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(A play in one act). Bailey: “There’s something in here! I can smell it! Peter Cottontail!” Sadie: [Stares at me] “What is Bailey on about? I don’t smell anything.&#82…

Representation  “Choose your words carefully.” We have all heard that advice. It’s good advice and choosing a good representation is key to solving problems, but the general point extend…

Graduate school at the University of Michigan (in Ann Arbor, Michigan) provided me with a rich, rewarding experience. I was in a program aimed at understanding more about how human beings perceive,…

Imagination.  It seems odd to bother to remind people that imagination is a tool of thought. I have four kids, thirteen grandkids, five great-grandkids and they all use their imaginations. I also w…

Meta-Cognition “Cognition” refers to thinking activities such as problem solving, learning, decision making, and imagining. “Meta-Cognition” refers to thinking about thinking. The science of psycho…

Scenario Planning is, in some ways, likely to be a very old “tool of thought.” I imagine when our ancient ancestors prepared for a hunt, they would imagine what they would do and where and how and …

Symmetry (Original, free-hand drawing by Zoe Colier). There are many varieties of symmetry. Symmetry exists rampantly in nature and symmetry is also incorporated into many human designs. In this sh…

Fraught Framing: The Presumed Being-ness of State-ness As I understand it, in Spanish and Portuguese, for example, there is a linguistic distinction between current state of being and habitual stat…

Photo by Radovan Zierik on Pexels.com The Slow-Seeming Snapping Turtle (Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover Story) One fine summer day, driving down the long curved driveway of IBM Research in Yorktown…

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com “This is a test of your ability to survive! This is a test of your ability to survive! There is neither drinkable water nor any food source in the mud pit. Good luc…

If a chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long does it take ONE chicken to lay ONE egg?  Photo by Alison Burrell on Pexels.com What do you think?  Before we di…

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com “This is a test of your ability to survive! This is a test of your ability to survive! There is neither drinkable water nor any food source in the mud pit. Good luc…

Theory of Mind.  “Theory of Mind” refers to the ability of most humans to imagine, at least to a degree, what another person is likely to do based on their knowledge of what the other person knows.…

Negative Space When you look at a scene, it is natural to concentrate on the objects in the scene. So too, when one begins to design, it is natural to concentrate your attention on the things you p…

Negative Space When you look at a scene, it is natural to concentrate on the objects in the scene. So too, when one begins to design, it is natural to concentrate your attention on the things you i…

(More or Less is only More or Less, More or Less) Confusing. I know. Let’s unpack.  We like to measure things. And, generally, that can be a very good thing. Once we measure and quantify, we c…

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Tools of Thought (Summary and Index) In December, 2018, I began writing a series of essays on “tools of thought.” I realize that many readers probably read these tools at the time they were first p…

———————————— Sirius Black I like to write. In fact, I like to write so much that I wrote before I could even read. When my early crayon “writings” in my grandfather’s books were discovered, instead…

Systems Thinking: Positive Feedback Loops One of the most important tools of thought that anyone can learn: “Systems Thinking.” I touched on this in yesterday’s post “And Then What.” I pointed out …

Meta-Cognition “Cognition” refers to thinking activities such as problem solving, learning, decision making, and imagining. “Meta-Cognition” refers to thinking about thinking. The science of psycho…