Logic / problem solving difficulty - suggestions?

[lyscra]

Hello,

My wife has been here for a year and a half now. She has acclimated well overall and just got her drivers license a few months ago. One thing that I continually notice is that she lacks the ability to tackle any kind of problem that she hasnt previosly been shown how to solve. She told me once that imagination and creativity is not something that was encouraged in China. This is a serious problem to my thinking. I need to figure out how to teach her logicical problem solving and Im not sure how. She is unable to really process problems outside of a group. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

 

Thanks!

-Sy

[usaRichard]

Hello,

My wife has been here for a year and a half now. She has acclimated well overall and just got her drivers license a few months ago. One thing that I continually notice is that she lacks the ability to tackle any kind of problem that she hasnt previosly been shown how to solve. She told me once that imagination and creativity is not something that was encouraged in China. This is a serious problem to my thinking. I need to figure out how to teach her logicical problem solving and Im not sure how. She is unable to really process problems outside of a group. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

 

Thanks!

-Sy

 

That reminds me of my math teacher in high school telling the class that learning Geometry teaches logical thinking...but I doubt this is what you're looking for.

 

start here http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&amp...ogical+thinking

 

Richard

[LeeFisher3]

Try simple card and dice games where you risk it all. Farkle and UNO are a lot of fun.

[shushuweiwei]

Hello,

My wife has been here for a year and a half now. She has acclimated well overall and just got her drivers license a few months ago. One thing that I continually notice is that she lacks the ability to tackle any kind of problem that she hasnt previosly been shown how to solve. She told me once that imagination and creativity is not something that was encouraged in China. This is a serious problem to my thinking. I need to figure out how to teach her logicical problem solving and Im not sure how. She is unable to really process problems outside of a group. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

 

Thanks!

-Sy

 

Logic and critical thinking are subjects very dear to my heart. Some would say I think too deeply about such things so excuse me if I ramble.

 

I think that you may have lumped more than one "problem" into a single category.

 

I don't think the Chinese lack imagination. Their imagination has different constraints than ours, but ours definitely has its own constraints.

 

The group vs individual thing isn't neccesarily a problem of logic but of a difference in underlying assumptions that cause the same logic to return different results. I find the best solution there to be aware, as much of possible, of the assumptions she's working from. Usually, you'll have to ask as they won't be apparent to you. Then you can more reliably (though never perfectly) predict her responses.

 

Another difference that comes into play is that western thinking tends to be much more linear. If we can go A--B--result, we will. Eastern thinking tends to be less linear so it may resemble A--W--B--C--Y--result. Why? It was just an interesting path with side thoughts about interconnected issues. Sometimes, our western mind can be impatient. Why are you not at the result in 3 steps?! When we see what we consider wandering off to C and Y we think the person can't solve the problem but in fact, if given enough time, they may produce the same or an equally workable result.

 

Of course, one thing that we all forget (me especially) is that human beings are not logical creatures by nature. The science of logic has been a way to constrain the bizarre way that we as humans make decisions. It was definitely not derived from observing human behavior but by trying to correct it. We all get frustrated when we expect people to be logical, but its not a reasonable expectation.

 

One way our western minds make the path shorter is by filtering out ambiguity. The eastern mind (all of this is in general, of course) can hold the ambiguity and then there are more possibilties to consider. Western minds tend to force things into clear categories, then make decisions based on that. As an example, Is communism/socialism good or bad? The more eastern your thinking the more likely you are to reply "both", as you would for capitalism as well. The western mind would create the dichotomy communism/capitalism and asign one to good and one to bad, then choose. In the example above the path from A to B may be clearer to us in part because we've filtered out the ambiguity and narrowed the possibilites.

 

I think it is good to try to be aware that our cultures think differently and factor in those differences. You may have to wait longer for a result. You may have to consider a result that your direct path did not produce and ask if it is actually wrong or just different.

 

If you present western thinking as good and to be emulated and eatern thinking as faulty and to be corrected (not suggesting you did) you will probably not have a willing student. If you are willing to lay out your thought process (because after all, it isn't going to display on our foreheads ) and be willing to listen to hers, you will both learn something. All the while you'll be fighting the western urge to assign one as right and one as wrong, one good and one bad. Both ways of thought have their advantages. The western way has the advantage of speed over accuracy. The eastern way has the advantage of a wider range of correct solutions to choose from. In the end, you may find that there are times when you would be better off taking the eastern route and times when she'd be better off taking the western route. If you can be as interested in hearing about the steps and assumptions she used to get her solution as you are in detailing the steps and assumptions to your solution, then you'll both have new tools to solve problems, IMHO.

 

On the other hand, if you just want her to think like a western person, you may have to enroll her in Kindergarten and in about 13 years your wish will come true!

[lyscra]

Hello,

My wife has been here for a year and a half now. She has acclimated well overall and just got her drivers license a few months ago. One thing that I continually notice is that she lacks the ability to tackle any kind of problem that she hasnt previosly been shown how to solve. She told me once that imagination and creativity is not something that was encouraged in China. This is a serious problem to my thinking. I need to figure out how to teach her logicical problem solving and Im not sure how. She is unable to really process problems outside of a group. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

 

Thanks!

-Sy

 

Logic and critical thinking are subjects very dear to my heart. Some would say I think too deeply about such things so excuse me if I ramble.

 

I think that you may have lumped more than one "problem" into a single category.

 

I don't think the Chinese lack imagination. Their imagination has different constraints than ours, but ours definitely has its own constraints.

 

The group vs individual thing isn't neccesarily a problem of logic but of a difference in underlying assumptions that cause the same logic to return different results. I find the best solution there to be aware, as much of possible, of the assumptions she's working from. Usually, you'll have to ask as they won't be apparent to you. Then you can more reliably (though never perfectly) predict her responses.

 

Another difference that comes into play is that western thinking tends to be much more linear. If we can go A--B--result, we will. Eastern thinking tends to be less linear so it may resemble A--W--B--C--Y--result. Why? It was just an interesting path with side thoughts about interconnected issues. Sometimes, our western mind can be impatient. Why are you not at the result in 3 steps?! When we see what we consider wandering off to C and Y we think the person can't solve the problem but in fact, if given enough time, they may produce the same or an equally workable result.

 

Of course, one thing that we all forget (me especially) is that human beings are not logical creatures by nature. The science of logic has been a way to constrain the bizarre way that we as humans make decisions. It was definitely not derived from observing human behavior but by trying to correct it. We all get frustrated when we expect people to be logical, but its not a reasonable expectation.

 

One way our western minds make the path shorter is by filtering out ambiguity. The eastern mind (all of this is in general, of course) can hold the ambiguity and then there are more possibilties to consider. Western minds tend to force things into clear categories, then make decisions based on that. As an example, Is communism/socialism good or bad? The more eastern your thinking the more likely you are to reply "both", as you would for capitalism as well. The western mind would create the dichotomy communism/capitalism and asign one to good and one to bad, then choose. In the example above the path from A to B may be clearer to us in part because we've filtered out the ambiguity and narrowed the possibilites.

 

I think it is good to try to be aware that our cultures think differently and factor in those differences. You may have to wait longer for a result. You may have to consider a result that your direct path did not produce and ask if it is actually wrong or just different.

 

If you present western thinking as good and to be emulated and eatern thinking as faulty and to be corrected (not suggesting you did) you will probably not have a willing student. If you are willing to lay out your thought process (because after all, it isn't going to display on our foreheads ) and be willing to listen to hers, you will both learn something. All the while you'll be fighting the western urge to assign one as right and one as wrong, one good and one bad. Both ways of thought have their advantages. The western way has the advantage of speed over accuracy. The eastern way has the advantage of a wider range of correct solutions to choose from. In the end, you may find that there are times when you would be better off taking the eastern route and times when she'd be better off taking the western route. If you can be as interested in hearing about the steps and assumptions she used to get her solution as you are in detailing the steps and assumptions to your solution, then you'll both have new tools to solve problems, IMHO.

 

On the other hand, if you just want her to think like a western person, you may have to enroll her in Kindergarten and in about 13 years your wish will come true!

 

I wish it were so simple as eastern vs western thinking. No, she just gets stuck, and then looks up at me with her big puppy-cat eyes and asks me how to do it. No, there is just a lack of logic/problem solving training. I dont want her to be a clone or a westerner, but I would like her to be able to tackle problems on her own.

[LeeFisher3]

I wish it were so simple as eastern vs western thinking. No, she just gets stuck, and then looks up at me with her big puppy-cat eyes and asks me how to do it. No, there is just a lack of logic/problem solving training. I dont want her to be a clone or a westerner, but I would like her to be able to tackle problems on her own.

Some things just take time, she might just be turning to you because she believes you know the answer and she trusts you. You might try occasionally turning the situation into a lighthearted game. The trick is to make it fun.

 

My wife was never really too concerned with her surroundings and had to be lead to the car after shopping at the mall. One time I told her we were going to play a game called "find the car". I parked at the mall and we got out and I told her to look around and find a few things she could remember. At first she picked the red car and blue truck as a point of reference and we went shopping. Then from the middle of the mall I told her it was time to play our game and asked her "where's the car?" She looked extremely puzzled, but decided she would give it a try. After trying 2 different exits to the mall and being unsuccessful she asked me to help. I got her to the correct exit and she couldn't find the red car.

 

It begins with little things and patience, now my wife jumps in the car and goes shopping alone or with a friend. She always knows where she parked the car and where she entered the mall and seems to find her way home without any difficulty. This is the same game my dad played with me when I was about 5 years old.

 

But this didn't happen overnight, things we take for granted being raised in the US are not always easy for our spouses to learn. Just be patient and keep it fun, one thing will lead to another.

[IllinoisDave]

My wife was never really too concerned with her surroundings and had to be lead to the car after shopping at the mall.

 

Amazing! I thought my wife was the only one. It doesn't matter how large or small the parking lot. After we park and go in a store or mall and come back out, she invariably starts walking in the wrong direction. I mean EVERY time. It was funny the first hundred or so times but now it's a little annoying. I'll have to try your "find the car" game.