I Am Right You Are Wrong

1. Traditional Thinking Relies on a Flawed Model

It is my contention that our failure to make progress in human affairs is due to our traditional thinking habits.

Rock Logic vs. Water Logic. De Bono argues that Western thought is dominated by "rock logic," characterized by rigid categories, absolutes, and a focus on identifying truth through argument. This contrasts with "water logic," which is fluid, contextual, and emphasizes perception and understanding. Our traditional methods are based on a passive information system, unlike the brain, which is an active, self-organizing system.

The Limitations of Table-Top Logic. Our traditional thinking system, inherited from the Greeks, is akin to a child manipulating blocks on a table. It emphasizes attributes, judgment, categories, and exclusion. This "table-top" logic, while useful, is limited in its ability to handle the complexities of perception and change.

The Need for a New Renaissance. De Bono calls for a "New Renaissance" based on understanding how the brain actually works. This involves shifting from destructive thinking to constructive thinking, from argument to exploration, and from analysis to design. This new approach requires recognizing the limitations of our current thinking habits and embracing new ways of perceiving and interacting with the world.

2. Perception is Paramount, Yet Overlooked

For twenty-four centuries we have put all our intellectual effort into the logic of reason rather than the logic of perception.

Reason vs. Perception. De Bono asserts that while we've prioritized reason and logic, perception is far more crucial in human affairs. Traditional philosophy has neglected perception due to its vagueness and subjectivity, favoring the absolutes of truth and logic. However, perception has its own logic, rooted in the behavior of self-organizing patterning systems.

The Logic of Perception. Perceptual truth differs from constructed truth. We've allowed language's crudities to distort our view of the world. Our category habit, the basis of language logic, automatically flavors perception. We see "criminals" first as criminals, limiting our understanding of their individual circumstances.

The Role of Art and the Need for Tools. We've relegated perception to the realm of art, but art alone is insufficient. We need to learn the logic of perception and develop tools for broadening and changing it. As computers take over logical processing, our perceptual skills will become even more critical.

3. Humor Reveals the Brain's True Logic

Humour is by far the most significant phenomenon in the human mind.

Humor as a System Indicator. Humor, often dismissed by traditional thinkers, is actually a key indicator of how the brain functions. It arises from the asymmetry of patterns in a self-organizing system, something that cannot exist in passive, table-top models of information systems. Reason is cheap, but humor is a unique product of the brain's complex organization.

Asymmetry and Creativity. The asymmetry of patterns, which gives rise to humor, also explains why we've struggled to understand and deliberately use creativity. The path from A to B is different from the path from B to A. This asymmetry is the foundation of insight and lateral thinking.

The Logic of Provocation. Humor and creativity both involve jumping from a main track to a side-track. This requires provocation, a deliberate disruption of established patterns. The new word "po" signals a provocation, forcing us to leave our usual patterns and create new ideas.

4. Language: A Powerful Tool, a Perceptual Prison

The very excellence of language for description has made language so crude and inefficient for perception.

Description vs. Perception. Language is a powerful tool for description, but its very excellence in this area has made it crude and inefficient for perception. We can describe complex situations, but this has reduced the need to enrich our patterns of perception. The false dichotomies and fake certainties of language further distort our view of the world.

The Category Habit. Our category habit, the basis of language logic, automatically flavors perception. All "criminals" are seen first as criminal. This limits our ability to see individuals in their full complexity.

The Need for New Words. There is a need for many new words in language to allow us a richer perception. The adequacy of hindsight description with language is not the same as initial perception. We should reduce our strong resistance to creating new words.

5. Intelligence Alone is Insufficient

It was Einstein himself who said that everything had changed except our way of thinking.

The Intelligence Trap. We often assume that highly intelligent people are also good thinkers. However, intelligence alone is not enough. Highly intelligent people can get trapped by their own intelligence, using it to defend a point of view rather than explore a subject.

Thinking as a Skill. Thinking is a skill, separate from intelligence. The relationship between intelligence and thinking is like that between a car and a driver. A powerful car may be driven badly, while a more humble car may be driven well.

The Need for Thinking Skills. We need to develop thinking skills to make full use of the potential offered by experience. Gifted students need to develop thinking skills as much as anyone else, to overcome the natural arrogance of their known intelligence.

6. Critical Thinking: A Necessary But Incomplete Skill

Critical thinking lacks the productive, generative, creative and design elements that are so needed to tackle problems and find our way forward.

The Overestimation of Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is highly esteemed in our civilization, but it lacks the productive, generative, creative, and design elements needed to tackle problems and find our way forward. It is a necessary but incomplete skill.

The Limitations of Negativity. Our traditional thinking system is based on "truth," which is to be uncovered and checked by logic and argument. This results in a strong tendency towards negativity and attack. Negativity is seen as a powerful way of uncovering the truth, but it lacks the constructive elements needed for progress.

The Need for Design. We are much better at analysis than at design because we have never put enough emphasis on design. For design, we need constructive and creative thinking and to be conscious of perceptions, of values, and of people.

7. The Allure and Danger of Absolutes

Yet the value of any conclusion depends on both the validity of the logic and also the validity of the starting perceptions and values.

The Comfort of Certainty. We crave absolutes, certainty, and truth. Religion, law, and morality are often based on absolute principles. However, these absolutes can be limiting and even dangerous.

The Arrogance of Logic. The arrogance of logic means that if we have a logically impeccable argument, then we must be right. However, the value of any conclusion depends on both the validity of the logic and the validity of the starting perceptions and values.

The Need for Perceptual Awareness. A faulty computer will produce rubbish. A computer working flawlessly will also produce rubbish if the input is rubbish. The excellence of logic can never make up for inadequacies of perception.

8. Argumentation's Limits and the Power of Exploration

We need to change from argument to genuine exploration of a subject.

Argument as Motivated Exploration. The most powerful case for the value of argument as a thinking method is that it encourages the motivated exploration of a subject. However, beyond a certain level of motivation, the actual exploration of the subject starts to suffer.

The Limits of Argument. Argument was never intended to be creative or constructive. It is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it. Argument can oppose a bad idea and can modify, and thereby improve, a good idea. But it does not design new ideas.

The Power of Exploration. We need to change from argument to genuine exploration of a subject. Instead of arguing one case against another, both parties could lay out both cases in parallel and then make comparisons.

9. Belief Systems: Necessary Constructs, Potential Traps

The mind has to form belief systems because without them it could never connect up all its different experiences.

Beliefs as Connecting Forces. The mind has to form belief systems because without them it could never connect up all its different experiences. They are practical and necessary. The nerve networks in the brain very easily set up the circularities that probably form the basis of our belief systems.

The Power of Circularity. Belief systems create perceptions that reinforce the belief system. They can be so powerful that people are prepared to give up life itself for their beliefs.

The Limits of Truth. How true are belief systems? What does truth mean in perception, in belief, and in logic? Outside the particular game of mathematics, is "truth" itself a belief system?

10. Context Shapes Perception and Action

The mind can see only what it is prepared to see.

The Influence of Context. The actual patterns that emerge are determined by history, by activity at the moment, and also by context, which sets the background readiness level of different patterns. Emotions and chemical changes in the brain also influence context.

The "I" as a Context Factor. The "I" factor is a context factor. In practice, it probably does not matter whether we really do have free will or only the illusion of it. The "I" pattern, which includes our past experience and knowledge of law, religious precepts, etc., then triggers an emotion, which in turn alters the way we see things and allows us to make a decision that seems contrary to normal inclinations.

The Six Thinking Hats. The "six thinking hats" system is a practical application of understanding context. It sets up six artificial contexts for thinking, characterized as six hats that can be put on or removed. This system helps to broaden perception and improve thinking.

11. Institutions Can Stifle or Foster Change

We are as locked into our institutions and structures as we are to beliefs.

The Paradox of Progress. As we move forward into the future, there is more need for change than ever, yet there is less room for change because everything is locked into position. We rely so much on the excellence of argument for attack and defense that we fail to see that something may be "right" but inadequate in a larger framework.

The Need for a New Renaissance. There is a real need to suggest, propose, announce, and work towards a New Renaissance. This New Renaissance will be constructive and creative in its thinking. It will be concerned with perceptions, values, and people.

The Importance of Design. We need to match skills of analysis with an equal emphasis on the skills of design. We need to do as much idea-work as we do information-work. We need to shift from an obsession with history to a concern for the future.

Last updated: March 8, 2025