Thinking about Thinking, Creativity, Innovation and Design
We believe there should be a university that is solely dedicated to the in-depth exploration of “thinking”. Earlier we wrote some Thinkibility Nibbles about how a University that teaches how to think, not what, might look like. In the West Wing scientists and students dissect the existing basic thinking patterns in a scientific discipline. In contrast to this, …
Photo: School of Life Gijs and I have spent many hours exploring ideas and theories related to the importance of the environment when discussing thinking. “Thinkibility is about the agility and skill in thinking. A biological approach to thinking, where it is assumed that thinking takes place in an environment and the characteristics of the environment …
“Sometimes incredible buildings get lost in all the noise. They disappear behind the cars on the street or the branded coffee shops around the corner. I wanted to showcase them as the architect had intended.” Misplaced design by the American designer Anton Repponen is a wonderful mind game. He has taken some of New York’s …
There are several ways to design a new concept deliberately. But what is a new concept? Not many people have a quick answer to this question, other than “differently than expected”, “something else as normal”, “not seen before” or just “interesting”. One of the easiest ways to design a new concept is to escape from …
What if your home looked like a scene from a book or painting? What book or painting would you choose? Would this change the way you look upon your home? And would it change your thinking? The architect firm De Rosee Sa created a school dining hall inspired by Roald’s Dahl’s book Fantastic Mr Fox. …
Continue reading “Mr Fox, Children’s Drawings and Van Gogh – Thinkibility Nibble”
The ability to come up with a lot of alternatives is an important Thinkibility skill, reflecting “mobility” in thinking. As all skills, they have to be trained and maintained by exercises. Recently we came across a funny, but existential exercise. Since the 1950s, scientists have argued the idea that “habitable zones” around stars are the …
Continue reading “So Where Is Everybody? – Thinkibility Nibble”
In a short time, TED Talks have become a phenomena. Under the slogan “Ideas Worth Spreading” by November 2012, TED talks -about Technology, Entertainment and Design- has been watched over one billion times worldwide. The duration of a TED talk is restricted to 18 minutes, with a strong recommendation to use story telling devices and to put some strong emotions …
On the twelfth day of Christmas may true love gave to me Twelve Drummers Drumming The traditional image of drummers is marching drummers walking round and round. Circular Economy is a term used to describe an economy that relies on renewable energy and to minimise and eradicate waste through careful design. In this TedEd talk …
Continue reading “Day 12 – Christmas Thinkibility Challenge”
Photo: Lori Siebert On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my true love sent to me Eleven Pipers Piping Bake them a cake, give them a hug, sing a song and blow the pipes. Media, advertisers and even governments link consumption with happiness and prosperity. Today chants and carols are competing with Christmas albums and there …
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On the Tenth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me Ten Lords a-Leaping Fanatical about skiing? Crazy about ice-skating? Dreaming about a new pair of sport shoes? How can you shop outside the box when you look for sport gifts? Can you redesign sports or outdoor equipment? To raise awareness about ocean garbage, …
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On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me Nine Ladies Dancing Choreographers put dancing on display. If you were asked to stage a Christmas dance, what would it look like? What xmassy feelings would be expressed in the dance. What moods and feelings would this dance need to showcase? Put on …
On the Eight Days of Christmas my true love gave to me Eight Dingoes Digging Dingoes! Yes, the carol has been adapted to include native animals and local traditions and there is an Australian version of The Twelve Days of Days as well as a French, Scottish. . . Photo: Save the dingo Christmas begins …
Swans can walk on earth, swim in the sea and soar in the sky. These magnificent birds are often seen as a symbol of freedom, life, grace or purity. It is magical to watch their movements as the glide on the water with their graceful long necks. And just like yang and yin there are …
On the Sixth Day of Christmas my True love sent to me Six Geese a-Laying So what does the six geese a-laying mean? Christmas is midwinter feast filled with food and delicacies such as almonds and chocolates. Animals are prevalent in the carol – The Twelve days of Christmas, we have a partridge, turtle doves, …
Looking for underlying assumptions and messages in a song like The Twelve Days of Christmas can also provide a source of inspiration and reflection. This carol is about Sharing, perhaps even the Joy of Sharing. On the Third day of Christmas my true love sent to me Three French Hens Two Turtle Doves and a …
Continue reading “Day 3 -Twelve Days of Thinkibility Challenge”
Welcome to the second challenge. A challenge filled with a dollop of fun, a spoon of seriousness and an ocean of thinkibility. And yes, if the introduction sounds familiar, you are right. This challenge is about repetition. On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge …
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Welcome to the first challenge. A challenge filled with a dollop of fun, a spoon of seriousness and an ocean of thinkibility. On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me: A Partridge in a Pear Tree “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English Carol where increasingly grand gifts are given …
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Last year, Gijs and I thought it would be fun to give our readers a thinking challenge. So the idea of T29 was born. Every day, for 29 days, we posted a thinking challenge. This year we have made a Christmas Challenge – T12. A challenge for our readers who love everything about the Festive …
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Thinking with concepts is very powerful, as we earlier showed in the post Conceptual Thinking. Conceptual Thinking is the ability to identify patterns or links between seemingly unrelated issues. This in contrast to concrete thinking – that is a style of thinking in which the individual sees each situation as unique and is unable to generalize from …
Continue reading “Ways Concepts Are Camouflaged – Thinkibility Boost”
We believe there should be an university that is solely dedicated to the in-depth exploration of “thinking”. Earlier we wrote about the faculties that are housed in the West Wing. At the West Wing, scientists and students dissect the basic thinking patterns in a scientific discipline. The people working there are not trained as philosophers, but will use systematic …
Continue reading “The East Wing of the Thinkibility University”
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