Thinking 101

Brainpower Newsletter

After reading about the art of thinking, you can practice on the riddle, which this week is more of a lateral thinking puzzle.

What do I mean by the art of thinking? It may seem that powerful thinking should simply be logical, and nothing more. The ideal thinker then, might be Spock, the "Vulcan" in the "Star Trek" television show and movies. Of course, if you watch the program, you may recall that the humans aboard the spaceship had most of the solutions and new ideas. Spock only knew how to analyze.

The most useful processes of thought need to do more than run a "logic program." After all, we need to choose what to think about, and we also sometimes need new ways to think about things. These tasks are not a matter of applying logic, but of choosing values and pursuing them creatively.

This is where...

Continued here:
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/the-art-of-thinking.html

Here are a few more word puzzles to try that brainpower on. Some of these will have more than one solution, but you will know if you get one that works.

1. The The Repeating Word Pair Puzzle

Create a grammatically-correct sentence in which the following repeating word pair fits:

hope that hope that

2. Truth Through Punctuation

Add the correct punctuation to the following, to make it both grammatically correct and truthful...

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http://www.increasebrainpower.com/word-puzzles.html

- Parthenogenesis is the process by which animals reproduce themselves in successive female generations without intervention of a male of the species. A species of lizard is known to do so.

- Most car horns in America beep in the key of F.

- A resident of Nauru is a Nauruan - the only palindromic nationality.

More than two dozen effective and fun techniques for solving problems and generating ideas. 32 information-packed chapters that will change your thinking.

A man is driving out in the middle of the desert and gets a flat tire. He gets out the spare tire, and takes off the flat one. Unfortunately, he drops all four lug nuts (the nuts that hold the tire on) down a hole that is ten feet deep and only a few inches across. He'll die of thirst if he can't find a way to put that spare tire on securely. Using only what is available in any normal car, come up with at least two ways to solve this problem.

(answer below)

Lemon scent seems to work for many people as a brain energizer. Many users claim they feel more alert and more able to concentrate. Other energizing scents include oils of peppermint and cypress. The research? Not much that I am aware of, but this seems to fall under the category of "cheap and safe, so why not try it?" (Some people are allergic to these oils, so even if you are not, be careful when using them around others.)

Buy these as essential oils, and put a few drops in a diffuser, or in your bath. You can also put a drop or two on a cotton ball or piece of cloth and inhale the scent. Of course, if you have a lemon, peppermint leaves, or a rose handy, you can just sniff these in their natural state.

Imagine if you knew how to spot a lie, how to prevent lies from being told, how to trap a liar and how to get a confession. Would you like that? That is what you'll learn in the new e-book: Lying: Signs Of Lying And How To Trap A Liar.

Learn more here... http://www.99reports.com/lying.html

Want easy ideas for inventions? Dreaming up new inventions is fun, and it doesn't have to be difficult. Try the following two techniques. Soon you'll have all the new ideas you need.

Easy Ideas - Start With What's There

A great way to create new ideas for inventions is to look at what already exists and find a way to make it better. Start with things in your own home. These types of inventions may even be the most marketable ideas - consider how many new kitchen gadgets are sold every year.

Consider the toaster, for example. How could you improve it, replace it, or eliminate the need for it? You could designed a stove with a toaster built into it, or replace it with something like a waffle iron. You could make it faster, perhaps with a combination toasting element and microwave heater.

Look around the house and choose any item you see. Imagine if it was bigger, smaller, faster, slower, or different in some way. As I write this, I am looking at the calculator on my desk. I'd like to talk to it, to just say...

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http://www.999ideas.com/easy-ideas.html

Until next time,

Riddle Answer: Here are two of the many possibilities:

1. Pull loose a speaker and break off the magnet. Pull ten feet of wires loose in the trunk or other part of the car (where they aren't necessary for the car to run), tie the magnet to the end and lower it down the hole. It should pick up the lug nuts easily.

2. Take one lug nut off of each of the other three tires and use these three nuts for the spare. They should be sufficient until a town can be reached.

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