Creative minds and critical thinking
Critical thinking is a characteristic that has enabled major accomplishments and innovations in the world. Many of the world-renowned thinkers can be accredited for the breakthrough their thinking capabilities have brought. This has led to changes in social and political structures of some nations especially where political tyranny prevailed. Thinkers like Nelson Mandela have helped their nations deal with injustices such as apartheid. Other thinkers have brought about great technological breakthroughs that have revolutionized the value of information in the society.
Bill Gates’ invention has largely influenced and continues to dominate the technological world. This is seen through continues interaction of his products and the society. Having grown up from an upper middle class family, he started competitive characteristics at an early age. He was seen to excel in school and at times stayed far from other people (Paul & Elder 2002). This measure can be attributed to the truth that he spent most of his time thinking about his endeavors.
It even brought some concern to his parents who thought that he would be a loner. He always took part in activities that would engage his mind. For example, he would be seen taking part in board games and excelled particularly in monopoly. Bill Gates read many books as a youngster. Many of the books were to arouse his thinking to be original and decisive in his thinking.
Some of the components in Gates’ critical thinking had been his decisiveness. This is evident especially when he made certain decisions while he was still a student. For instance, he wrote a computer program that was used for scheduling students in classes. He creatively engineered the code to enable him have an advantage over other students. Together with other students, Gates undertook to exploit bugs in their school’s operating systems to enable them enjoy more computer time at the school.
The scientific method involves an analytical approach to solving problems. It is based on methodologies that are strictly adhered to achieve a goal. The scientific method relies on parameters that the thinkers follows strictly to come up with solutions (Strother 2008). Compared to other methods, it is structured in approach as it follows defined steps to solve problems. The scientific method played a major role in Gates’ inventions.
The difference is visible in Ruggiero's approach which categorizes the problem into two segments. The first segment analyses the problem in association with creative thinking also referred to as the production phase. Probable solutions are generated from various concepts the mind has produced and the thinker chooses the best solution. The next segment focuses on critical thinking or the judgment phase where the solutions formulated are assessed critically. Good thinkers base their solutions on clear evidence rather than guts or feelings.
The difference in Ruggiero's strategies and the scientific methods is in its implementation approach. Poor thinkers are quick to act disregarding facts and evidence. Bill Gates thinking could have incorporated these approaches; he wrote an algorithm that helped solve computer problems very fast. Bill Gates made a decision to drop out of Harvard College to join his friend Allen to start up Microsoft. This was the beginning of the process that Gates took to enable him accomplish his goals. The company that Gates and Allen worked for stood in the way of their success, as they were not able to pay developers of their work. Gates and Allen decided to break free and work at Microsoft.
He later joined hands with IBM to develop the first MSDOS. The product did well although the relationship between Microsoft and IBM eventually ended. Bill Gates always founded it convenient to move on in order to come up with enigmatic Microsoft windows that changed the world of computing. Bill Gates would identify opportunities that would help him advance in his endeavors. He achieved this through partnerships that enabled him overcome great obstacles that would limit his success.
Although most problem solving strategies revolves around scientific methods, creative thinking plays a significant role in most part of it. Creativity enables that an intuitive approach is taken to implement the scientific methods. This means that there is a place for creative thinking in the scientific world.
References
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2002). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your professional and personal life. Upper Saddle River, NJ [u.a.: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Strother, R. (2008). Bill Gates. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub.
