Ethical values are important for the Swiss lawyer Antoine Goetschel. He represents abused animals in the court.

3.  Believe in the Impossible – Sebastian Thrun

The German computer scientist Sebastian Thrun is a creative mind working in the zone between the possible and impossible. Resisting impossible ideas are easy but inventors are unhappy, says Sebastian Thrun. Inventors are constantly searching for solutions and they feel the pain of an unsolved problem.

4.  Shape Your Brain – Barbara Arrowsmith-Young

Inspired by research about the brain, Barbara Arrowsmith-Young began as a young graduate student the journey to show that you are not your brain; rather you can shape your brain.

5.  Look for Similarities – Frans de Waal

Thinking should provide a rounded view of the problem or situation. By looking for similarities, Frans de Waal has made several fascinating discoveries.

6.  Creative Machines –  Jürgen Schmidhuber

Predicting the future is tricky, and although science fiction can provide great inspiration, few things can be predicted confidently. But that there will be computers faster than the human brain may be one of those predictions. Jürgen Schmidhuber may sound too optimistic when he says that computers will also be able to solve problems faster than humans can.

7.  Degrees of Impossibilities – Michio Kaku

Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and the author of “Physics of the Impossible”, distinguishes between three different types of impossibilities. A hierarchy of impossibilities. Kaku says that Class 1 impossibilities are things that can be achieved in the near future. Today scientists are working on invisibility cloaks and there is optimism that it will soon be possible to make an object invisible. Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak may be a possibility within this century.

8.  Examine No- Difference Results – Lise Eliot

Neuroscientist Lise Eliot set out to examine sex difference between boys and girls – something that from the start looked like a straightforward task. She could simply link differences between girls and boys to their differences in brain development. Boys and girls and different and many parents can cite numerous differences between their sons and daughter.

9.  Do What You Love  – Peter Thiel

Using the Internet to promote our skills is becoming increasingly more important. New skills and ideas are required and Peter Thiel that it is vital to let interests and talents help to us find a career that inspires us. Choosing subjects and topics that we are interested in and love, mean that we are motivated to work.

10. Rethink and Re-examine – Alva Noë

Alva Noë challenges the traditional way of separating scientific and humanistic styles of thinking. The common goal is understanding and by working together scientists and philosophers can advance our understanding.  Scientific research rests on assumptions and it is vital to have an open mind to the value and correctness of these assumptions.

11. Mixing Art , Science and Dreams – David Edwards

For some of us combining art and science may be natural. Yet in traditional educational systems, you are often at asked to choose between science or art. And often this decision means that we lose contact with the other subject. David Edwards argues that many innovations may never have been possible without marrying art and science.

12. Panic and Icy Roads – Hannah and Antonio Damsio

Hannah and Antonio Damasio are known for studying things like economics, education, and governance from a neurobiological perspective. The Damasios are pioneers that have introduced new perspectives and concepts.  Antonio Damasio’s research has had a major influence on our current understanding of the neural systems that underlie emotion, memory, language, decision-making, and consciousness. Hannah Damasio is famous for her brain-imaging work and she made the first brain atlas based on computerized imaging data.

13.  Challenge Our Perceptions – Beau Lotto

Beau Lotto unites and integrates different disciplines and he has involved children in scientific research. He believes that only by integrating different disciplines can we truly understand ourselves. The aim with the projects is to explore the ecology of mind.

14. Embrace the Experiences – Heston Blumenthal

Snail porridge and sardine on toast ice cream may have changed the way we think about what tastes good. Heston Blumenthal is a chef with an inquisitive mind who plays with phials, gases, and centrifugal forces. A new approach to cooking, where science is regarded as a tool like the oven. But can scientific knowledge makes your food experience any better?

15. Push the Limits – David Eagleman

Can we learn to extract sensory information from unusual sensory channels? Sensory substitution is a way to work around the loss of one sense by sending information though another channel. Pushing the limits to reach new insights may require new technology. A successful project also requires a vision and purpose.

16. Ways of Dealing with Boredom – Mark Applebaum

Mark Applebaum is a composer and an inventor. In the video below, he tells a story about how he used boredom as a catalyst for creativity and invention.

Photo: “Ideas Word” by Stuart Miles