How to train reverse thinking

When everyone is thinking in a fixed direction of thinking, but you are thinking in the opposite direction alone, this way of thinking is called reverse thinking. For example, "Sima Guang smashed the vat." When someone fell into the water, the conventional thinking mode was to "save the person out of the water." But when faced with the emergency, Sima Guang used reverse thinking and decisively smashed the vat with a stone, "let the water out of the water." ", saved my friend's life.

Different from conventional thinking, reverse thinking is to think about problems in reverse, and to think about problems in a way of thinking that most people have not thought of. Using reverse thinking to think and deal with problems is actually to use "surprise" to achieve "win." Therefore, the results of reverse thinking are often surprising, overjoyed, and unexpected.

Below, we might as well illustrate the advantages of reverse thinking through some examples.

Example: Regarding inflating tennis balls. Tennis is different from football and basketball. Football and basketball have air holes and can be inflated with an air pump needle. Tennis balls do not have air holes, so if the air leaks out, the ball will become soft and deflated. How to inflate a deflated tennis ball? Professionals first analyzed why tennis balls leak? Where does the air leak from? We know that the gas pressure inside the tennis ball is high and the external atmospheric pressure is low, the gas will diffuse from places with high pressure to places with low pressure, that is, air leaks from the inside of the tennis ball to the outside. Finally, when the pressure inside and outside the tennis ball becomes the same, there will not be enough gas. of flexibility. How to increase the pressure inside the ball? Using reverse thinking, professionals consider allowing gas to diffuse from outside the ball into the ball. How to do it? That is to put the soft tennis ball into a steel cylinder and pump air into the steel cylinder so that the pressure of the gas in the steel cylinder is much greater than the pressure inside the tennis ball. At this time, the gas in the high-pressure steel cylinder will "leak" into the tennis ball. "After a certain period of time, the tennis ball will become hard.

The reverse thinking of allowing air to leak from the outside to the inside allows tennis balls without air holes to be inflated. Obviously, through reverse thinking, the impossible becomes possible.

The first advantage of reverse thinking can be derived from the above: In daily life, problems that are difficult to solve with conventional thinking can be easily solved through reverse thinking.

Example: Two people were on a business trip together. One of them saw an old woman selling a black iron cat on the street while shopping. The iron cat's eyes were very beautiful. After careful observation, he found that the iron cat's eyes were made of gems. So he calmly said to the old woman: "Can you sell just one pair of eyes?" The old woman didn't agree at first, but he was willing to pay the price of an entire iron cat. The old woman took out the cat's eyeball and sold it to him.

He returned to the hotel and said to his companions ecstatically, I got a big deal. I bought two gems with very little money. The companion asked him about the cause and effect, and asked him if the old woman who sold the iron cat was still there? He said the old woman was waiting for someone to buy her iron cat that was missing its eyes.

The companion took the money and went to look for the old woman. After a while, he brought the iron cat back. He analyzed that this iron cat must be worth a lot of money. So he hit the iron cat with a hammer. When the iron filings fell off, it was discovered that the inner substance of the iron cat was actually made of gold.

The person who bought the Iron Cat’s Jade Eye followed normal thinking. The Iron Cat’s Jade Eye was very valuable, so just take it. But the companion concluded through reverse thinking: Since the cat's eyes are made of gems, its body must not be made of iron. It is this kind of reverse thinking that makes the companions abandon the appearance of the iron cat and discover the golden inner quality of the cat.

Another example: There was an article that said: A Chinese immigrated to the United States, and because he wanted to litigate, he said to his lawyer: Should we find a time to ask the judge to come out to sit down or give him Send some gifts. When the lawyer heard this, he was shocked and said, "Don't do it. If you give gifts to the judge, your case will definitely fail." The man said how could it be possible. The lawyer said: Doesn't it mean that you are in the wrong if you give gifts to the judge?

A few days later, the lawyer called his client and said: We won the case. The man said lightly, I already knew it. The lawyer asked strangely, how could this be possible? I just came out of court. The Chinese said, I gave the judge a gift. The lawyer almost jumped up, it was impossible! The Chinese said: I did send a gift, but I wrote the other person’s name on the mailing list.

We don’t care whether this Chinese person’s approach is moral or not, but it is a very typical reverse thinking. Since you Americans think it is wrong to give gifts to judges, then I will give gifts in the name of the other party easily. Won the case.

From the above, we can derive the second advantage of reverse thinking: reverse thinking will allow you to find a new way, discover and make achievements in places that others have not noticed, and thus win over the unexpected.

Example: There was a porter driving a carriage, driving a horse and pulling a flatbed of coal up a slope. Unfortunately, the road was long, the slope was steep, and the horse was lazy. After the horse pulled the cart for one-third of the entire slope, it no longer wanted to move forward. The horse just kept spinning in circles despite being beaten by the porter. At this time, the porter called his companion's carriage to stop and borrowed two horses from his companion to help him. According to the conventional way of thinking, if one horse cannot pull uphill and the other two horses come to help, then they must be here to help pull the cart. But the porter did not tie the traction rope to the car, but tied the traction rope around the neck of his own horse. At this time, I heard a shout from the porter, and the two borrowed horses pulled the lazy horse's neck. The lazy horse pulled the coal cart and quickly went up the slope. You may be confused about the porter's approach. If you use two borrowed horses to pull your own lazy horse, the result is that your own lazy horse is still working hard, and the other two horses are not only unable to work hard, but may also be injured. own horse.

The porter used reverse thinking.

Thought 1: The strength of this horse is similar to that of other horses, and the coal loaded in the cart is also similar. If other horses can get up, this horse should be able to get up. The reason why it cannot get up is this. A lazy horse, that is, is a problem of attitude, not ability.

Thought 2: Using two horses to pull the neck of the lazy horse forces the lazy horse to use its maximum strength to pull the coal truck forward. Otherwise, the neck may be broken by the other two horses. The desire to survive makes the lazy horse have to actively pull the cart uphill.

Thought 3: If you let the other two horses help pull the car, you can pull the car uphill smoothly. But after letting the horse taste the sweetness of being lazy, he will definitely wait for other horses to help when he encounters an uphill slope. And tying its neck and letting the other two horses teach it a lesson can make it remember the pain of being lazy and not dare to be lazy again when going uphill in the future, thus curing the horse's laziness.

We have to admit that the groom’s trick of using reverse thinking to solve the lazy horse problem is really superior to others.

The third advantage of reverse thinking can be derived from the above: reverse thinking will enable you to obtain the best methods and approaches among various methods of solving problems.

Example: The party committee of an enterprise implements a differential election, which stipulates that 21 party committee members will be selected from 23 candidates. The conventional method of operation is to issue ballots based on the number of party members and representatives, with a list of 23 candidates. After the representatives get the ballots, they "select" the 21 candidates they agree with. After the voting, the scrutineers will count the votes, and the 21 highest vote-getters will be elected. No one has any objection to this common practice. However, this is an inefficient approach. For this problem, using reverse thinking, you can do it like this: after you get the votes, "select" the two people you disagree with. When the votes are counted, each vote is only sung twice. In the end, whose "vote" Whoever has more "will lose the election." In this way, the time spent on each representative is only one-tenth of the original time, and the counting time of each ballot is only one-tenth of the original time. The electoral efficiency is increased tenfold. If you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to find that this approach not only improves efficiency, but also helps to increase the sense of pressure and responsibility of candidates and representatives. When selecting the 21 candidates who are in favor, many people tick the boxes from front to back. As long as they are not very unpleasant, they tick downwards in order. The final result is often that the two candidates at the bottom are most likely to lose. This approach makes it less stressful for the losers, who are not in a bad geographical position. And if the representative has to select 2 people who he thinks are unsuitable from 23 candidates, it will increase the pressure on the candidate. He must pay great attention to his own image and improve his shortcomings. For representatives, they must think carefully and express their opinions responsibly.

From the above, we can derive the fourth advantage of reverse thinking: consciously applying reverse thinking in life will simplify complex problems, thereby doubling the efficiency and effectiveness of work.

Example: The double-pointed embroidery needle invented by Wang Fan, a ten-year-old primary school student in Hubei, won the first prize in the 4th National Youth Invention and Creation Competition and was awarded the Special Invention Award by the China Invention Association. . Wang Fan once carefully observed the embroidery process of adults in Hunan embroidery. He saw that the embroidery needle pierced the bottom of the cloth with the tip of the needle facing down. The needle needed to be turned around to pierce the top of the cloth again. The needle needed to be turned around again to pierce the top of the cloth. This operation was repeated. , very troublesome.

Xiao Wangfan thought, can we embroider without turning the needle? A conventional embroidery needle has a needle tip on one end and a nose on the other end. Obviously, the needle nose cannot replace the function of the needle tip, and conversely, the needle tip cannot replace the function of the needle nose. How to improve embroidery needles? Wang Fan thought that since the embroidery needle cannot be turned around for embroidery, the embroidery needle must be symmetrical. Let both ends be pinpoints. So what to do about needle nose? After thinking, Wang Fan chose the needle nose to be in the middle of the needle. The double-pointed embroidery needle invented by Wang Fan has a needle tip below, which can pierce the embroidery cloth. Pull out the needle from below, and there is also a tip on the top. You no longer need to turn the embroidery needle to continue embroidery, which reduces the steps of embroidery operations and improves efficiency. Embroidery speed. Although the double-pointed embroidery needle is simple, it is very innovative and practical.

Xiao Wangfan used reverse thinking to change the asymmetrical embroidery needle into a symmetrical one and invented the double-pointed embroidery needle.

The fifth advantage of reverse thinking can be derived from the above: reverse thinking also contributes to human invention and creation.

Example: Using reverse thinking to deal with the problem of infidelity in marriage will also work wonders. In a marriage, if one party is unfaithful, for example, the husband has a lover outside the home, when the wife who loves her husband knows about it, she will usually resort to violent or extreme methods such as crying, making trouble, knocking on the door, or threatening her with death. Trying to save a dying marriage is rarely successful in this way. Even if the husband does not divorce due to pressure, the relationship between the couple will completely collapse.

A smart wife adopted a reverse thinking approach. The husband has a lover outside and is intoxicated. When the wife found out, she quietly left the house to make room for her husband and his lover. Before leaving, she left a note saying, "Dear: Since I married you, I have loved you deeply with my heart and hope you are happy. Since you like to be with her, I am very grateful to you." Tell me, let you find your own happiness. I will leave home for a while and ask you to think carefully about our relationship before making a decision."

This is how the wife considered the problem. :

First, since the husband already has a crush on him, it will not help to cry, make trouble, hang himself or take other drastic measures, and it will also completely damage the relationship between the couple for many years and make the relationship between husband and wife complete. rupture. If you choose to leave calmly, even if you can't save the family marriage, at least both parties will not be deeply hurt.

Secondly, if the husband’s lover is excellent in all aspects, then the husband has his own reasons for loving his lover. Crying and making trouble will only make the husband look down on him more. It is a sign of weakness, which is disguised. Prove that he is indeed inferior to his lover;

Thirdly, men often like lovers out of the mentality that what they can’t get is the best, because the relationship between the two parties is in a secret and underground state, and this sense of distance makes There is a strong sense of beauty between lovers, and simply bringing you into close contact will allow you to truly understand her more realistically and faster.

After having close contact with his lover, the husband suddenly discovered that his lover was not as good as his virtuous wife in many ways. He left his lover decisively and returned to his wife soon after.

This wife used reverse thinking, did not cry or make trouble, left space for her husband, left space for herself, and at the same time left space for her husband to look back, and finally saved the family.

From the above, we can derive the sixth advantage of reverse thinking: using "reverse thinking" to think about problems will often help you enter the realm of "a new village with a bright future and a bright future" when "the road is full of doubts and there is no way out".

Actively using reverse thinking in daily life can play an important role in broadening and inspiring ideas. When you are stuck in a dead end of thinking and cannot extricate yourself, you might as well try the reverse thinking method, break the original thinking pattern, and do the opposite, maybe your eyes will light up and you will suddenly become enlightened.