De Bono's thinking skills and family study

by jwfacts 16 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  jwfacts

  I am ready Edward De Bono's Teach Your Children How to Think. In it he has a 6 hats method of thinking about a subject. Imagine a family applying this method during family study. It goes totally against the Watchtower method of "study". When thinking about an important topic, time should be spent evaluating each of the following areas.

  1. White Hat - Facts and Figures
  2. Red Hat - Emotions, feelings, hunches and intuition.
  3. Black Hat - Caution, truth, judgement, fitting the facts
  4. Yellow Hat - Advantages, benefits, savings
  5. Green Hat - Exploration, proposals, suggestions, new ideas
  6. Blue Hat - control of the thinking process.

  The Watchtower demands exactly the opposite.

  • 1. Accept Watchtower information on face value; do not worry about looking for facts beyond what is provided by the Watchtower.
  • a. For those who wish to do extra Bible study and research, we recommend that they explore Insight on the Scriptures,…” Question Box from theKingdom MinistrySep 2007 (US Edition)
  • b. "In Jehovah's organization it is not necessary to spend a lot of time and energy in research, for there are brothers in the organization who are assigned to that very thing…"Watchtower1967 Jun 1 p.338
  • 2. Do not listen to your intuition if it is in disagreement with the information.
  • a. "We also remember that one feature of 'the wisdom from above' is being 'ready to obey.'… Due to background and upbringing, some may be more given to independent thinking and self-will than others. Perhaps this is an area where we need to discipline ourselves and 'make our mind over' so that we can perceive more clearly what the 'will of God' is."Watchtower1987 February 1 p.19
  • 3. Do not exercise caution, as you must not question the information
  • a. "Thus, the one who doubts to the point of becoming an apostate sets himself up as a judge. He thinks he knows better than his fellow Christians, better also than the 'faithful and discreet slave,' through whom he has learned the best part, if not all that he knows about Jehovah God and his purposes."Watchtower1980 August 1 p.19
  • 4. OK, this is allowed if you are considering the benefits of accepting Watchtower information
  • 5. Do not explore other ideas
  • a. "First, since "oneness" is to be observed, a mature Christian must be in unity and full harmony with fellow believers as far as faith and knowledge are concerned. He does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding. Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and "the faithful and discreet slave." By regularly taking in the spiritual food provided "at the proper time"-through Christian publications, meetings, assemblies, and conventions-we can be sure that we maintain "oneness" with fellow Christians in faith and knowledge.-Matthew 24:45.Watchtower2001 August 1 p.14
  • 6. The Watchtower agrees to control the thinking process, but stifles if more than what De Bono would be suggestion

  Imagine doing a Family Study with De Bono’s six hats.

  • Checking the facts, figures and source of quotes of what is written.
  • Discussing your feelings and intuition of what is written.
  • Examining the viewpoints of other religions.

  If you apply the hats to the sovereignty issue, a global flood, or the latest generation teaching would quickly destroys anyone’s faith in the Watchtower.
• 

  VM44

  The JW's mode of thinking follows more along the lines of "Group Think" which certaintly does not promote the de Bono thinking skills.

  Some exerpts from the wiki article on Group Think:

  Groupthink is a type of thought within a deeply cohesive in-group whose members try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. It is a second potential negative consequence of group cohesion.
  
  Individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking are lost in the pursuit of group cohesiveness, as are the advantages of reasonable balance in choice and thought that might normally be obtained by making decisions as a group. During groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking. A variety of motives for this may exist such as a desire to avoid being seen as foolish, or a desire to avoid embarrassing or angering other members of the group. Groupthink may cause groups to make hasty, irrational decisions, where individual doubts are set aside, for fear of upsetting the group’s balance.
  
  Symptoms of groupthink
  
  To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink.
  
  1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
  2. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
  3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
  4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
  5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".
  6. Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
  7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
  8. Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
  
  Groupthink and de-individuation
  
  Cults are also studied by sociologists in regard to groupthink and its deindividuation effects. The textbook definition describes deindividuation as the loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension, which occurs in group situations that foster anonymity and draw attention away from the individual
• 

  VM44

  This describes the Watchtower Study:

  "Ultimately, unanimity is impossible. It is brittle where unity is flexible and therefore strong. A single dissenter destroys it (so the dissenter may have to be dealt with harshly for the good of the group). For this reason, real questions are generally discouraged. Phony questions, however, where the answer is known by all, are part of pleasurable ritual. They are asked and answered in a wonderful nonthreatening confirmation of 'group think.'"

  -Daniel Taylor's The Myth of Certainty
• 

  bohm

  jwfacts, VM: thanks for this research!
• 

  jwfacts

  Thanks VM, both Group Think and the Myth of Certainty sum up the Watchtower structure to a tee.
• 

  Black Sheep

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/202657/1/Edward-de-Bono wasn't too complimentary.

  It makes it sounds like it might be best to keep to his earlier books, like Teach Your Children ..., which would be a great book to study with your spouse or kids, BEFORE you get them to take a look at 1919.
• 

  jwfacts

  BlackSheep, I agree with the other thread about De Bono and he annoyed me with his 50 page self back-patting introduction. However, some of his concepts are good, and the idea that spending specific periods of time devoted to different types of thinking in order to obtain a more rounded view of a subject is great.

  As you say, if a person can become aware of that style of thinking prior to a discussion on Watchtower "truth" the conversation could be a lot more effective. On the other hand, a JW could go through each process and still be convinced that the Watchtower is correct, because they do not examine the underlying axioms of the concepts they take for granted.
• 

  IMHO

  7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.

  I agree with the GroupThink except for the above statement.

  Why do you think your hounded if you don't participate (i.e. keep silent), they want to hear that you agree with what's being said.
• 

  fresia

  there is nothing on your post JWFacts?
• 

  Ding

  VM44 posted this quote: "Phony questions, however, where the answer is known by all, are part of pleasurable ritual. They are asked and answered in a wonderful nonthreatening confirmation of 'group think.'"

  That's one thing that was a red flag for me.

  Watchtower "study questions" were designed to elicit nothing more than a parroting of the words in the paragraph.

  That's fun for little kids.

  They can raise their hands and give the right answer and be praised from the platform.

  But for adults?

  Come on....