Tina Seelig explains convergent and divergent thinking, using examples from education and an Oxford University exam method to show how different questions reveal different kinds of creativity and problem-solving.
In kindergarten, this would be a typical question, right? Five plus five equals what? What's the answer? 10. You guys are so great. You must go to Stanford. Okay, why do we all know this is 10? We know this is 10 because this problem has one right answer. This requires convergent thinking. We all converged on that one right answer of five plus five equals ten. But what if I asked the question in a slightly different way? What if I asked X +Y or two question marks? What two numbers add up to 10? How many answers are there to that? Infinite. And I'm so delighted you say that because I'm often in rooms where people are going, well, one plus nine, two plus eight, you know, three plus seven. And I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What about negative numbers? What about fractions? What about decimals? The fact is, there are an infinite number of answers to this question. Why? Because this requires divergent thinking. We've asked a question that doesn't have one right answer. Now, think about it. It's the same type of math, right? The same principles, and yet when we asked the question one way, we got one answer. When we asked it a slightly different way, we got an infinite number of answers. This isn't just true in kindergarten. Go off to college. Maybe somebody can tell me, recognize this place? Anyone know what school this is? It's in the uk. It's very old. Oxford. Yes. Here we are at Oxford. And at Oxford, they do something that is totally brilliant. In order to get into one of the colleges, All Souls College, you have to answer the one word examination. Now, this doesn't mean that the answer is yes or no or black or white. The question is one word, and it'll be a word like integrity or water or bias or innocence. And you are given three hours to write using that one word as a prompt. Now, first of all, how many of you would like to take that type of exam? Great. I actually love that because most people find that kind of scary and intimidating. What does this type of exam teach the people who read your answer? What does it tell them? It tells them how you think, how you connect and combine ideas, how you can sort of draw a line through all of your experiences and your knowledge to create some integrated story. It's about seeing how creative you are.
O processo de reconhecer limites, mesmo quando a vida parece exigir sempre mais.
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