Well, I'm not sure how NEW this is, but I've been reading the oddest book, which suit an ENTP like me. It's an anthology of interesting information, crazy design. It's huge, and feels like a scrap book of thoughts and ideas... it's huge, if it were smaller you'd keep it in the bathroom.
It's called "the Art of Looking Sideways" by Alan Fletcher.
When I went to buy the book the guy in the shop asked what it looked like, and I had a totally blond moment and replied "It's white with lots of writting on it".... He replied in feigned causticness "you don't say, we ahve a few of those"....
The Art of Looking Sideways: Amazon.co.uk: Alan Fletcher: Books
Anyway what was interesting:
There is more genetic variation between happening in Africa than there is in the rest of the world.
there was something about chromisonal differences between races being less than mutations within races - or something like that
That Adam and Eve possibly exsisted in Afria and we are prtty much all decendants.
Right now I'm reading about thinking
We don't think in words. The temptation to equate thinking with language is because words are more palpable than thoughts. Ater all - i'm thinking - is I couldn't talk to myself how would I know I was thinking?
(point from me, what if you are deaf and never heard speach, how do you think - what language do you use....)
For those who do here are numbers or ways of sorting, each has an advantages and disadvantages, broad categorise......
Natrual thinking: This is fluid and undirects, it wanders and meanders, it subject to repetition and generalisations. The sort of thinking that goes on when we don't think we're thinking
Logical thinking: This slects a route and follows it to its concluson. Tiwh this approach the colution is largely predetrmined, so if you head off in the wrong direction you can end up painting yourself into a corner
Pattern thinking: this confiness thought to operate within given rules. Therfore solutons are limited by the possibilities available within the pattern
Lateral thinking: this purposeful in intent without specific aim. Freewheeling so it can reveal solutions which might have been overlooked in other approaches.
Grasshopper thinking: most of the time out thinking jumps around alternating and mixing between reasoning and which adheres to measurable responses, and imaginating which allows unpredictable current to play around wth date, Producting and electrico/chemical sludge.
It then (on a different page goes on to talk about ROck logic and water logic, the former being hard, perminant inert and unchanging, the latter being fluid is mutable and chnagable.
A tibetan lama was speaking to a group of monks and to make a point - he pulls out a large jar and fills the jar with lage rocks and then asks the students "if it was full"?
They said "yes",
He then filled the jar with some gravel - and ask if it was full, and the students said "no".
He then fulled the jar with sand and asked if it was full
No said the students, and the lama said good and picked up a jug of water and filled the rest of the jug....
... the point is... no if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are your priorities in life?
It's an amazing book, not one to read cover to cover in one sitting, more coffee table and pick up and read a bit and put it down... so I learn a lot when I dive in.