I’m a big fan of whatever makes a person feel better. Having said that I do worry when a person’s belief in what makes them feel better appears to be misguided. I believe that belief (pun intended), at its extreme, spawns a desire to obsessively, zealously amplify supporting data, however dubiously tenuous and, equally obsessively, zealously trivialise, (to the point of insultingly, ignoring) non-supporting data regardless of the strength of evidence; oh the joys of adversarial systems where it’s more important to be right or not wrong than to really seek answers – for this the classic Greek philosophers are to be thanked – not!
The thanks goes to Edward de Bono and his ‘Textbook of Wisdom’ from which the following is sourced:
“Parallel thinking is the opposite of traditional adversarial thinking, where each statement has to be judged before being accepted. In adversarial thinking, the ‘contradiction’ is a very important and powerful tool. Both sides of a contradiction cannot be right. One or other must go. Parallel thinking allows both sides of the contradiction to be laid down in parallel without interfering with each other. Later on, in the design phase, things can be sorted out.
Parallel thinking removes at once the urge to instant judgement. You do not have to accept something as ‘right’ because you have not rejected it as ‘wrong’. You simply accept it ‘in parallel’. Sometimes you can accept it as ‘possibly’ but even when you cannot accept something as ‘possible’ you still accept it in parallel.
Husbands usually complain that wives take far too many clothes on holiday. Husbands say that wives should decide in advance exactly what is going to be needed and to reject what is not going to be needed. Husbands complain that wives take six outfits with them so they can have the ‘luxury’ of choice at the holiday destination. Parallel thinking is what the wives are doing. They take everything along and then make the choice only when it has to be made. The husbands’ thinking is more like the traditional Gang of Three (Note from Yernasia: see below for an Explanation of the Gang of Three from Edward’s website) thinking: accept or reject at this point before packing it.”
Explanation of the Gang of Three
Sourced from http://www.debonogroup.com/parallel_thinking.php
Furthermore contrary to the assertion of certain spiritual and life-force-energy advocates, I do not believe we are capable of creating our external reality or that external reality is always an illusion (or hologram). I do believe we create our individual reality from inside of us, radiate it out and have it reflected back at us from external reality. That is why, in my view, when we feel good nothing seems to bother us and when we feel bad everything seems to bother us; especially those close to us. The illusion, I believe, happens when we create a negative reality inside of us, fling it out and then have it flung back at us, by external reality, as an illusion; I also believe that being illusory it will pass if we let it.
I think the reason for this is because negativity doesn’t really exist. My view is that negativity is an artificial universal construct that exists solely on the physical plane as a necessary foil to positivity; I believe positivity is the natural state of all things, on all planes, in all universes; I also believe positivity is eternal and enduring.
Stay strong and serene.
Relationship Insights by Yernasia Quorelios 