David Perkins at Harvard showed that in ordinary thinking ninety percent of the errors were errors of perception and not of logic. For centuries we have considered that thinking was all about logic. In fact logic plays only a very small part in practical thinking.

If your perception is wrong or inadequate then no amount of excellence in logic will put it right. If the perception is defective the outcome will be rubbish even if the logic is faultless.

Goedel's Theorem shows that from within a system it is impossible to prove the starting points. In the same way, it is impossible to prove the validity of the starting perceptions through the use of logic - because logic has to use some starting perceptions.

In Australia a five year old boy is offered, by his companions, a choice between a one dollar coin and a two dollar coin. The two dollar coin is much smaller. The boy chooses the larger coin. His companions laught and giggle at the apparent 'stupidity'. They repeat the offer on various occasions. The boy always chooses the larger coin.

One day, an adult feels sorry for the 'victim' and tells him that the small coin is actually more valuable than the larger coin.

"Yes, I know that," said the five year old, "but how often would they have offered me the choice if I had taken the smaller coin the first time?"

It is a matter of perception. If you see the offer as a 'once off' occasion it makes sense to take the more valuable coin. If you know your companions and see the possibility of multiple occasions, then the choice is different.

Because of our philosophical heritage where perceptions are provided as dogmas and maxims, we have paid far too little attention to perception. We have never sought to teach perception explicitly.

Perception is largely a matter of attention and possibility. Attention is usually drawn to something interesting or familiar. We need to design frameworks for 'directing attention' as we wish.

Directions in space are given by such instructions as: look right, look left, look up and look down. There are also the compass directions: North, South, East and West. We can use these to direct our gaze where we wish or to instruct others to direct their gaze.

The CoRT Programme (Cognitive Research Trust) sets out directions in which we can 'direct our attention'.

Thirty school boys (about twelve years in age) in Australia were asked to consider the idea of paying youngsters to go to school. All thirty decided it was a very good idea.

The boys were then briefly introduced to the P.M.I. framework. First they had to direct attention to the Plus or positive points. Then to the Minus or negative points. Finally to the interesting points: points which were neither positive nor negative but simply worth nothing.

I want to emphasise that the matter was not discussed with the youngsters at all.

After using the P.M.I. framework, twenty-nine out of the thirty had completely changed their minds and decided that paying youngsters for going to school was not a good idea at all.

A group of two hundred and fifty top women executives in Canada were asked to consider the suggestion that women should be paid fifteen percent more than men for doing the same job (extra responsibilities in society etc.). Eighty-five percent of those present thought it a good idea - and about time too!

They were then introduced to the C&S tool which directs attention t the 'Consequences and Sequels' of an action or choice: immediate, short term, medium term and long term. After using this simple attention directing tool, the number in favour dropped from eighty-five percent to fifteen percent.

Yet everyone of those executives if asked whether they considered consequences would have replied that that was her job as a senior executive.

The tools are so simple that they upset many traditional educators. But they are powerful and work in practice.

The tools are given acronyms so that they come to have an existence in the brain and can be used at will. Attitudes are very weak and not transferable.

The CoRT programme is now in use in thousands of schools around the world. These simple tools taught to youngsters on the Government New Deal programme (by the Holst Group) increased employment by five hundred percent.

David Lane at the Hungerford Guidance Centre taught these tools to youngsters too violent to be taught in normal schools. In a twenty year follow up, he showed that the rate of actual criminal convictions in those taught 'thinking' was only one tenth of the rate in those not taught thinking. This is very powerful stuff.

In a platinum mine in South Africa there used to be two hundred and ten fights every month between the seven different tribes working there. A few of the CoRT tools were taught to the illiterate miners who had never been to school for even one day in their lives. The number of fights dropped from two hundred and ten to just four!

A teacher in New Zealand reported that teaching this sort of thinking to youngsters in prison reduced the rate of return to prison (recidivism) to one quarter or what it had been.

Judgment And Design
The Classification Approach
The GG3
The Analysis Approach
The Design Approach
Perception
Teaching Creativity
Argument
Summary