01_995652 ffirs.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page i Practical Intelligence 01_995652 ffirs.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page ii 01_995652 ffirs.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page iii Practical Intelligence The Art and Science of Common Sense Karl Albrecht 01_995652 ffirs.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page iv Copyright © 2007 by Karl Albrecht Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. 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Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet websites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read. For additional copies/bulk purchases of this book in the U.S. please contact 800-274-4434. Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, fax 317-572-4002, or visit www.josseybass.com. Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Albrecht, Karl. Practical intelligence : the art and science of common sense / Karl Albrecht. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7879-9565-2 (cloth) 1. Common sense. 2. Success. 3. Conduct of life. I.Title. B105.C457A43 2007 153.9—dc22 2007013594 Acquiring Editor: Lisa Shannon Editor: Rebecca Taff Director of Development: Kathleen Dolan Davies Production Editor: Dawn Kilgore Manufacturing Supervisor: Becky Carreño Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico Printed in the United States of America Printing 10 987654321 02_995652 ftoc.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page v CONTENTS Preface xi About the Author xvii 1. A Problem and an Opportunity 1 Accidental Intelligence:The Terminal Assumption 3 The Widening “Smart Gap” 7 The Dumbing of America and the Culture of Amusement 9 Knows and Know-Nots:The New Social Divide 17 Who Cares? Who Needs to Care? 19 2. Multiple Intelligences: The Possible Human 25 IQ Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story 27 There Are at Least Six Kinds of “Smart” 30 Building Out:Applying Theories to Everyday Life 32 Build-Out 1: Emotional Intelligence 33 Build-Out 2: Social Intelligence 34 The Next Build-Out: Practical Intelligence 37 3. What Is Practical Intelligence? 39 Thinking Is a Bodily Function 42 Meet Your Biocomputer 45 Brain Cycles, Brainwaves, Brain States, and 59 the Daily Trance Mindmodules:You Have Many “Minds” 71 Mindmodels:Your Portable Reality 77 Four Habits That Unlock Your Mental Capacity 82 Four Dimensions of PI:Your Mega-Skills 84 Getting Started: Upgrading Your Mental “Software” 86 v 02_995652 ftoc.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page vi vi Contents 4. Mental Software Upgrade 1: Developing Mental Flexibility 89 Are You a Finished Product? 90 Dynamic Thinking and Archaic Thinking 94 You Might Be a Mental Redneck . 95 The Creative Paradox 98 The “Beginner’s Mind”: Innocence and Humility 101 The “Plexity” Scale 103 There Is No Truth—Only Your Truth, His Truth, 108 Her Truth,Their Truth . How I Learned to Stop Arguing with People 115 A New Way to Think About Opinions 120 Three Phrases That Can Keep Your Mind Open 123 5. Mental Software Upgrade 2: Adopting Affirmative Thinking 129 Cleaning Out the Attic: Mental Decontamination 130 “Sensorship”: Choosing What You Will Allow 131 into Your Mind Resistance to Enculturation, a.k.a.“Crap Detecting” 139 Cleanse Your Mind with a “Media Fast” 143 Re-Engineering Your Attitudes 146 The Attitude of Gratitude 151 The Attitude of Abundance 153 Practical Altruism 155 Meditation, Mindmovies, and Affirmations 158 6. Mental Software Upgrade 3: Adopting Sane Language Habits 161 Language as Mental Software:What You Say 162 Is What You Think How Language “Packages” Your Thoughts 167 Jumping to Confusions: Inferential Thinking 174 02_995652 ftoc.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page vii Contents vii “Clean” and “Dirty” Language: Strategies for 178 Semantic Sanity Expressions You Can Remove from Your Vocabulary 181 The Self-Conversation: Cleaning Up Your 183 Internal Dialog Snappy Comebacks:The Language of Funny 185 7. Mental Software Upgrade 4: Valuing Ideas 189 Do You Have Lots of Good Ideas? (Almost Everyone Does) 191 “It Slipped My Mind . .”(Almost Everything Does) 192 The Greatest Thinking Tool Ever Invented 196 Thinking in Pictures 200 Are You a Yes-Person or a No-Person? 202 The P.I.N. Formula: Protecting Ideas 204 Using Your Magical Incubator 206 “Metaboxical” Thinking: Breaking the Boundaries 213 8. Mega-Skill 1: “Bivergent” Thinking 223 The Divergent-Convergent Polarity:The D-C Axis 225 Process Consciousness: Managing the “Pivot Point” 228 Groupthink:The Collusion to Fail 234 Brainstorming: More Often Talked About Than Done 241 Systematic Creativity:The Balancing Act 244 9. Mega-Skill 2: “Helicopter” Thinking 247 The Abstract-Concrete Polarity:The A-C Axis 248 Visionaries and Actionaries:We Need Both 250 Connecting the Dots:You Have to See Them 254 to Connect Them Painting the Big Picture: Mindmapping 257 Explaining the Big Picture: Using the 261 Language of Ideas 02_995652 ftoc.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page viii viii Contents 10. Mega-Skill 3: “Intulogical” Thinking 267 The Logical-Intuitive Polarity:The L-I Axis 269 Thinking Styles:Yours and Others’ 271 Sequential Thinking: Re-Owning Your Logical Abilities 278 Trusting Your Hunches: Re-Owning Your 282 Intuitive Abilities The “Zen Mind”:Flow and Mindfulness 284 11. Mega-Skill 4: “Viscerational” Thinking 291 The Rational-Emotive Polarity:The R-E Axis 292 First We Decide—Then We Justify: Irrational 296 Thinking Explained We’re All Neurotic, and That’s OK 302 The Five Primal Fears We Live By: 305 The Psychology of Risk Signal Reactions: Disconnecting Your Hot Buttons 310 Emotions and Health: If It’s on Your Mind, 315 It’s on Your Body Can You Motivate Yourself? The “Popeye Point” 318 12. How to Become an Expert Problem Solver 323 Forget Those “Five Steps” They Taught You 324 Using Heuristic (a.k.a. Natural) Problem Solving 326 Your Five Key Mindzones 328 The High Speed Problem Solving Process 330 13. Success Programming: Causing the Outcomes You Want 335 Using What We’ve Learned 337 Mindmovies:Who’s Producing Your Life’s Story? 338 Alpha Programming: Making the Movies You Want 340 Your Life Wheel:Taking Stock, Setting Priorities, 343 and Making Changes 02_995652 ftoc.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page ix Contents ix Appendices A Answers to Thinking Exercises 347 B Fifty Tips for Better Thinking 353 C A Vocabulary for Practical Intelligence 357 D A Code of Intelligent Discourse 373 E Learn to Meditate in “One”Lesson: 375 The Harvard Mantra Index 379 02_995652 ftoc.qxp 4/18/07 8:59 PM Page x 03_995652 fpref.qxp 4/18/07 9:00 PM Page xi PREFACE OME TIME DURING THE PERIOD AROUND 200 BC, a famous gen- eral named Hannibal, who fought for the North African Sempire of Carthage, launched a ferocious attack on the Roman army in the African desert at a place called Zama. Hannibal employed an innovative weapon in his attack: elephants. He had become a big fan of elephants as instruments of war.They were huge, frightening beasts, and enemy soldiers were usually intimidated by their mere presence. His father, Hamilcar, had experimented with elephants, largely without success, and Hannibal himself had led an army equipped with elephants across the Italian Alps to attack the far- ther reaches of the early Roman empire.The fact that he lost half of his army and most of the elephants on the way did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for this military innovation. Hannibal, his soldiers, and his elephants confronted the famous Roman general Scipio, who commanded a force of about an equal number of soldiers. Hannibal was utterly convinced that the elephants would provide him with the decisive advantage. The battle began with a full frontal assault, with Hannibal’s soldiers following more than a hundred elephants charging into the center of Scipio’s infantry line.