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Passages Of The Day |
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| Introduction of a random word |
Instead of linking two unconnected words together as in juxtaposition PO can be used to ‘introduce’ a random unconnected word into a discussion in order to stimulate new ideas. You could say, ‘Gentleman, you know all about lateral thinking and the use of a random input to help disturb cliché patterns of thought and to stimulate new ideas. I am now going to introduce such a random word. This word has no connection at all with what we have been discussing. There is no reason behind my choice of word. The only reason for its use is the hope that it will provoke some new ideas. Do not feel that really is a hidden reason. Do not spend your time searching for this reason. The word is ‘raisin’. Instead of saying all that one would simply say: ‘Po raisin’.
If the problem under discussion was, ‘How to use study time’ then this random word could set off such ideas as: raisin – used to make cakes enjoyable – small pockets of sweetness – intersperse short periods of more interesting subjects among longer periods of less interesting subjects – create small nodes of interest in less interesting subjects:
Raisins – dried grapes – concentrated sweetness – concentrate and summarize material so that it can be taken in over a shorter time.
Raisins –exposed in the sun to dry – perhaps one can study in a pleasant surrounding as easily as in an unpleasant one – do lighting, colour etc. affect boredom? Perhaps material can be subjected to ‘glare’ of analysis by someone else in order to reduce it to its essentials.
Raisins – dried for preservation – notes and summaries easier to remember but need reconstituting with fluid (i.e. examples). |
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Passage taken from “Lateral thinking” by Edward de Bono, ISBN 0-14-013779-3 Copyright © Edward de Bono, 1970
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