Adrian Buck’s Reviews > Mechanism of Mind > Status Update

The creation of the idea of lateral thinking is a deliberate implied division to show up the deficiencies of vertical thinking - de Bono is a philosopher manqué, it's the only way of understanding what he's trying to do here.

Myths are internal organising frameworks for information - what would Jung say?

These limitations are inseparable from the advantages of the system since both arise from the same processes - a point that is universally applicable.

On some occasions the slightest change at a sensitive point can lead to a huge overall change. On other occasions no amount of effort at an insensitive point will lead to the slightest over-all change. - The nature of learning

Actually the path selects itself. But is more convenient (so ego oriented are we) to talk of flow selecting a path - same problem Dawkins had with his 'selfish' gene. But is it a feature of us, or of our languages?

The memory-surface no longer deals with information for its own sake, but only in terms of its usefulness. In terms of survival or adaptation this may be essential. In terms of maximizing information this may be limiting. - a new definition of the absolute conception, the selfless memory surface?

This self has unity of consciousness. And yet this is all due to the passive behaviour of information which is organising itself on the special memory surface. - Wow, really? Kant really struggled over that.

If totally unconnected events follow upon each other, then then the short-term memory effect can synthesize them into a pattern which again only exists on the memory-surface - the second analogy?

Communication by confusion is also the initial stage of the relationship between the memory surface and the environment. The memory-surface picks out its own individual patterns from the confusion offered it.

What happens to patterns put on to the memory surface is largely determined by the traces left on the surface by previous patterns.