Diaries continued. I have started looking through my diaries. I wrote a series of "Thought for the day" These were written for me. I had no thoughts of sharing them beyond my children (or their children) making a chance discovery rummaging through my things. As I record them here, I will update them somewhat so that they are not significantly inconsistent [forgive the double negative] with my current thinking and writing style. As I will minimize my editing many will remain quite green .
February 17, 1974.
There are at least two ways of knowing. Rational [Logical -2006]: based on careful, precise, step by step deduction and Intuitive based on feelings, preponderance of evidence and intelligent guessing. Each must complement the other; and each are appropriate for different situations.
2-5-2006:
I now think of these as left and right brain activities, although the scientific evidence for this brain partitioning is inconclusive. Whether the various thought patterns are associated with specific brain hemispheres or not; that we have these two ways of thinking seems apparent. The strength of intuition is its speed and its ability to connect the dots, especially when not all dots are present. This is also its weakness. Many times the truth is counter-intuitive. The strength of logical is it reliability and the understanding of where a conclusion might be weak; but it takes time and often discipline.
For myself, where there is little time and or little risk, I rely on intuition and have worked to educate and train mine. When there is time and the risks and/or consequences are significant, I rely on logic, even to the point of doing my thinking on paper.
In the middle I often use my intuition as a starting point, and then think through the reasons my intuitions suggest a certain conclusion; or start with logic and leap with intuition when I understand the problem.
How does one train one's instruction:
- Acquire a broad base of knowledge in the target subject area. It is almost always useful to acquire a broad base of knowledge of human nature.
- Work to become aware of your biases and world view. These will color your intuition and can obscure reality with prejudgments. While biases simplify our lives and are therefore useful; as simplifications, they do not reflect the whole reality. This suggestion, is not to eliminate your biases, but to recognize and compensate for them when evaluating your intuitive conclusions. It is often helpful to ask how would someone else see this?
- Work to be mindful. Be aware of all clues one can.
- Practice. Read/watch mysteries, work puzzles, guess what will happen next.
- ...
How does one train one's logical thinking:
- Study thinking techniques. References include:
- Try writing down one's assumptions; facts and deductions
- Work to be careful; think though: What have I missed? Why is this not the right conclusion? How tight is my evidence.
- Practice. Read Sherlock Homes and Edgar Allen Poe's Mysteries
- ...
12:15:55 AM 
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