Many people are considered good students because they’re adept at learning from others. But do you ever wonder how those people came to their findings? It’s called creative thinking and almost anyone can do it.
Knowledge rests in the basis of opinion. And remember, opinion comes from four sources: intuition, personal experience, what you’ve learned, and what you’ve figured out. Let’s look at them in more detail until we arrive at the metaphysical.
First three
Intuitions are like faces—people are born with them and they’re all different. So when teachers call us little snowflakes, they’re actually right. Personal experience is surely individual, since none of us grow up the same. And the same can be said about what we’ve been taught. We listen and learn uniquely. So in terms of these three criteria everyone has a different perspective, which plays into what we figure out.
Now there are two ways to creatively think: you can either put together pieces by playing Carmen Sandiego or focus deeply until you receive grace.
Figuring things out
Remember the article Carmen Sandiego? It talks about finding golden keys, similar to playing a computer game back in the 90s. Well, the second half involves putting keys together to arrive at a personal conclusion. For example, you’re struck by something you saw, plus a few things you’ve learned and/or intuitively felt. Combine them and you may get a unique understanding that others can relate to. This is the first type of creative thinking.
The second comes when you focus deeply on an issue until the heavens open up and grace comes tumbling down. Just picture an engineer trying to solve a problem. Many times, he or she will subliminally concentrate for hours, maybe days, and then viola—the solution appears. Now there’s definitely a line between grace and regular thinking but don’t kid yourself, something like electricity wasn’t stumbled upon.
Geniuses and dumb people
I don’t believe in genius. I think there are gifted Carmen Sandiego players and those who receive grace—but that’s it. A true genius would be able to exercise their powers at will and none of them can do it. (Plus, they all make mistakes.) I also think grace is present in many parts of life and we should be openly receptive to it. For example, ask any recording artist where songs come from and they’ll tell you, “the sky.”
I also don’t believe in dumb people. Yes, there are those who have difficulty learning and don’t know much but they still have intuition and personal experience to draw from, so don’t count them out. Focus on strengths.
Summary
There you have it—putting together keys, no geniuses, and no dumb people. Every human out there gets equipped with an intuition and gains loads of experience. Then hopefully we learn a few things and play Carmen Sandiego. Once everything melds, you could come up with something brilliant. And if you focus really, really hard, you just might receive grace.