Taking in information effectively is the first stage in our brain's role as an organ for ensuring that we function effectively in the world. The second stage is processing that information in some way. We combine what's new with what we already know and then we either arrive at some kind of conclusion, come up with a new idea, reach an opinion or decide upon a course of action.
This stage is what we call the thinking stage. Unfortunately, few of us are taught how to think: it is assumed to be a skill that we simply pick up as we grow and learn, a skill that requires very little or no formal training. Often that will be true. In our brains, evolution has provided us with a powerful organ that enables us to survive and flourish in a multitude of situations. However, many of the problems of modern life are not the kinds of problems we would have encountered as our brains were evolving and therefore our brains are not ideally suited to handle them.
Certain situations require deeper analysis than our brain will naturally be inclined to provide. In these situations we tend to rely on experience, assumptions, prejudices and rules of thumb. Thinking through a situation thoroughly and accurately is difficult. It requires a great deal of energy (our brains use about twenty per cent of the energy we take in) as well as practice and the right kind of training.
No one would expect to be able to go for a long run without some effort to get fit beforehand, yet thinking about a problem requires as much, if not more, effort. Unless we have been trained to think properly, we can easily fall back onto our brain's default position, going for the easy answer, and this will often lead us into error.
We all like to think of ourselves as rational beings. Yet no matter how intelligent we are, we can all be prone to making mistakes in our thinking and limiting our ability to think in new and creative ways. Our various thinking courses are aimed at helping you to overcome these obstacles, eliminate mistakes in your thinking and to generate new ideas. Our courses fall into the following categories: - analytical thinking, creative thinking and strategic thinking.
Newsletter If you would like to keep up to date with what's new in the field of cognitive performance and be notified whenever we schedule new courses, please sign up to our monthly newsletter.