I Am Right You Are Wrong: From This to the New Renaissance: From Rock Logic to Water Logic [Paperback]

Edward de Bono (Author), Ivar Giaever (Foreword), Brian Josephson (Foreword), Sheldon Lee Glashow (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1992

In this book, Dr Edward de Bono, who is well-known worldwide for his origination of lateral thinking, puts forward a direct challenge to what he calls the 'rock logic' of Western thought. Rock logic is based on rigid categories, absolutes, argument and adversarial point scoring. Edward de Bono believes that this thinking cannot solve our problems. Instead of rock logic, he proposes the water logic of perception. Drawing on our understanding of the brain as a self-organizing information system, Dr de Bono shows that perception is the key to more constructive thinking and creativity. Here, in this brilliantly argued assault on outmoded thought patterns, he calls for nothing less than a New Renaissance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Advocating a perception-based mode of thinking free from rigid rationality, de Bono ( Six Thinking Hats ) hopes this manual will "signal the start of a New Renaissance." He argues that "our existing thinking culture" overemphasizes rote logic and simplistic labeling of behaviors as right/wrong or always/never. Deeply suspicious of language as a tool for argument or persuasion, he likens the brain to a "self-organizing system" that generates patterns, and he calls for a new "lateral thinking" to liberate the mind from the shackles of language-dependent thought. "Water logic," adaptive and imaginative, will replace our confrontational, repetitive "rock logic." This trendy how-to, which reads like a motivational seminar handbook, is full of catchy slogans and mixes byte-size nuggets with questionable assertions ("Humor is by far the most significant behavior of the human mind"). Three Nobel physicists have written forewords to this book, which includes techniques designed to jolt the mind out of familiar ruts.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Traditional ("rock logic") thinking is no longer sufficient to deal with today's political, economic, and social concerns, according to author and psychologist de Bono. While classical reasoning may sometimes serve us well, it fails in its assumption that perception is absolute. De Bono presents a model of the brain as a self-organizing system that forms and uses patterns. Behavior in this system is driven by perception that varies according to circumstance. De Bono urges the use of thinking techniques (e.g., provocation, lateral thinking) that encourage creativity and alternative designs. While the author occasionally belabors some points, his vision for a future that acknowledges the limitations of logic and emphasizes the importance of perception merits serious attention. For public and academic libraries. See also de Bono's Six Action Shoes , reviewed in this issue, p. 186.--Ed.
- Laurie Bartolini, Lincoln Lib., Springfield, Ill.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140126783
• ISBN-13: 978-0140126785
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Edward de Bono is regarded as the leading international authority in the field of conceptual thinking and also the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of "lateral thinking," which is now officially recognized in the Oxford English Dictionary-and which contributed to the success of the 1984 Olympic Games. He was a Rhodes Scholar at oxford and has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Harvard.

He has written twenty-seven books, which have been translated into twenty languages. These include: Opportunities; Lateral Thinking for Management; Future Positive; Atlas of Management Thinking; Wordpower; Children Solve Problems; Tactics: The Art and Science of Success; Conflicts: A Better Way to Resolve Them. He has also made a ten-part BBC series called "De Bono's Thinking Course" and two other television series.

Dr. de Bono's instruction in thinking has been sought by many of the largest corporations in USA, Canada, Europe, and the rest of the world. These include: IM, Exxon, Shell, BP, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Prudential, General Foods, Bell Telephone, Northern Telecom, Monsanto, DuPont, and ICI. He has given seminars all over the world, from Helsinki to Buenos Aires, from Toronto to Tokyo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn How To Think, And Then Do It, February 3, 1998

By 

Peter A. Farrell (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Am Right You Are Wrong: From This to the New Renaissance: From Rock Logic to Water Logic (Paperback)

If you're interested in learning what the brain does without having to memorize lists of neurotransmitters and sections of neo-cortex, this is the book for you. De Bono is a genius at making a complex subject completely accessible to the average reader. For example, he avoids involved anatomical terminology altogether by using the metaphor of an octopus in place of a neuron. Learning how the brain works by imagining a beach full of glowing, smelly octopuses is a more efficient mnemonic device than a dry, "scientific" treatment. The rest of the book addresses the problems we humans have in trying to deal with everything "logically" without real logical tools, and thinking that everything can be "solved" through language, analysis, and confrontation. My way of thinking was enriched by De Bono's introduction of paradox, humor, and intuition to provoke creative thinking. And he takes on more than a few of philosophy's sacred cows while he's at it. The idea of "catchment" as a model of our automatic compartmentalization of new data is alone worth the price of the book.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Key To Understanding Human Behavior, September 4, 2000

By 

Larry P. Leach (Boise, ID USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Am Right You Are Wrong: From This to the New Renaissance: From Rock Logic to Water Logic (Paperback)

I found this book to be extremely useful to my understanding of human behavior. I have been reading extensive psychological literature in order to formulate a useful model to understand how humans in organizations react to proposed change. I want to use that model to help them create positive change. Most of the literature on organizational change is anecdotal support of an approach that once worked somewhere. (Exception: Chris Argyris) DeBono starts with the fundamental mechanism of how the brain works to understand the behavior people exhibit. This understanding has enabled me to formulate much more effective approaches to individual and organizaitonal change. You do have to think hard to understand deBono's underlying messages. It may be difficult if this is the first deBono book you read, or if you have not been digging for a solution to a specific problem. But, I give it a 5+!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A concise explanation of a complex subject., January 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: I Am Right You Are Wrong: From This to the New Renaissance: From Rock Logic to Water Logic (Paperback)

This book stands out as one of the best explanations of how the mind works, and doesn't work, and how to make make the best use of your own. He destroys in a few paragraphs a lot of deeply entrenched misconceptions that western society has been operating under for centuries. I've seen a lot of other long and wordy attempts that fail to get half as far as De Bono has in this little book. It's densely packed with concepts, each touched on just long enough to give the reader the main points, without all the flowery self-indulgent nonsense that so many other writers of books for the lay person love to fill their pages with. De Bono gets to the point. And good points they are! Excellent book.