One of the main approaches to studying psychology is the cognitive approach. It suggests that mental illness, mental health, and even our very identity are based on the type and frequency of thoughts we have. There are pro’s and con’s to this approach. For a pro, this approach suggests that we have the ability to think of anything from a certain viewpoint and with a certain lens. Hate traffic? Well, maybe it is a good opportunity to have alone time. Rushed, stressed, or going to be late, maybe sitting in traffic will allow you time to reflect on how you can plan better.
Let me offer two obvious cons to the cognitive approach to psychology. The first is that we cannot observe, measure, or weigh thoughts. So it is hard to apply the scientific method to cognitive psychology. The second is that thoughts come from the mind and the mind comes from the brain. We cannot have a thought without certain brain chemicals interacting with certain brain structures. So, the cognitive approach might just be the shingles on the roof the biological approach. Having said that, as good as brain scanning technology is, it cannot now and might not ever be able to explain love or inspiration. That brings us back to cognitive psychology.
If you were to pick up a textbook on cognitive psychology you might find a large portion of the book to be dedicated to language. Words and thoughts are so intertwined that I am going to offer the first sophism. Can you have a thought without words? Did the answer pop into your mind? If you have been following The Creativity Algorithm, then you might recognize your unconscious wanting to play by dropping that answer in your awareness like an eager retriever drops a slobbery stick and wants you to throw it again.
That is the magic of the sophism. It is a pleasantly weird question or mental exercise that can playfully shove your over-organized conscious mind aside for just a bit.
Did the metaphorical explanation of what a sophism is distract you from the original question of whether you have thoughts without words? I don’t think you can. Or at least I don’t think you can have complex, intricate thoughts without words.
If that is true, should you rush out to buy a thesaurus or dictionary? Would you think that poets and lyricists have more flexible minds? They are masters at conveying meaning with few words. But, to borrow from an earlier paragraph, we can’t really apply the scientific method to poetry. It is designed to be interpreted differently by different people.
Perhaps we should look at lawyers. A well-written legal document leaves little or no room for interpretation. Of course, it should be noted that a well-written legal document is often very long and uses lots of words.
How can a manager use these ideas to help her employees be more engaged at work?
- The easiest way to answer that is to simply look at what written communication is provided to and for employees. Is it easy to read? Is it open to interpretation? Too open?
- The second and perhaps deeper way to answer this question is to ask your employees to write a letter to you. Maybe anonymous, maybe not. As mentioned in earlier posts/episodes the employees are like the unconscious of a business. What they know might not be obvious facts that can be written down. But might even be more valuable than well-documented facts. If you are following the Creativity Algorithm to have a better working relationship with your unconscious, why would you not be eager to read letters from the unconscious of your business? Maybe then you could reply which would be like re-throwing the stick which would encourage a reply to your reply.
- A third way would be to help your employees improve their writing skill. If thoughts are words, then helping people to organize words will eventually teach people to organize their thoughts better. Don’t believe me, then what is the point of English classes? Writing is thinking and thinking is needed to write. (Of course, there is the ancillary benefit of helping employees improve skills they will need to communicate within and without the company)
As you may remember, the title of this post/episode is Writing a Letter. You may have noticed that I appreciate wordplay and cognitive misdirection. So that means that the title isn’t directly related to the second step of having your employees write a letter. Give me a few paragraphs then I’ll reveal the main sophism of this post/episode.
Just as we realize that thoughts are based on biological occurrences in the brain, we must realize that thoughts are based on words. And, we must realize that words are based on phonemes, morphemes, letters. Phonemes are units of sound. The English language has 45 phonemes. That means there are 45 sounds that when arranged and rearranged can make thousands of words. When those words are arranged and re-arranged they can make an infinite number of meaningful ideas. Mandarin has many more phonemes. That, however, doesn’t seem to have an effect on the ultimate number of meaningful ideas that can be formed.
Morphemes are units of meaning. For instance, ‘dog’ is a unit of meaning that can’t be broken down without losing its meaning. But we can and a morpheme of ‘y’ which changes the meaning slightly. Dog + y becomes doggy. That morpheme of y, even though it is not a word by itself conveys the meaning of small and cute. It works for doggy, horsey, and, God-forbid, Joey.
That covers phonemes and morphemes. What about letters? The English language has 26. Those 26 make 45 phonemic sounds. A has two sounds. B has one. C has three. And so on.
What if instead of grabbing for a thesaurus or dictionary as we talked about at the beginning of this post/episode, the makers of such books reached out to you? Here comes another sophism. They suggest that the English language needs another letter and they have chosen you to envision it, design it, and implement it.
What letter would you come up with? Or, more specifically, what letter would your unconscious deliver to you? Would you leave such an important idea to the vagaries and playfulness of your unconscious mind?
Would you consciously sit down, formulate a plan, and go through a methodical system to develop the new letter for the English Language?
Take Away: This sophism pushes the boundaries of what I can envision. To put it another way, it is a tough workout for me. As such, I make myself come back to it regularly. I encourage you to do the same. Make time to get into an alpha state of consciousness. Then let your unconscious fetch several ideas regarding the new letter. If you don’t like what it brings you. Through it back. Let your unconscious bring you another one.
Spreading the Thoughts: Ask your coworker, friend, or random person waiting in line in front of you if they could imagine a new letter for the alphabet. After the brief moment where the magic of the sophism distracts them, ask them if they imagined what it would look like, or what it would sound like, or where it would fit in the alphabet. If they seem interested, please tell them about The Creativity Algorithm.
Next Post: Hero’s Entrance
For more information on how to help yourself and people in your organization learn how to access solutions more regularly, please go to:
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