Here below is the very first Membership Application we’ve received for School of Thinking China’s English Thinkers. It is from Yvette of Perth, Western Australia. I’m posting it here today to record a small piece of SOT history and with wishes of good fortune for the year of the Dragon. Interesting that this first member of SOTC comes on such an auspicious day–it sets a positive and hopeful outlook for the coming year.

My best wishes to you for 2012 年行大运

Michael

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Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson
Principal
School of Thinking CHINA
www.schoolofthinkingchina.com

Begin forwarded message:

From: Yvette
Date: 22 January 2012 12:04:42 AM AEDT
To: michael@schoolofthinking.org
Subject: Membership Application to English Thinkers

Michael,

Firstly thank-you for all the SOT resources including the lessons, online books, and e-newsletter.

I would like to considered for an invitation to English Thinkers. This is because;

1. I got a lot of value from the previous SOT lessons and from Software For Your Brain & Wombat Selling.
2. I learnt new things that I could actually apply to my life and I could see how they were helping me to think better.
3. I like how ‘big’ subjects are explained clearly in a way I can understand and I like the pictures which help my understanding.
4. I feel that the information will improve my quality of life.
5. I would like to keep practicing thinking skills and this is a good way to implement that.
6. I feel that I will be able to make more than the fees for the course if I can apply what I learn.
7. It seems like a better investment than the uni course I’m doing which costs a lot more.
8. I might go further in my career.
9. The people around me will benefit.
10. It sounds like fun.

I can do online weekly tutorials and daily lessons.

Regards,

Yvette
(Perth, Western Australia)

To you and your family and all your friends who are cheerfully celebrating the New Year of the Dragon.

The 100 lessons of English Thinking are designed to give Members two things: knowledge and virtuosity.

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1. Knowledge

English Thinkers need to know about the history and the three dominant methods of English Thinking:

1. Greek Logic,

2. The Scientific Method, and

3. Cognitive Science.

First, they learn how logic and judgmental thinking and the ideas of the Greek Thinkers–Plato, Socrates and Aristotle–were taken up by the European church through Thomas Aquinas. How these ideas became the cognitive operating system of European thinking and were then spread virally around the world by Christian missionaries and throughout countries like America and Australia 200 to 300 years ago. How, even today, children in these countries are still taught Right/Wrong, Yes/No thinking. And, Western parliaments, legal systems, the media and religious institutions still use pre-Enlightenment dialectic thinking to prosecute their cases and take their decisions.

• ‘The Tree of Life’ from Charles Darwin’s personal notebook •

Second, the great escape from these ideas led to the Enlightenment, Darwinian evolutionary thinking and the Scientific Method–the combined cognitive engine behind the great march of Western science and technology. These methods rely on the value of hypothetical research, repetitive experimentation, measurement and observation and a strategic appreciation of the role of surprise and mistakes. This kind of thinking employs quite different but complementary methods and values to Christian Logic or judgmental thinking. These methods were introduced and spread throughout Western society through universities and scientific journals and the rapid growth of the commercial publishing industry.

Third, since WWII thinkers like Alan Turing empowered the invention of cognitive machines, machines that think, there has been an unprecedented tsunami of interest in computing, networking and the accelerating developments of  cognitive science.

This has led to much faster and more powerful models of thinking and innovation and the more recent developments of software for the brain in countries like America and Australia.

These methods are being adopted by both human and artificial intelligences. They have now spread rapidly through the big global corporations like IBM, Apple and GE via their enterprise training departments. These methods have infected the world wide web and in the last few decades have become a permanent part of Western education systems from primary schools to tertiary institutions.

The 100 lessons of English Thinking simply and clearly show and tell Members how to understand these three dominant methods and how to apply them. They also contrast them with the methods of Confucian Thinking so as to make comparisons and to better understand the differences.

2. Virtuosity

Knowledge without skills is pointless when it comes to English Thinking. So, for 16 weeks Members are given daily opportunities through PRR (practise, repetition, rehearsal) over the course of these 100 lessons to transfer these skills into their own personal and daily life.

The unique goal of this program is to ensure that Members become SKILLED in the daily use of English Thinking.

BOOK: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams.

Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society — from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.

Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so.

Taking the reader on a journey from Dale Carnegie’s birthplace to Harvard Business School, from a Tony Robbins seminar to an evangelical megachurch, Susan Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal in the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects.

She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. And she draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts.

Perhaps most inspiring, she introduces us to successful introverts — from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Finally, she offers invaluable advice on everything from how to better negotiate differences in introvert-extrovert relationships to how to empower an introverted child to when it makes sense to be a “pretend extrovert.”

This extraordinary book has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how introverts see themselves.

Drew Berry is a biomedical animator whose scientifically accurate and aesthetically rich visualisations reveal the microscopic world inside our bodies to a wide range of audiences. His animations have exhibited at venues such as the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Royal Institute of Great Britain and the University of Geneva. In 2010 he received a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Award”.

The Wikipedia article says:

Origin

During the canonization process of the Roman Catholic Church a  Devil’s advocate was a canon lawyer appointed by Church authorities to argue against the canonization of the candidate. It was their job to take a skeptical view of the candidate’s character, to look for holes in the evidence, to argue that any miracles attributed to the candidate were fraudulent, etc.

I wish I were the devil’s advocate in the case of the canonisation of John Paul II. The due diligence which has been put forward to verify such a cause is so flawed and so antilegal that it would be a doddle to argue the case against it. The case FOR argues there is a causal link between the claimed cure of Parkinson’s disease and a pattern of thought  in the brain of the patient. The supposed evidence is that just because that thought process was focused on John Paul II that it was therefore enough to cure the body’s disease. Of course, if this could be proved in any real legal sense it would be enough to win a Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Now, if the miraculous patient was also a Muslim, a Jew or an Atheist it would still require a balance of evidence to support the medical claim of a cure but at least there would be an honest and level playing field. But what do we find? Mirabile dictu – the patient was a Roman Catholic nun!! She’s on the payroll!! Helloo!!

No-one questions the righteous sincerity of the obedient sister’s own convictions but here we have such a glaring case of conflict of interests that it would never stand up in any real court of law. But, of course, Pope Benedict has his own canon law court where, apparently, anything goes.

Saints R Us

Benedict’s unseemly rush to canonise his mentor has drawn criticism from around the world. “What’s a saint worth these days?” you may well ask. John Paul II created a riot of saints with the same papal enthusiasm that his predecessor Leo X had shown for creating indulgences. JP2 notoriously created more saints than all all the popes in history! Now Benedict wants to add his master to the saintly crush.

Where’s a good pope like a John XXIII when you need him.

In the boardroom, innovation has become flavour of the month … again.

THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BECOME A THINKING INSTRUCTOR!

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SOT members who have completed all 79 lessons in the following two SOT training programs are qualified to apply for the TISOT Certificate and have their name registered on the Roll of Thinking Instructors:

1.  Beyond Critical Thinking – 47 Lessons

2. Advanced Leadership Training – 32 lessons.

The Thinking Instuctors training can be undertaken by anyone and is under the personal direction of Michael Hewitt-Gleeson.

Pro bono: There are no fees for this training. Application: If you wish to apply write to Michael by clicking here.

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The ‘Brilliant’ Model:

Why “Thinking Instructors”?

Michael originated the idea of training thinking instructors when he co-founded School of Thinking with Edward de Bono in 1979 in New York.

Edward was very keen on the ‘train-the-trainer’ model and described it as ‘brilliant‘. He wrote to Michael from Cambridge (where he was a Professor of Investigative Medicine) saying, “training instructors has much more motivation”. After much discussion and planning, they decided to combine Michael’s CAP Train-the-trainer 6 principles with Edward’s CoRT Thinking syllabus and they started the School of Thinking on November 17, 1979 in New York.

The first intake for Thinking Instructors (TISOT) graduated in March 1980 in New York. One of the original graduates was Eric Bienstock who became the first Chief Instructor SOT and is now Vice Principal of the school.

Who Can Be A Thinking Instructor? There are no special qualifications for being a Thinking Instructor other than a genuine interest in thinking and in teaching thinking. Many Thinking Instructors are school teachers, business people, sports professionals, parents and neighbours. There are four different types of Thinking Instructors:

Self: Practising the skills in one’s own life for personal advancement, cognitive skill and well-being.

Family: Teaching the skills to one’s family and friends and as a forum for family discussions to avoid conflict and deal with family crises.

Business: Sharing the skills with colleagues, workmates, associates and clients to solve business problems and explore potential commercial opportunities. Also to find ways to cut costs and increase revenues. To raise morale and communications through employee participation and involvement in decision-making.

School: Practising the skills in classrooms to accelerate learning and discussion skills and even, where possible, to teach THINKING as a separate curriculum subject.

- The above quote is from the  Learn-To-Think Coursebook and Instructor’s Manual co-authored by Edward de Bono and Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (Capra/New, Santa Barbara USA, 1982, ISBN 0-88496-199-0).

In 1982, Michael and Edward co-authored this book which became a cover story on all global editions of Readers Digest (at that time, the world’s highest-circulation magazine with 68 million readers) and SOT launched the biggest program in the world for teaching teachers-of-thinking.

The idea behind the School of Thinking’s ‘Thinking Instructor’ concept is threefold:

1. Thinking is a skill. It can be taught and learned like other skills.
2. The skills are designed to be simple, robust and effective. They are easy to teach and easy to learn.
3. Anyone who is interested can teach these skills to anyone who is interested in learning them.

As mentioned above, there are no special qualifications needed to learn SOT thinking skills and there are no special qualifications needed to pass on the skills as a Thinking Instructor. Having said that, SOT is also willing to list on our site those members who have completed the qualifying series of SOT training courses listed below and to issue them with the Thinking Instructor SOT (TISOT) Certificate.

•• Click to download a Sample Certificate

Certified Thinking Instructor – TISOT

SOT members who have completed all 79 lessons in the following two SOT training programs are qualified to apply for the TISOT Certificate:

1.  BCT: Beyond Critical Thinking – 47 Lessons
This training introduces the idea of software for your brain and the relationship between the brain as a necktop computer and the inadequacy of the existing software, Critical Thinking: the 2500 year-old Greek software known as logic, which is so fixated on our judgement of the past rather than our design of the future. Critical Thinking is also known as Black Hat Thinking. BCT training discusses PTV and other cognitive traps and trains the member in the SOT suite of brain software called SDNT cvs2bvs QRH PRR.
• To apply for the TISOT Certificate you must have a BCT Certificate as a result of having successfully completed the 47 lessons of BCT training.

2. L-MHG: Advanced Leadership Training – 32 lessons.
This training was my own personal view of leadership. My experience was partly derived from leadership training designed by the Australian military and adapted with other world class learnings I have received over the past 40 years. The two main strategies were The Pipeline and PTO-Peel The Orange.

In addition, this training now includes the new module Think Darwin! (10 lessons). The purpose of this training was to help you raise your darwinian intelligence, your ability to survive and grow in rapidly changing environments. Few people understand Darwin’s Theory (as it has evolved today) enough to be able to apply it on a daily basis to their lives yet it is one of the most powerful truths in science
• To apply for the TISOT Certificate you must have successfully completed the 32 lessons of Advanced Leadership Training.

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If you can find a way to multiply your thinking skills by ten and also multiply your selling skills by ten, then you will also find that you have–as a result–multiplied your leadership skills by ten. This can be done through training and coaching.

I look forward to personally working with you in this next class of Thinking Instructors and, on the successful completion of your TISOT training, to present you with your TISOT Certificate.

Best wishes,

Michael

“2012 is the Year of t4t“, proclaimed the Principal of the School of Thinking, Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, in Melbourne today. “For the next 12 months the School of Thinking will elevate the topic of t4t to its Official Theme of 2012 and propagate this meme around the world“.