Anyone who is interested in thinking, regardless of ability or preference, is welcome in the SOT. Some of the different types of thinkers are listed to indicate the plurality of SOT membership:
– The logician
– The analyst
– The information compiler
– The idea generator
– The lateral thinker
– The detective
– The researcher
– The synthesiser
– The evaluator
– The critic
– The describer
– The clarifier
– The explainer
– The communicator
– The sales person
– The diplomat
– The leader
– The doer
– The observer
– The problem solver
– The problem finder
– The designer
– The explorer
– The organiser
– The system designer
– The group organiser
There is an obvious difference between the researcher who likes to ferret out information in a defined area and the diplomat who is sensitive to changes in people and situations.
There is an obvious difference between the critic who looks at what is and the lateral thinker who looks at what might be.
There is an obvious difference between the problem solver and the problem finder.
It is not just a matter of being better at one type than another–it is a matter of enjoyment.
Which types of thinking do you enjoy most?
DFQ #08:
Choose three from this list and post your thoughts.
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I was bullied at school by this fat, no-hoper son of a High Court judge. I actually feel sorry for the guy and did so at the time – nobody liked him and beating up on a smaller bloke with an “American” (actually Canadian) accent was his way of trying to be popular. I remember on one occasion he was sitting behind me at assembly flicking my ears incessantly. Dead quiet – save for the flicking and a the odd hym. Eventually, I stood up, in full view of the entire staff and punched him smack in the gob. No punishment – everybody knew he deserved it. Seemed to do the trick – no more flicking, but I digress…
This guy was in my math class and we were studying trig. We had a test one day and while he was out (on the teacher’s instructions) fetching my books (that he had tossed out of the window), I took the liberty of switching his calculator mode from degrees to radians. The poor fella’s grasp of mathematics wasn’t good enough to recognise the answers didn’t make sense and he got the entire test wrong. I remember a strange mix of emotions: pressure to do well in the test, disbelief that he couldn’t see the trick, maybe a bit of guilt, regret?
Of course when we got the results back I proceeded to rub his face in it and he was granted a re-sit.
It was a spontaneous, creative way for a nerd to get his own back and was pretty funny at the time. Completely juvenile – I feel a touch embarrassed now, but here I am – telling you anyway.
I started my PhD right after university and was very grateful to undertake an industry based scholarship, away from the university and in the real (field) world. What seemed like the hardest four and a half years of my professional life followed. My PhD was very negative — all about proving that I couldn’t find this gene of interest. It was hard to keep going, however, I was advised that career-wise it would be worse to not complete it. So I persevered and was eventually awarded my PhD. Graduating with a PhD was one of the best days of my life. Even though I don’t practice science in a laboratory anymore I believe that it taught me some valuable lessons about life — it’s too easy to give up, and the journey is often more important than the end result.
Melbourne-Hobart. Flight delayed. 5 friends AND strangers.
On the bus, off the bus. Wilderness in the southwest.
Sunshine, rain, hail, sleet, snow. Wading and swimming in icy brown streams and thundering surf. Mud, mud, mud, hip-deep.
Sheltering soaking wet and freezing, pitching tents, never knew noodle soup tasted that great. Chocolate is a treat!!
Talking, working as a team to conquer the southwest. Wonderfully clear skies and sunshine.
Final dinner in Hobart. WE made it. Lost 4 kgs, gained so much more than just 4 friends.
2 weeks that will last a lifetime.
I’ve been working in vegetable production for 20 years and during that time have only been bailed up twice by growers wielding shotguns. Once overseas in the tropics where it was hot, humid and horrible and I didn’t speak the language. Fortunately the local with me was an excellent translator. The second time was in Australia where it was hot, dry and dusty and a bunch of scientists looked like they were thieving tomatoes when we were only taking the disease specimens which were quite unmarketable. Try convincing a grower of that! The common thread in both situations was lack of communications on somebody else part.
On an interview panel for a PhD position, it was clear that one of the interviewees was a little intimidated and not giving of their best. As such they were unsuccessful, and they became quite emotional about this result. Through talking with them, and thinking about other opportunities within our group, and available supervisors, I was able to create a research position for the candidate that fitted both interviewers and interviewee. This enabled confidence to be gained, and after a year or so, a successful candidature for a PhD. Whether this was ultimately good for everyone remains to be seen. Writing up is a whole other ball game…
Through out the latter years of high school and then during university I used to volunteer during the holidays on children’s camps. To get a place on these camps the boys (with only one exception I always did the boys camps) had to be recommended by a government child welfare agency. Needless to say all of the boys had plenty of baggage, most were living in boys’ homes or foster care. The camps were no fun for the leaders. Female leaders in particular could expect to be touched up by the boys, many of whom due to their background had experienced way more than they should have. Fights broke out frequently and mealtimes had to be seen to be believed. Many of the boys wet their beds, some were cruel to any animals we came across, one tried to set the camp on fire. One boy in particular changed the way I respond to the actions of others for good. This particular boy was the cause of a good friend of mine returning home on day 3 of a weeklong camp after he rolled her up in a barbed wire fence. Rather than punish him for his actions I decided to try and find out about what made him the way he was. By the end of the week he and I were best buddies and I had learned more about the other side of life than I cared to know. His behaviour was completely understandable given his horrific background and this experience now shapes the way I deal with people.
A warm summer evening looking at the bright stars always inspires questions. The universe is a beautiful unknown (Infinite? How much does dark matter matter?) with so much to learn. The light of the stars is history that evokes thoughts of the future. The grass I’m sitting on is a universe in itself – we share a close history and future. So many questions I will never be able to answer. Melancholy? The night smells warm and alive. Always so much to learn!
During a family holdiay in Ireland we decided to go for a hike. Studying the map, I decided on a walk that would first take us along a footpath through a valley, then climb a hill and across the hill back to our starting point. The first part went fine, but the we reached the point where the path should turn back and climb the hill. There was no path, just a meadow. As I was sure I had read the map correctly, I convinced the family that we could just walk through the meadow until we would find the path again, or continue all the way to our starting piont. The climb turned out to be much steeper and longer than anticiapted, and no sign of the footpath. But we kept going. The meadow got rockier and steeper, still no path.
I was told we should turn back, but by now this seemed to be a waste of effort. And I was sure we would be OK, just continue.
The kids looked down the hill on one side and down in the valley saw the path we had taken on our way up. They sat down and slid down the hill, at high speed, and we followed. Trousers were dirty and I sprained an ankle but we got back.
I hope the Irish are getting better a making maps.
Gratitude
This was not identified as one of my strengths, but perhaps I need to develop it. Sometimes I think that having high ambitions makes you forget exactly what you already have. Perhaps it is only when circumstances change that you realise just how fortunate you were. While this may not always be the way, there are so many things that I can be grateful for: a wonderful partner, lovely children, my health, a challenging and rewarding career, good friends and lots of adventures still to come.
I was visiting my young Nephews for the weekend and we decided to go to an amusement arcade on the Gold Coast. We chose to ride on these bumper cars which I have not done since I was a kid. We discovered that it’s much more fun to T-bone (ramming the bumper car from the side) then ramming the bumper car from behind or from the front. The smiles on the faces of my nephews and I support the claim of the T-bone as the preferred way to ram. I believe being down to earth allows you to have so much more fun.
(My apologies, this post was supposed to be submitted into DFQ#7)