Unlock Your Mind: Master Critical Thinking With Riddles
00:00:00 Learn to Think Using Riddles, Brain Teasers, and Wordplay
00:04:18 Thinking Modalities.
00:05:48 Going Outside The Box.
00:13:30 Mastering Critical Thinking.
00:24:33 Putting It All Together.
Learn to Think Using Riddles, Brain Teasers, and Wordplay: Develop a Quick Wit, Think More Creatively and Cleverly, and Train your Problem-Solving instincts By Patrick King
Hear it Here - https://bit.ly/usingriddles
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CD33V2S
Learn how to ask the right questions, solve problems, and think more clearly.
In traditional education, you're taught to recite and regurgitate. But there is rarely application, and information just becomes information for information’s sake. Does this actually make us smarter and more clever, or do we just get better at taking tests?
Test yourself with over 30 maddening riddles and brain teasers designed to make you think outside the box.
Learn to Think Using Riddles, Brain Teasers, and Wordplay is about how to think backwards, forwards, and sideways. Starting with a conclusion and finding the possible causes forces you to analyze, investigate, draw connections, and hypothesize. You need to explore all angles and let no stone remain unturned. This is exactly what real life requires.This book will confuse, frustrate, and ultimately improve your thinking prowess like nothing else, on account of being thrown into the mental deep end. Challenge yourself and you will grow.
#AncientGreekRiddles #AugustKekule #SalvadorDali #ThinkingModalities #UsingRiddles #BrainTeasers #WarrenBerger #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PatrickKing #PatrickKingConsulting #SocialSkillsCoaching #LearntoThinkUsingRiddles #BrainTeasers #andWordplay #UnlockYourMind:MasterCriticalThinkingWithRiddles
Transcript
Learn to Think Using Riddles,
Speaker:Brain Teasers,
Speaker:and Wordplay:
Speaker:Develop a Quick Wit,
Speaker:Think More Creatively and Cleverly,
Speaker:and Train your Problem-Solving instincts By Patrick King, narrated by russell newton.
Speaker:Everyone loves a good riddle.
Speaker:A riddle is a little hard to define,
Speaker:but we all know one when we see it - it’s typically a phrase or question that
Speaker:has some veiled or double meaning and which forces us to think really carefully
Speaker:about the answer.
Speaker:Riddles may seem like nothing more than child’s play (the last time you
Speaker:answered one may have been in childhood!),
Speaker:but riddles have a long and illustrious past.
Speaker:Riddles are a “universal art” found in all cultures,
Speaker:and have been studied by linguists,
Speaker:anthropologists,
Speaker:theologists,
Speaker:and more to understand how and why human beings use these peculiar tales,
Speaker:questions,
Speaker:or puzzles.
Speaker:Want some proof?
Speaker:Here is a riddle mentioned in Greek antiquity,
Speaker:in other words,
Speaker:over two thousand years ago - Ares sent the Sphinx from her Aethiopian homeland
Speaker:(the Greeks always remembered the foreign origin of the Sphinx)
Speaker:to Thebes in Greece where she asked all passersby the most famous riddle in
Speaker:history - "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and
Speaker:two-footed and three-footed?"
Speaker:She strangled and devoured anyone who could not answer.
Speaker:Oedipus solved the riddle by answering - "Man—who crawls on all fours as a
Speaker:baby,
Speaker:then walks on two feet as an adult,
Speaker:and then uses a walking stick in old age."
Speaker:By some accounts (but much more rarely),
Speaker:there was a second riddle - "There are two sisters - one gives birth to the
Speaker:other,
Speaker:and she,
Speaker:in turn,
Speaker:gives birth to the first.
Speaker:Who are the two sisters?"
Speaker:The answer is "day and night."
Speaker:(Both words—ἡμέρα and νύξ,
Speaker:respectively—are feminine in Ancient Greek).
Speaker:Riddles seem to play with the flexible boundaries of language,
Speaker:showing us the intellectual conventions we didn’t even know we were using.
Speaker:Riddles lay bare our ordinary assumptions about the way the world works—and
Speaker:show us that things are not quite as they seem.
Speaker:They provide moments of surprise,
Speaker:shock,
Speaker:and even dumbfoundedness.
Speaker:They make us feel that we are not as bright as we would like to be,
Speaker:and that we are blind to the obvious.
Speaker:On hearing the answer,
Speaker:we get a flash of insight and understanding,
Speaker:a little joke for the mind that’s like the equivalent of an optical illusion
Speaker:or an object that seems to change color completely when tilted in the light.
Speaker:Over time,
Speaker:riddles became a way of relating to others,
Speaker:and even the basis for philosophical questions,
Speaker:thought experiments,
Speaker:and methods of understanding the world around us.
Speaker:Riddles are more than simple wordplay,
Speaker:as this book will demonstrate,
Speaker:and can be used as tools for a range of purposes.
Speaker:In this book,
Speaker:we’ll be exploring riddles for a few reasons,
Speaker:not least of which because they’re fun!
Speaker:Riddles can also be thought of as mini exercises for the conceptual mind,
Speaker:and a way to develop critical thinking and analytical skills,
Speaker:as well as strengthen the ability to think creatively.
Speaker:“Out of the box” thinking may feel random and spontaneous in the moment,
Speaker:but in the chapters that follow,
Speaker:we’ll see how there are actually predictable formulas and techniques that can
Speaker:help us solve problems at a higher level than we’re used to.
Speaker:Riddles are a brilliant way to practice and learn about these different ways of
Speaker:thinking,
Speaker:if we know how to use them.
Speaker:You can read all you want about different types of thinking—it’s an
Speaker:important piece of the puzzle—but if you never apply them in a significant
Speaker:way,
Speaker:then all that knowledge will be for naught.
Speaker:So first,
Speaker:let’s consider the mental tools we have at our disposal when approaching the
Speaker:task that is a riddle.
Speaker:In reality,
Speaker:this is about evaluating the problems and novel situations in our lives,
Speaker:and gaining better understanding and methods to navigate them effectively,
Speaker:quickly,
Speaker:and strategically.
Speaker:Thinking Modalities.
Speaker:People seldom think of thinking as something they need to practice,
Speaker:develop,
Speaker:or strengthen.
Speaker:It’s almost as though we assume this skill is a given,
Speaker:and something that will run more or less on its own.
Speaker:Most of us are more focused on developing skills and what could be called
Speaker:crystallized intelligence—essentially knowledge and information.
Speaker:But can we develop muscles in the body without exercise?
Speaker:Can we use any tool at all without first understanding how best to use that
Speaker:tool?
Speaker:What can we actually do with the tool by itself,
Speaker:and no type of instruction manual for best practices?
Speaker:This is how the vast majority navigate the world.
Speaker:But we can do better than that.
Speaker:Thinking is an aptitude that is more fluid than we think—and more prone to
Speaker:bias,
Speaker:misconception,
Speaker:lazy assumption,
Speaker:shortcuts,
Speaker:weak hypotheses,
Speaker:and plain old habit.
Speaker:Realizing that your brain can (and should)
Speaker:be used to its full potential is like suddenly discovering that all along
Speaker:you’ve been using a precious and sophisticated piece of technology as a
Speaker:doorstop.
Speaker:Our brains can do so much more,
Speaker:but we have to deliberately give ourselves the opportunity to consider how
Speaker:we’re thinking in the first place,
Speaker:and then dedicate the time to improving it.
Speaker:Let’s take a look at some of the tools that will be in our arsenal at the end
Speaker:of this book.
Speaker:Going Outside The Box.
Speaker:What do you know about creativity?
Speaker:Do you imagine that it’s something a bit like a flash of light from nowhere,
Speaker:something that only the rare gifted person has access to?
Speaker:Perhaps you think it’s a “left brain versus right brain” phenomena and
Speaker:that some people are just born better able to create and think up new ideas.
Speaker:We’ll abandon these conventional ideas for one reason - they’re limiting
Speaker:and limited.
Speaker:Instead,
Speaker:we’ll look at creativity with curiosity and try to understand what it is.
Speaker:What is a creative person actually doing when they bring something completely
Speaker:new into the world?
Speaker:In understanding the function and nature of creativity,
Speaker:we can then learn to practice it ourselves (more on this later,
Speaker:when we explore riddles).
Speaker:In time,
Speaker:we will be able to systematically become more creative.
Speaker:It sounds like an oxymoron,
Speaker:but most things in this world can be trained and cultivated,
Speaker:and very few things are dependent on raw talent and luck.
Speaker:Divergent thinking is the name given to the kind of intellectual activity that
Speaker:explores and expands on as many solutions or alternatives as possible.
Speaker:Quick—think of a simple iron nail.
Speaker:How many uses can you think of for a single iron nail?
Speaker:The activity that your brain engages in to do this is called divergent thinking.
Speaker:Being flexible and open,
Speaker:the idea is to “brainstorm” and open the field right up.
Speaker:This kind of thinking,
Speaker:crucially,
Speaker:needs to be removed from goal-oriented,
Speaker:convergent thinking—it works best when you suspend judgment (i.e. telling
Speaker:yourself,
Speaker:“that’s a stupid idea”)
Speaker:and simply let ideas flow as they will.
Speaker:This is the kind of opening-up,
Speaker:rather than narrowing-down,
Speaker:kind of thinking.
Speaker:The type of thinking to solve riddles is,
Speaker:you guessed it,
Speaker:almost purely divergent.
Speaker:When three of the most obvious descriptions of assumptions fail,
Speaker:where do you go from there?
Speaker:You must start to think outside your conventional boundaries and diverge.
Speaker:Without it,
Speaker:you will be running your head into the same wall repeatedly.
Speaker:Lateral thinking is also a term you may be familiar with.
Speaker:In contrast to “vertical thinking,” which is step by step and rather
Speaker:predictable,
Speaker:lateral thinking seems to take a step to the side,
Speaker:into a new dimension.
Speaker:It makes you ask how you get from Point A to Point B,
Speaker:and attempts to detach from the current scenario.
Speaker:Lateral thinking is the act of mentally manipulating factors and situations.
Speaker:We’ll see plenty of examples of lateral thinking in the riddles that follow
Speaker:later in the book,
Speaker:and it’s this kind of thinking that is best for problem solving or generating
Speaker:truly novel ideas.
Speaker:Imagine a classic maze printed on a piece of paper,
Speaker:with an IN and an OUT. You’re given a pencil and told to solve it.
Speaker:You might go about drawing a line from IN to OUT,
Speaker:winding along the paths of the maze.
Speaker:Or,
Speaker:if you were thinking laterally,
Speaker:you might simply draw a long line outside the maze,
Speaker:bypassing the entire thing—you’ve still solved the puzzle,
Speaker:only not on its own terms.
Speaker:In doing so,
Speaker:you’ve found the solution at a different level of thinking than the problem
Speaker:was created.
Speaker:Going even further,
Speaker:you could solve the problem in an even more outlandish way - by curling the
Speaker:paper in on itself,
Speaker:you can bring the IN to the OUT in three dimensional space,
Speaker:allowing your pencil to make the tiny jump from one to the other.
Speaker:You’ve solved the problem again,
Speaker:by now completely breaking the rules of both previous solutions (you might then
Speaker:pull a Matrix-style trick and claim,
Speaker:as your final solution,
Speaker:that “there is no paper”).
Speaker:The point of this thought exercise is to expand your mind and imagine “what
Speaker:if” rules didn’t exist.
Speaker:Systems thinking is similar in that it is the ability to see and comprehend the
Speaker:“bigger picture”—as well as how all its components fit inside it.
Speaker:Understanding large-scale interrelations is sometimes enough to solve a problem
Speaker:creatively.
Speaker:Connecting the dots,
Speaker:synthesizing separate ideas,
Speaker:seeing the whole,
Speaker:and perceiving relationships and connections are invaluable for those problems
Speaker:in life that are “greater than the sum of their parts”—i.e.,
Speaker:most of them!
Speaker:As an example,
Speaker:you may be dealing with a difficult person and unsure how to get them to see
Speaker:your point of view.
Speaker:But really,
Speaker:you can fix things by seeing their point of view.
Speaker:When you understand who their boss is,
Speaker:what their objectives and motivations are,
Speaker:and all the complex links that connect you to them,
Speaker:you can better understand their position—to your benefit.
Speaker:By zooming out,
Speaker:you add context and dimension to the situation,
Speaker:and act accordingly.
Speaker:Many of us have the problem of getting caught in the weeds—for another
Speaker:analogy,
Speaker:not being able to see the forest through the trees.
Speaker:Systems thinking implores you to see the clues and hints that inevitability
Speaker:exist in every situation,
Speaker:and expand on what they could mean for you.
Speaker:It may not appear to be a type of creative thinking at first glance,
Speaker:but if it’s something that forces a different perspective,
Speaker:it counts!
Speaker:Finally,
Speaker:inspirational thinking is also a kind of creative thinking,
Speaker:and can be best described as receiving insight or inspiration from somewhere
Speaker:else entirely.
Speaker:Take an entirely different activity,
Speaker:mindset,
Speaker:discipline,
Speaker:or field,
Speaker:and force-apply this to your current situation.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:generating ideas that must start with each letter of the alphabet.
Speaker:This gives you twenty-six ideas,
Speaker:as well as fitting an intentional constraint.
Speaker:This results in a sudden explosion of understanding or a peak experience—a
Speaker:lightbulb switching on in your head.
Speaker:It can seem like this flash of creative insight is unpredictable (a freebie
Speaker:from the mythical muses?),
Speaker:but people who have these insights often lay extensive groundwork and actively
Speaker:court those insights one way or another.
Speaker:Salvador Dali,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:was known to drift off to sleep with a spoon deliberately held loosely in his
Speaker:hand,
Speaker:balanced above a china plate.
Speaker:As he began to dream,
Speaker:his grip would loosen and he’d drop the spoon;
Speaker:the clattering on the plate would wake him up instantly.
Speaker:He’d then reach for his notepad nearby and scribble down all the images that
Speaker:had come to his half-awake mind.
Speaker:He called this chasing hypnagogic sleep,
Speaker:as he wanted to play in the area of consciousness between waking and sleep.
Speaker:In a similar way,
Speaker:August Kekule is reported to have had a dream about a snake biting its own
Speaker:tail,
Speaker:and in a flash,
Speaker:understood the ring-like structure of the benzene molecule—a puzzle that had
Speaker:filled his waking hours.
Speaker:Others receive this inspiration from altered states of consciousness (like
Speaker:dreams),
Speaker:mystical experiences,
Speaker:or even profound moments during meditation or time spent in nature.
Speaker:We can access this state by simply stepping away from the problem at times and
Speaker:letting our unconscious mind do the work for us.
Speaker:The more varied and different your experiences are,
Speaker:the more mental models you can try on for size and apply to different
Speaker:situations.
Speaker:Mastering Critical Thinking.
Speaker:Creativity and divergent thinking can be thought of as simultaneously subtypes
Speaker:and examples of one another,
Speaker:wherein the mind goes from a small,
Speaker:narrow,
Speaker:or limited perspective and opens up.
Speaker:This requires different types of frameworks to not be stuck in a box of our own
Speaker:creation.
Speaker:Convergent thinking,
Speaker:on the other hand,
Speaker:goes the other direction and takes many strains of thought and ideas and boils
Speaker:them down to a narrower conclusion or solution.
Speaker:It’s finding a way inside the given rules rather than breaking them or
Speaker:seeking new rules and outside solutions.
Speaker:Insight comes from digging deeper rather than looking elsewhere.
Speaker:This is a process of further understanding a narrower set of information and
Speaker:then attempting to draw conclusions from it via analysis and insight.
Speaker:These are both ways of problem solving,
Speaker:which is the true skill that riddles help us cultivate.
Speaker:Whether you go broader or more specific,
Speaker:it’s clear that our mental status quo can’t quite cut it.
Speaker:The first thing to remember is that critical (step by step)
Speaker:thinking is not really all that separate from non-linear,
Speaker:insightful,
Speaker:or creative thinking.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:the two often go hand in hand,
Speaker:solving one another’s unfinished business.
Speaker:In developing all aspects of cognition,
Speaker:we equip ourselves with more tools to use on any problem or situation we’re
Speaker:faced with.
Speaker:We can expand in one moment (gathering data,
Speaker:exploring arguments,
Speaker:and taking in the general logic of a problem)
Speaker:before narrowing down again (drawing conclusions and fashioning a single
Speaker:solution).
Speaker:Either way,
Speaker:we are challenging ourselves and using different perspectives.
Speaker:No style of thinking is better than the other—rather,
Speaker:it’s knowing which is most appropriate to use in each situation.
Speaker:Questions like,
Speaker:“What is the atomic weight of magnesium?” require a different kind of
Speaker:thinking than do more open-ended questions like,
Speaker:“How are we going to get our sales team to cooperate more in the office?"
Speaker:For some problems,
Speaker:you need as many answers as possible (or,
Speaker:there is no “right” answer),
Speaker:but for others,
Speaker:you really want to hone in on the single best solution.
Speaker:Riddles force you to alternate between them.
Speaker:Critical thinking is broadly convergent instead of divergent—it seeks to
Speaker:whittle down,
Speaker:to find logical coherence,
Speaker:and to unpick the components of a problem in the same way you’d take apart an
Speaker:appliance.
Speaker:Though creativity is a kind of intelligence,
Speaker:and intelligent people are invariably deeply creative thinkers,
Speaker:it is critical thinking that’s most often regarded as thinking in general.
Speaker:People who wish to bolster their intelligence often train their analytical
Speaker:skills.
Speaker:We can ask the same question here as we did above.
Speaker:What are people actually doing when they think intelligently and logically
Speaker:about a problem?
Speaker:The first step is usually identification.
Speaker:Actually seeing and acknowledging what the problem is,
Speaker:diagnosing the issue,
Speaker:and finding all the aspects influencing it.
Speaker:You can never provide adequate solutions if you don’t understand the problem
Speaker:sufficiently.
Speaker:During this stage,
Speaker:you might ask questions like,
Speaker:what am I really looking at here?
Speaker:What’s the question/problem?
Speaker:Who are the actors and what are they doing?
Speaker:And why?
Speaker:Can I identify cause and effect relationships here?
Speaker:What am I trying to achieve,
Speaker:and what information am I missing?
Speaker:And so on.
Speaker:The next step entails a little research.
Speaker:Once you’ve broadly identified the field in which your problem is taking
Speaker:place,
Speaker:you can begin to explore various options,
Speaker:arguments,
Speaker:or possible solutions.
Speaker:Look at information and consider its quality.
Speaker:Verify your sources and independently look at arguments to see how persuasive
Speaker:they are,
Speaker:and how they’re making that argument.
Speaker:Evaluate different possibilities with an eye to a solution.
Speaker:These research skills are invaluable in making sure that you’re not using
Speaker:faulty assumptions or bad data to come to your conclusions.
Speaker:A great critical thinking skill is to routinely ask,
Speaker:“What do I think and why do I think this?"
Speaker:What’s the evidence?
Speaker:You could also deliberately search for the opposing argument to counter your
Speaker:own unconscious bias.
Speaker:Rather than merely look for data that supports your already-held conclusions,
Speaker:it can help to ask yourself what you are not seeing!
Speaker:This is a step that most people don’t make it to,
Speaker:so if you’re getting to this stage,
Speaker:you’re already significantly ahead of the pack.
Speaker:This leads naturally to the next step (although all these functions typically
Speaker:overlap)
Speaker:- “identifying bias."
Speaker:This requires something we don’t often acknowledge when we think of
Speaker:intelligence—the ability to be discerning.
Speaker:Information needs to be appraised as neutrally and objectively as possible.
Speaker:To do this requires humility,
Speaker:honesty,
Speaker:and a lot of maturity—plus a little creative thinking to look into your own
Speaker:blind spots!
Speaker:Debate with yourself.
Speaker:Find the flaws,
Speaker:weak points,
Speaker:and assumptions in how you’re thinking.
Speaker:Actively take an opposing view to understand your own flaws and potential weak
Speaker:points.
Speaker:Challenge yourself to find evidence for your beliefs and assumptions—and be
Speaker:ready to abandon those that are genuinely incorrect.
Speaker:This is the only way learning can ever happen!
Speaker:The worst thing you can do is assume that you are correct,
Speaker:and that there are elements of your thinking that are infallible and not worthy
Speaker:of testing.
Speaker:This aspect of critical thinking is perhaps more important than any raw,
Speaker:intellectual power—because even the best arguments and most useful
Speaker:information will be ignored if too much ego is involved,
Speaker:or if someone has simply failed to consider all the facts at hand.
Speaker:Our world is overflowing with information,
Speaker:but not all of it is high quality.
Speaker:Yes,
Speaker:that even includes some of yours.
Speaker:If you find yourself resisting a question or assertion,
Speaker:take a second to pause and ask yourself if you are truly dedicated to finding
Speaker:the truth of the matter,
Speaker:or simply defending something else (like your ego).
Speaker:We need to consistently ask who is presenting the information,
Speaker:and why (what is their agenda and how do they benefit from these claims?).
Speaker:Is it logical,
Speaker:relevant,
Speaker:incomplete,
Speaker:up to date?
Speaker:This may not seem immediately applicable when it comes to riddles,
Speaker:but many riddles do in fact trick us when we fail to properly appraise the
Speaker:problem,
Speaker:or fully consider the nature and quality of the information presented to us.
Speaker:Inference or the closely related deduction,
Speaker:is the act of arriving at a conclusion given the information,
Speaker:or premises,
Speaker:in front of you.
Speaker:This is a process of extrapolation—guessing at some unknown piece of
Speaker:information based on known pieces of information.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:if you discovered that someone hadn’t worked for twenty years,
Speaker:you may infer that their unemployment was unfortunate and maybe due to some
Speaker:sort of disability (in this example,
Speaker:you can see that inferences can be incorrect—the person may well be
Speaker:independently wealthy,
Speaker:or someone like a monk or nun who doesn’t work at all).
Speaker:An inference is an educated guess,
Speaker:but it’s still just a guess and is only as good as the premises it’s based
Speaker:on.
Speaker:More specifically,
Speaker:a deduction (in the classic philosophical sense,
Speaker:at least)
Speaker:is used when there is no possibility of the conclusion being wrong,
Speaker:given the premises.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:I can have the following - “All students scoring below fifty percent fail the
Speaker:test,” as well as,
Speaker:“This student has obtained forty-two percent."
Speaker:Using deduction,
Speaker:I can make the conclusion,
Speaker:“This student has failed the test."
Speaker:I have moved from a general principle to a special case.
Speaker:Deduction of this kind is rarer in real life than general inference—but
Speaker:sometimes mistakes can be avoided by simply knowing which one you’re actually
Speaker:dealing with!
Speaker:Induction,
Speaker:the opposite,
Speaker:is more informal logic and moves from a specific case to a general principle.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:“The sun rose yesterday and it rose today as well.
Speaker:It will probably rise tomorrow,
Speaker:too."
Speaker:To improve inferential thinking,
Speaker:you need only improve the quality of the information you’re basing your
Speaker:conclusions on.
Speaker:Many of the riddles we’ll look at are deliberate tricks in that they withhold
Speaker:a crucial piece of information that’s needed to come to the right conclusion.
Speaker:Clues are always useful in critical thinking—but always remember that
Speaker:they’re just that,
Speaker:clues.
Speaker:Another aspect of critical thinking is determining relevance.
Speaker:All the above steps assume that you’re only considering information that is
Speaker:actually pertinent to the situation at hand.
Speaker:This in itself requires some skill.
Speaker:How do you know when to stop looking,
Speaker:or whether a piece of data is worth including in your analysis?
Speaker:You don’t want to get sidetracked with totally irrelevant data,
Speaker:but you also don’t want to miss out on crucial information.
Speaker:The best approach is to have a goal in mind and constantly measure new
Speaker:information against this goal—with many goals,
Speaker:you might need to rank them in order of importance.
Speaker:When you find yourself encountering repeated data,
Speaker:it’s a sign you’ve thoroughly explored the space,
Speaker:but you may have to be satisfied with enough information to merely allow you to
Speaker:identify trends.
Speaker:Like biases,
Speaker:information should constantly be checked for its value in the bigger
Speaker:picture—can you omit a dozen weak ideas in favor of a single better and more
Speaker:representative one?
Speaker:Finally,
Speaker:curiosity is a vital but sometimes overlooked part of critical thinking.
Speaker:The truth is,
Speaker:information seldom comes to find us and present itself perfectly formed!
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:it is us who has to go and seek it out deliberately,
Speaker:sometimes asking,
Speaker:“Why?” many times over to get to the crux of an issue.
Speaker:It’s easy to lose the curiosity habit and take things at face value,
Speaker:but sometimes the best critical thinking is done when people are not satisfied
Speaker:with the standard answer.
Speaker:Critical thinking is solutions-oriented and convergent,
Speaker:but that doesn’t mean you can’t regularly ask yourself,
Speaker:“Is this all there is?” and go poking around until something catches your
Speaker:interest.
Speaker:Keep things open-ended—at the end of every solution,
Speaker:you often find three more interesting problems!
Speaker:Putting It All Together.
Speaker:Having outlined a general vocabulary for the different kinds of thinking,
Speaker:however,
Speaker:isn’t quite the same as knowing how and when to use these different cognitive
Speaker:“modes” or techniques.
Speaker:When you are out there in the real world,
Speaker:solving real problems as they emerge,
Speaker:you will use a blend of all the above.
Speaker:To become a better thinker,
Speaker:then,
Speaker:takes not only familiarity with the nuts and bolts of thinking,
Speaker:but practical awareness of how to use those skills synergistically in the
Speaker:moment.
Speaker:This is something that author Warren Berger thought about a lot,
Speaker:and is behind the method he outlines in his book A More Beautiful Question.
Speaker:His idea is that the quality and breadth of our knowledge about the world comes
Speaker:down in large part to the quality and depth of the questions we pose to it.
Speaker:By learning to ask better questions (in a more formal and deliberate process),
Speaker:we give ourselves deeper access to knowledge and insight.
Speaker:Good questions are the fundamental basis of the scientific method in general.
Speaker:By doing science,
Speaker:we ask,
Speaker:in many complex and varied ways,
Speaker:“If I do this,
Speaker:what happens?"
Speaker:Berge’s model suggests three steps or stages,
Speaker:and is useful because it combines many of the skills we’ve explored in the
Speaker:previous section.
Speaker:To ask truly innovative questions,
Speaker:we should structure them as - Why,
Speaker:What If,
Speaker:and How.
Speaker:Each requires a different mindset,
Speaker:but all three work together for maximum effectiveness.
Speaker:The three questions give us time to switch tools,
Speaker:try on different thinking modes,
Speaker:and give ourselves a better chance at arriving at a comprehensive and
Speaker:intelligent solution.
Speaker:Let’s begin where all interesting things begin—with Why?
Speaker:This plunges us into the world of understanding.
Speaker:Why is the situation as it is?
Speaker:Why this way and not some other way?
Speaker:You can even ask why the question or problem has been formulated in the way it
Speaker:has,
Speaker:or why we are asking the question in the first place.
Speaker:Every problem-solving attempt must start from the beginning.
Speaker:You need to understand why things are as they are if you have a hope of
Speaker:changing them into something else!
Speaker:Asking why also gives you permission to see if things are in fact wrong or
Speaker:could be improved on.
Speaker:You open the door for something else (hello again,
Speaker:creative thinking!).
Speaker:We don’t need to be rebels or contrarians to constantly ask why of the world.
Speaker:Merely adopting a curious stance in the face of the ordinary and expected shows
Speaker:our willingness to engage and understand at a deeper level.
Speaker:By asking why we peek under the hood and examine our assumptions,
Speaker:beliefs,
Speaker:shortcuts,
Speaker:unspoken desires,
Speaker:and blind spots.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:the sales team is experiencing friction,
Speaker:and bad office politics is beginning to undermine productivity.
Speaker:You could ask - Why exactly is everyone unhappy?
Speaker:Why is this now suddenly a problem but wasn’t a month ago?
Speaker:Why have previous attempts to fix the problem failed?
Speaker:Why do we have the sales team all in one office anyway?
Speaker:By using “why,” we shine a light on all the cause-and-effect relationships
Speaker:in every nook and cranny of the problem.
Speaker:We use identification,
Speaker:curiosity,
Speaker:inference,
Speaker:research,
Speaker:and curiosity to feel the problem out.
Speaker:This will come especially handy when trying to solve riddles that are carefully
Speaker:worded and presented.
Speaker:But in truth,
Speaker:this same process occurs in everyday life.
Speaker:Next,
Speaker:we open up further and ask,
Speaker:What if?
Speaker:Now we open to solutions,
Speaker:i.e. different ways of doing things.
Speaker:Here,
Speaker:we go down a new path of inquiry,
Speaker:or create a different aspect to explore.
Speaker:Can we combine old ideas in new ways?
Speaker:Can we switch perspective?
Speaker:Here,
Speaker:we flex our more creative thinking skills—lateral,
Speaker:divergent,
Speaker:or systems thinking allows us to reach out and try something different - What
Speaker:if we did nothing and let the sales team sort it out on their own?
Speaker:What if the sales team worked from home from now on?
Speaker:What if all this friction is a good thing?
Speaker:What if the friction is alerting us to a bigger problem in the business?
Speaker:As with all creative thinking,
Speaker:this step needs to be done without self-censorship or the fear of not finding a
Speaker:solution quickly enough.
Speaker:On the other hand,
Speaker:dwelling too long on the What if can result in stagnant “analysis
Speaker:paralysis”—that’s where determining relevance will come in handy!
Speaker:You could follow each of the above questions with a more practical,
Speaker:concrete How?
Speaker:This will allow you to quickly disqualify ideas that won’t practically work,
Speaker:and focus in on those with more real-world potential.
Speaker:What if we do nothing?
Speaker:How?
Speaker:That’s easy,
Speaker:we don’t do anything,
Speaker:and check in a month to see the result.
Speaker:What if they worked from home?
Speaker:How?
Speaker:That will be difficult.
Speaker:Some of the work needs to be done in person.
Speaker:What if the friction is a good thing?
Speaker:How?
Speaker:On second thought,
Speaker:it does appear to have few advantages for anyone.
Speaker:What if the friction is alerting us to a bigger business problem?
Speaker:How?
Speaker:We could start by asking the sales team what the problem is.
Speaker:How?
Speaker:We could conduct individual interviews and see if we can find a common answer,
Speaker:then decide if there’s a bigger issue ...and so on.
Speaker:You’ll notice that this kind of thinking is more or less an expanded version
Speaker:of the scientific method’s - “If I do this,
Speaker:what will happen?"
Speaker:By combining both creative and analytical thinking skills,
Speaker:the problem is expanded and analyzed,
Speaker:allowing a methodical process that leads to a well-considered solution.
Speaker:We first stock our toolkit with as many useful tools as possible,
Speaker:and then devise a structured method for taking out each one in turn,
Speaker:when it’s most needed and appropriate.
Speaker:This approach even allows us to devise new tools as necessary!
Speaker:Another way to synthesize all these different aspects of thinking is called
Speaker:reverse engineering.
Speaker:The trouble with using different cognitive tools is that one size most
Speaker:certainly does not fit all.
Speaker:Sometimes,
Speaker:you need a tool that is so specific,
Speaker:it can literally only solve the very unique problem you have in front of you.
Speaker:In this case,
Speaker:reverse engineering can help you design that tool working from the solution
Speaker:backward,
Speaker:rather than trying to trial-and-error the tools you already have and hoping one
Speaker:fits.
Speaker:The term is,
Speaker:obviously,
Speaker:borrowed from the engineering world,
Speaker:and refers to starting with a finished gadget or appliance,
Speaker:then deconstructing it to find out how it works,
Speaker:pulling apart its components to better understand how they function.
Speaker:This is in contrast to building the appliance from the ground up.
Speaker:Any time we look at a finished problem or situation,
Speaker:we can reverse engineer it and ask,
Speaker:what happened to bring about this state of affairs?
Speaker:What circumstances and actors came together,
Speaker:and in what way,
Speaker:to produce this finished “product” (i.e. the problem or solution in front
Speaker:of you).
Speaker:We can also use this way of thinking to design a way of thinking itself,
Speaker:i.e. a mental tool.
Speaker:We can ask ourselves,
Speaker:what would it look like if I knew the answer here?
Speaker:What form would my solution take?
Speaker:What would be different if I didn’t have this problem?
Speaker:In this way,
Speaker:you are starting from a finished tool (i.e. the solution)
Speaker:and working your way backward.
Speaker:This can be tricky to do and takes time,
Speaker:but is enormously powerful when done properly.
Speaker:It’s a line of questioning that allows for the generation of new ideas and
Speaker:for creative thinking,
Speaker:but all within a clearly delineated field of relevance—because you’ve
Speaker:already identified the end point or goal.
Speaker:Try out your proposed solutions/tools and see what happens.
Speaker:If they worked,
Speaker:what worked and why?
Speaker:If not,
Speaker:what does it tell you about your tool?
Speaker:About the assumptions you used to make your tool?
Speaker:The process is iterative and dynamic.
Speaker:You can keep going as long as you’re curious and want to improve on your
Speaker:process.
Speaker:In the sales team example,
Speaker:we can consider the situation as it is as a complex social machine.
Speaker:How could we take it apart and look at how it works?
Speaker:If we wanted to design a machine that would result in maximum conflict and
Speaker:inefficiency,
Speaker:how would we do it,
Speaker:and what does it tell us about the right way to do things?
Speaker:Whichever way we choose to use the many different cognitive tools at our
Speaker:disposal,
Speaker:there’s no escaping the fact that problem solving,
Speaker:creativity,
Speaker:and analytical thought are best experienced and practiced,
Speaker:and not merely talked about.
Speaker:In that spirit,
Speaker:we’ll turn our attention now to the more practical part of our book—the
Speaker:riddles themselves.
Speaker:As you read through each one,
Speaker:try to resist the urge to leap ahead and read the answer without trying first!
Speaker:The real value of a riddle is in its unsolved form—see the answer too soon
Speaker:and you rob yourself of the chance to puzzle through it yourself.
Speaker:Read through the riddle,
Speaker:pause,
Speaker:and consider which of the thinking modes already discussed could come in handy.
Speaker:Slow down and become deliberate and obvious in your thinking.
Speaker:Ask yourself,
Speaker:what assumptions am I making?
Speaker:What kind of problem or question is this?
Speaker:What conventions am I relying on?
Speaker:Does this puzzle look like anything I’ve done before?
Speaker:And so on.
Speaker:Lastly,
Speaker:don’t get too frustrated if you simply can’t figure a puzzle out.
Speaker:Some people relish a real challenge,
Speaker:but others will find themselves frustrated,
Speaker:at a dead end without any further insight.
Speaker:Remember,
Speaker:the goal of a riddle is not to find the answer,
Speaker:but to explore and strengthen the processes that allow you to find the answer.
Speaker:These are only silly cognitive games—the real gain is to be had in the more
Speaker:finely developed sense of creative,
Speaker:analytical,
Speaker:and abstract thought you’ll earn as a result of going through them.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:don’t worry if a good few of these riddles completely stump you.
Speaker:Takeaways -
Speaker:•Riddles are phrases or questions framed in the form of puzzles that require
Speaker:all types of thinking to deduce its answer or some double meaning underlying
Speaker:its words.
Speaker:They employ several different patterns of thinking,
Speaker:challenging us to work with limited information in unique ways. No one style
Speaker:of thinking is better than the other.
Speaker:Each is useful in different situations,
Speaker:and we must grasp how to apply them correctly.
Speaker:This is exactly what riddles help us learn,
Speaker:since it involves many different thinking styles.
Speaker:•The most important tool that helps solve riddles is divergent thinking.
Speaker:This form of thinking demands that you survey and analyze all possible
Speaker:solutions to any given problem.
Speaker:In its opposite,
Speaker:convergent (or critical)
Speaker:thinking,
Speaker:we generally operate within a set of rules and use them to work our way to
Speaker:arrive at answers.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:in divergent thinking,
Speaker:the rules are immaterial,
Speaker:and we must explore any and all relevant solutions.
Speaker:•Other important tools include lateral thinking,
Speaker:which involves studying how we infer something from information given to us.
Speaker:Systems thinking calls on you to look at the bigger picture,
Speaker:namely how components of any idea or solution fit with one another to form a
Speaker:coherent whole.
Speaker:Lastly,
Speaker:inspirational thinking requires you to gain insight from some source,
Speaker:like a peak experience or an altered state of consciousness.
Speaker:This type of thinking lets our unconscious mind solve problems for us,
Speaker:allowing our conscious selves to benefit from it.
Speaker:•A complete problem-solving strategy involves a certain sequence that
Speaker:combines all of these thinking frameworks.
Speaker:Often,
Speaker:the first step is to identify the specifics of the problem you’re faced with.
Speaker:Following that,
Speaker:you need to evaluate the quality of the information available through research.
Speaker:Identify any biases you may have,
Speaker:and debate with yourself to recognize any holes in your logic.
Speaker:This has been
Speaker:Learn to Think Using Riddles,
Speaker:Brain Teasers,
Speaker:and Wordplay:
Speaker:Develop a Quick Wit,
Speaker:Think More Creatively and Cleverly,
Speaker:and Train your Problem-Solving instincts By Patrick King, narrated by russell newton.
