Customer Reviews

Teach Your Children to Think

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am thoroughly impressed with Edward De Bono's matter-of-fact, wholly insightful, and unique yet practical work(s) published in the field of Thinking over the last four decades.

After listening to De Bono's taped works (such as "Teach Your Child How to Think"), I was both saddened and amazed to realize how limited in scope were the types and tools of thinking I was taught at all levels of education. The high school I attended focused primarily on acquiring information; the Ivy-league schools I attended taught specialized material primarily through judgment, criticism, analysis, and argument.

Other important thinking modes, especially action-oriented ones such as design, exploration, creativity, and so forth, were assumed to arise mainly from talent and intelligence, and therefore were not taught, even ignored. How wrong and damaging was that default view !

How I also wish I'd learned some of De Bono's concepts, perspectives, and tools in high school (or earlier). Important parts of life would have been much richer, perhaps easier (higher education is one example).

Though I rate these tapes 5-stars, I want to point out that it is likely an adult will have to internalize this material and teach it carefully to a young person. There will be a learning curve in the beginning.

Ed De Bono's works are packed with useful tools and insights. Because they are packed, gaining the most benefit requires reading "between the lines". I believe the listener must "stop the tape" (or put down the book) and make the effort to expand on De Bono's concepts and comments, in part by mapping them into past personal experiences (particularly useful are those experiences that had costly or unpleasant outcomes for the listener because at the time he/she lacked (or misapplied) certain thinking tools).

I am convinced that anyone of average intelligence and education who invests about 20 hours effort to listen to, internalize, and then practice a half-dozen of De Bono's various thinking tools will be amazed at the improvement it will yield in his/her relationships and work. I offer this comment as neither a religious nor "New Age" promoter but merely as a person who continues to benefit from these approaches.

I also highly recommend De Bono's "Teach Yourself to Think" tape set. It largely complements this set.