阅读·思维训练教程

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4 Psychologists have come up with a number of answers that can beapplied to our daily work and life. Some of these encourage us to expandour brain power. Speed-reading, for instance, is a way of training peopleto understand words in groups rather than individually.5 Other techniques encourage us to change the way we think. "LateralThinking" , for instance, encourages us to solve problems by looking at themin many different ways and exploring every possibility which might provide asolution. "Brainstorming" is a way of generating ideas by discussion. Theviews of one speaker produce ideas in other members of the group.6 Another technique, "Mind Mapping" , encourages people to visualizesituations in pictures rather than in words. In this way we can look atthings as a whole rather than focusing on individual activities. We canthen identify problems that might occur, in advance, rather than dealingwith things as they happen.
7 What all of these ideas have in common is that they attempt to solveproblems through creativity. They are based on the discovery that differentparts of the brain control different areas of our thinking process. The leftside of the brain controls logic and learning. The right side controls ourimagination and our artistic sense.8 Traditionally, education and working life have emphasized the leftbrain over the right. Knowledge and rational thinking are regarded asbetter guides than imagination. Traditional thought says that it is better t
learn what everybody else knows than to think differently. In reality thisapproach to life makes things more difficult. Both sides of our brain aremeant to be used together, just as we use both hands to tie our shoelaces.9 If we are given a choice between two things that work equally well wewill always choose the most beautiful. This fact shows the influence of ourright brain and explains why design is now a vital part of businessthinking. Industrial designer Frank Nuovo recently described how hedeliberately appealed to the creative instinct. "I want to create somethingthat would make people reach out and say 'I like this'.