Point Four of the 59 Second Course in Thinking is:
04
Two cvs options are: defend the cvs, or escape the cvs
DEFEND the cvs
The history of Western thinking is dominated by Platonic thinking, the search for certainty. The search for THE truth.
This has led to the notorious I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong thinking. Dialectic thinking. Two-sided thinking. Black vs White thinking. The Westminster system in politics – debating between one side and the other – government vs opposition. In the legal system it’s The Crown vs The Defendent.
The value of this system is the strengthening of positions. The feeling of certainty. A feeling of righteousness. God is on OUR side. It is less complex. We have the truth and you do not. I have ‘that feeling inside my head’ that I am right.
Its weakness it most of the thinking effort is devoted to defending a historical position and very little is devoted to designing a new or innovative position.
The more effort that is devoted to defending the past the less effort that is devoted to designing the future.
ESCAPE the cvs
The other option is to escape the cvs.
This is much easier said than done. Because most Western thinkers have thousands of hours of practise and skill in defending a cvs it is no surprise that they find it so difficult to let go of a cvs. But it is possible to do so.
The whole history of science and innovation is the history of escaping from one cvs and moving to a better one. Sometimes this happens by accident. Sometimes by design. cvs2bvs is a tool for doing it by design.
DFQ:
What is one of your favourite examples from history of the ESCAPE from a cvs.
In 100 words describe what, when, where, who, how etc?