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12. Introduction to a Seminar
12. Introduction to a Seminar
Tommy, standing at the head of the mahogany table raps tabletop sharply. His red flannel shirt shows a button open at neck and two pockets packed with memo pad, pens and mechanical pencils. At Kimi's insistence he'd gotten a haircut and shaved.
Around Tommy's corner, to his right, 2 seats down, is Kimura, dressed in salt & pepper sports jacket with Levi cloth-elbow patches, and his black hair severely parted down middle. On his left, blonde Ali's simple red cotton dress shows bony knees.
Around Tommy's corner, to his right, 2 seats down, is Kimura, dressed in salt & pepper sports jacket with Levi cloth-elbow patches, and his black hair severely parted down middle. On his left, blonde Ali's simple red cotton dress shows bony knees.
Across table from them sits Olga, right leg carelessly crossed and hanging over left with black pointy high heel partly suspended from foot, her face set off by long earrings, and her hair with Cleopatra-cut. She is dressed in a fashionable black sequined-sweater with glossy gray harem pants. On her left, boyfriend Boris sits stolidly in black diplomat double-breasted suit. Harumi sits on Olga's right, facing Ali across table and showing intelligent oriental face, un-cosmeticized and with pure jet-black hair, bowl-cut to ear level, and a shapeless potato-sac dress over her Giacometti stick-thin figure. Kimi's seat faces Tommy at table's other end.
Tabletop has been cleared so that all can see each other's face. Harumi, on Tommy's left – the only participant who can speed-write – is the recording secretary with a white paper on table before her.
Tabletop has been cleared so that all can see each other's face. Harumi, on Tommy's left – the only participant who can speed-write – is the recording secretary with a white paper on table before her.
Kimi walks around table, setting down fragrant coffee in cup.
Olga complains, “For such a big meeting are we to do without cake, cream and sugar?
“Tommy says coffee is make us brilliant, when we discuss things, and prevent sleep, when he brilliant. Cream and sugar and cake bad because make us drowsy and me fat.”
Olga sniffs in disagreement, “For you, darling, I will suffer sullenly.”
13. Who is Seminar For?
Tommy begins: “Now I introduce Seminar. I talk about it like a person – my friend.”
Olga interrupts. “It's like calling our contraceptive cup ‘The Woman’s Friend’ ain't it? The same idea, except it's my dame idea!” She laughs at her silly pun.
“You are correct, Madam Olga” Tommy says, not disturbed by interruption. He wants a lively audience. “Seminar is a Friend to all. It's going to be our way of remarking subjects that need to be talked about more: no trivia here; rather, vital questions to help your survival and success.”
Kimi interrupts as per plan. “Like how to creative?” She still lacks grammar and often leaves out words.
“Yeah, Doll! Before I start, if anyone here considers this Boresville, you should get ta hell outa here now. I chose Creative Thinking as first seminar for people who desire to be creative. And to become creative you don't need no college degree. Anyone can become it by just opening eyes to where curiosity and imagination lead and joie de vivre follows. I don't want no H.L. Mencken boobery to take an interest in this. You folks, here, are New People whom the boobs will beg to take control once they realize the mess they've made, and I want to give you the tools that will help you take control. Here is one tool.”
14. Creative Thinking
Tommy looks out over the table and asks “How much is one and one?
Olga, the only one to respond, exclaims to all “Watch out, darlings, a trick!”
“Good start, Madam Olga! This is not a radio show game; what I want to demonstrate is that most persons in our society don't think creatively. We here at Seminar are unusual: We don't think in the normal category, we don't follow received opinion.”
Kimura raises hand to comment. “That is particularly true of us Japanese.”
Tommy continues. “I used ‘one and one’ to emphasize the rhetorical nature of my question. Had I used larger numbers with less obvious answers for specific stated purpose, anyone who has been educated in the usual grammar school would answer literally after calculating. And the answer would have been the equivalent of “one and one is two". But that answer in this case is wrong and if the fate of the world depends on that answer then Good-bye world!”
Ali is smiling because she knows what brother Tommy is getting at, having had the same education in General Semantics by a follower of Alfred Korzybski. But she doesn't want to ruin Tommy's act so she sits silent. Kimura has a perplexed look and seems to be thinking furiously. Olga is smirking because she feels complimented for being a creative thinker.
Boris raises his hand and says “From your words now, Comrade Tom, informing that your ‘one and one’ does not equal the arithmetic equality one plus one equals two," I conclude that your correct answer to this riddle is the number eleven.”
Tommy hands Boris a Japanese one-sen coin (a U.S. one cent then) with a flourish.
“Correct, Boris boy! Here is your reward for being creative.” He turns his explanation to everyone around the table. “The fact that Boris's English is non-native from childhood explains why he so quickly and correctly answered my question. His thought process in English words has not been blindered like a horse's vision to prevent side viewing. But most persons brought up as Americans or English Commonwealth have been blindered by mental flaps that block any other thought process than the one, teachers or parents instill in them when learning one's native language as a child. Children learning the addition tables go ‘one and one is two, two and two is four’ and so forth. So when asked the answer to ‘How much is one twenty-five and three thirty-one,’ for example, they convert the words to the arithmetically exact 125+331, which, however, is not the original question. The word ‘and’ most directly means ‘appending,' or ‘attaching the one to the other,' and only secondarily has come to signify arithmetic addition. So an American like me, had I not been educated to think ala Alfred Korzybski, who, by the way, was not brought up in the English language, would automatically answer that one twenty-five and three thirty-one is four fifty-six. But Boris, who is not blindered, immediately saw the two possibilities in my ‘How much is one and one?’ and said to himself ‘the answer is two if he meant 1+1, or eleven if he meant the second one attached to the first one in the order given.’ And since I ruled out the first meaning, eleven must be the correct answer.”
Kimura’s hand shoots up. “Tom-san, your words are like a Zen tap on my brain. Suddenly all comes clear and I see your meaning. You use arithmetic example, but isn't it true that the analogy can be carried to all levels of language and that your deeper message is that for one to think creatively it is not enough to simply immediately answer the question or solve the problem or respond to the query in kind? To be creative then is to first analyze the words you receive, resolve inconsistencies and contradictions, get all the meanings of all the words and once that's done, then you consider all the possible answers.”
He sits and Tommy takes over.
Olga, the only one to respond, exclaims to all “Watch out, darlings, a trick!”
“Good start, Madam Olga! This is not a radio show game; what I want to demonstrate is that most persons in our society don't think creatively. We here at Seminar are unusual: We don't think in the normal category, we don't follow received opinion.”
Kimura raises hand to comment. “That is particularly true of us Japanese.”
Tommy continues. “I used ‘one and one’ to emphasize the rhetorical nature of my question. Had I used larger numbers with less obvious answers for specific stated purpose, anyone who has been educated in the usual grammar school would answer literally after calculating. And the answer would have been the equivalent of “one and one is two". But that answer in this case is wrong and if the fate of the world depends on that answer then Good-bye world!”
Ali is smiling because she knows what brother Tommy is getting at, having had the same education in General Semantics by a follower of Alfred Korzybski. But she doesn't want to ruin Tommy's act so she sits silent. Kimura has a perplexed look and seems to be thinking furiously. Olga is smirking because she feels complimented for being a creative thinker.
Boris raises his hand and says “From your words now, Comrade Tom, informing that your ‘one and one’ does not equal the arithmetic equality one plus one equals two," I conclude that your correct answer to this riddle is the number eleven.”
Tommy hands Boris a Japanese one-sen coin (a U.S. one cent then) with a flourish.
“Correct, Boris boy! Here is your reward for being creative.” He turns his explanation to everyone around the table. “The fact that Boris's English is non-native from childhood explains why he so quickly and correctly answered my question. His thought process in English words has not been blindered like a horse's vision to prevent side viewing. But most persons brought up as Americans or English Commonwealth have been blindered by mental flaps that block any other thought process than the one, teachers or parents instill in them when learning one's native language as a child. Children learning the addition tables go ‘one and one is two, two and two is four’ and so forth. So when asked the answer to ‘How much is one twenty-five and three thirty-one,’ for example, they convert the words to the arithmetically exact 125+331, which, however, is not the original question. The word ‘and’ most directly means ‘appending,' or ‘attaching the one to the other,' and only secondarily has come to signify arithmetic addition. So an American like me, had I not been educated to think ala Alfred Korzybski, who, by the way, was not brought up in the English language, would automatically answer that one twenty-five and three thirty-one is four fifty-six. But Boris, who is not blindered, immediately saw the two possibilities in my ‘How much is one and one?’ and said to himself ‘the answer is two if he meant 1+1, or eleven if he meant the second one attached to the first one in the order given.’ And since I ruled out the first meaning, eleven must be the correct answer.”
Kimura’s hand shoots up. “Tom-san, your words are like a Zen tap on my brain. Suddenly all comes clear and I see your meaning. You use arithmetic example, but isn't it true that the analogy can be carried to all levels of language and that your deeper message is that for one to think creatively it is not enough to simply immediately answer the question or solve the problem or respond to the query in kind? To be creative then is to first analyze the words you receive, resolve inconsistencies and contradictions, get all the meanings of all the words and once that's done, then you consider all the possible answers.”
He sits and Tommy takes over.
“Ya got it Ken, but quite a mouthful! Allow me to explain. Preciseness of meaning is the key. If I wrote 1+1 =, or spoke its equivalent sounds, there would be no alternative answer but the written symbol 2, or its sounded equivalent ‘two’, because the ‘1’, the ‘+’ and the ‘=’ have been exactly operationally defined in mathematics and that exactness transferred to the English meaning of the question."
He looks around the table and continues: "For an example outside of numbers, take a question that exercised the most brilliant minds on Earth in 18th centuryEurope and America
He looks around the table and continues: "For an example outside of numbers, take a question that exercised the most brilliant minds on Earth in 18th century
“Wow, now you said the mouthful,” comments Olga.
“Madam Olga, and all of you here, I am not interested in contradicting religious belief or in teaching arithmetic. What I wish to show is that to think creatively you must think, as Korzybski phrases it ‘out of categories’or; it means, you must examine your words and use only strictly operationally proven and defined terms.”
“But that is not always possible!” Kimura interjects.
Tommy replies, "I would remove "always" from your sentence, Ken, and insert ‘at the present time.’ Look at my example of God and evil. An answer was not possible in the 18th century but today it is not only possible but certain because science has progressed to the point where we can take as fact the other possibilities of God.”
Tommy signals Kimi who brings in coffee. “OK, folks, this is First Seminar so I wanted to raise the most basic question: What is knowledge and how is it to be approached? Let us bat this around over coffee and cake.
Olga gives a sigh of relief at the “coffee and cake.”
Seminar continues; click 3.(15-19) Seminar 2 - Intelligent Life in the Uni...
Olga gives a sigh of relief at the “coffee and cake.”
Seminar continues; click 3.(15-19) Seminar 2 - Intelligent Life in the Uni...
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