Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Play strategy games, Sudoku and solve crossword puzzles. Read more. Reading improves focus, imagination and vocabulary which results in heightened thinking skills. Engage in healthy debates in class or with your friends. Argue both sides of an argument. As Edward De Bono, the lateral thinking psychologist suggests, use the GBI technique, in which you list the good, bad and interesting points of a position. Look at a problem from as many viewpoints as possible.
Written & edited by: Tanbir Rahman; Email: tanbirrahman@live.com; Mobile: 01675464743
The quote on the right by Jean De La Bruyere may seem a bit radical; however, according to the premise of cognitive psychology, what you think is what you feel. While many people believe that your feelings precede, or are independent of your thoughts, the truth is that your feelings are products of your thoughts. This revelation can be both daunting and liberating. Daunting because it makes us responsible for our attitudes and liberating because we have the power to choose our perspective, mood and thoughts. When we are aware that we can choose and direct our thinking, we realize that we have the ability to better control the circumstances of our lives, improve our decisionmaking processes and generally live more productive lives. This in no way suggests that we need downplay the many feelings and emotions we as humans enjoy, it's a simply a way for us to manage and balance them with our cognitive abilities.
Written & edited by: Tanbir Rahman; Email: tanbirrahman@live.com; Mobile: 01675464743
situation, and move on.Instead of approaching problems and challenges as insurmountable obstacles, we can view them as opportunities to hone our critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Every problem we are able to resolve increases self-confidence and self-worth. Thinking critically not only helps us handle future challenges more skillfully, it also broadens our life experience and helps us gain perspective.
Written & edited by: Tanbir Rahman; Email: tanbirrahman@live.com; Mobile: 01675464743
Be flexible. Look for solutions and outcomes to a situation from as many perspectives as you can. Determine the pros and cons. Are there other possibilities? Whom might it harm/benefit? What are the potential consequences? Identify possible biases. Are you being unduly influenced by your culture, upbringing or other people's opinions? Are you being fair and open-minded? Many times we make poor decisions because we begin with the wrong premise. If we take time to evaluate and judge based upon what we observe first hand rather than what we've been lead to believe, we can arrive at a more appropriate and practical conclusion. Do not buckle under pressure, fear, or guilt. Have the courage to stand up for what you really believe and have deduced yourself. If you go along with the crowd for the sake of keeping peace, avoiding confrontation, or fear of failure, you do everyone a disservice, especially yourself. You may have a brilliant idea, or maybe it happens to be the right thing to do. If no one hears about it, a healthy discussion cannot take place and all possibilities will not be considered. A good idea has the potential to evolve into a better one with input from a variety of sources.
You develop self-confidence and trust in your abilities You attain a greater sense of accomplishment You expand your mind and boost your brain power You gain respect from others by standing up for what you believe in and by being original You are more aware and alert to what the media is trying to sell you You are more open to self-improvement and alternative viewpoints You are more interesting to others by expanding their thinking and options
Written & edited by: Tanbir Rahman; Email: tanbirrahman@live.com; Mobile: 01675464743
William Ralph Inge said: "The object of studying philosophy is to know one's own mind, not other people's". More than just a pursuit of knowledge, philosophy is also an activity; one that teaches us to analyze, assess and reason. It is an instrument for acquiring and honing critical thinking and problem solving skills. Anyone pursuing a career in law is required to take courses in philosophy for the purposes of cultivating logical and methodical thinking. If it were not for philosophy and logic, knowledge about ourselves and the world we live in would be very limited.
Philosopher's Corner
Each month this section will feature a philosopher from a different period in history and his contributions to Western thought. Enjoy the information and allow it to expand your thinking and viewpoint.
and self-knowing subjects in relations of power and discourse. For this he needed to rethink the concept of power and analyze the connection between power and knowledge. Foucault claimed that modern western societies are characterized by three modes of objectification which constitute human beings as subjects. These modes are: dividing practices, scientific classification and subjectification. Dividing practices objectify people by differentiating and separating them from their fellow human beings by categorizing them as normal and abnormal, sane and insane, the permitted and the forbidden. These categories provide humans identities by which they recognize themselves and allow other to recognize them. As exemplified in Madness and Civilization, Foucault analyzed the means by which madness was established as a category of human behavior and one which legitimized the detention of individuals in institutions. He also showed how the emergence of the human sciences in the late 19th century led to the human body being treated as an 'object' to be analyzed, labeled and cured. This is still characteristic in modern medicine today and in this regard power is used to define knowledge. According to Foucault, what authorities claim as 'scientific knowledge' is just the means for social control. As an example, he points out how the eighteenth century 'madness' was used to categorize and stigmatize not only the mentally ill but the poor, the sick, the homeless and anyone whose expressions of individuality were unacceptable. For Foucault objectifying the human subject corresponds to historical changes in the nature of power and to developments in human and scientific knowledge. His intent, however, was to highlight how what we consider to be knowledge and the concepts through which we understand ourselves, such as 'reason', 'normality' and 'sexuality' are conditional, variable and ahistorical. In other words, they do not evolve along a 'path of progress' or represent an ongoing development, instead they change in response to the desire of authority to control and regulate the behavior of the individual. Foucault's thought and work endeavored to show us how we must strive to build social structures that lessen the tendency for domination and to re-examine what we think we know about the effect that knowledge has on our lives. Foucault lived his life as if driven by the desire to transcend both physical and cultural limitations.
Desire or Motivation - Cultivate desire. Without desire or motivation there is nothing to drive us to progress and improve. Inertia is the opposite of desire and a destroyer of progress. Vision - To be able to visualize what you want helps you focus on it and gives you an idea of what the outcome would look like. Without that picture in your mind, it would be more difficult to strive for a goal. We've all read how men of 'great vision' have been able to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
Written & edited by: Tanbir Rahman; Email: tanbirrahman@live.com; Mobile: 01675464743
Critical Thinking - Acquire the ability to assess a situation in an objective manner or to see it how it really is. Look at the pros and cons and be willing to make the appropriate adjustments. Self-confidence - The faith and belief that you are fully capable and can do what you set out to. Without self-confidence and faith you cannot reach your full potential. Persistence - Most things do not come easily. Be willing to overcome obstacles and adversity. Challenge yourself and persist in order to reach your goals. Do not let circumstances, the opinions of others, or setbacks, thwart your determination to succeed. Positive attitude or outlook - Your attitude, be it positive or negative, can make, or break, you. Possessing a positive attitude allows for any possibility, while a negative one defeats you before you can even start. Open-mindedness - There is nothing like an open-mind for generating new and innovative ideas. You become receptive to groundbreaking experiences when you are flexible and open-minded.
Balance - Ultimately, to function well and get the most from life, we must maintain balance. Working towards goals is important, but we must also take time to rejuvenate and recharge. Doing too much, or pushing too hard on any one thing, can lead to burnout and frustration. By integrating the above elements into our though processes, we not only cultivate a productive mindset, we set ourselves up for reaching our goals more effectively, develop positive habits and we sharpen our minds to function at high levels.
Written & edited by: Tanbir Rahman; Email: tanbirrahman@live.com; Mobile: 01675464743