Projects

Twelve Projects that Study Thinking

Why are We Thinking? We Clarify Reasons for Thinking.

Features of Reasons for Thinking.Sets of options that thinking raises, and the issues each set deals with.  When we grapple with our own minds, we become aware of the difference between our minds and our wills.  Our minds present us with options before we can choose from among them.  Even so, our wills may decline to choose, and simply wait for our minds to take a different approach.  Our study of the connection between the sets of options our minds offer and the issues they address should make us more critical of the role our minds play, and more aware of the spectrum of issues that our wills may respond to.  Of special interest to: Designers of user interfaces, users of mobile computing devices.

Uses of Reasons for Thinking. Domains of thinking, and what in each domain is considered creative. Sculpture, surgery, music, programming, and other fields offer different understandings of what is creative.  We can develop an idea by expressing it in a variety of media, such as a poetry, photography, or music, and learning from the response of our audience.  If we place our work in the public domain, then we may also learn from our fellow creators.  Andrius Kulikauskas presented such a strategy for developing ideas at the Mannheim Film Festival Coproduction Meetings as producer for Rimas Morkunas' documentary film "Tomas".  Of special interest to: Multitalented artists, publishers for the public domain.

How are We Thinking? We Provide Tools for Thinking.

Features of Tools for Thinking. Features of tools that support thinking, and how these features support thinking.  The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Indiana University, and Computer Sciences Corporation are institutions with myriads of knowledge workers who want tools that match their needs and styles.  What makes for a complete and harmonious set of tools for knowledge work?  Of special interest to: Companies with many knowledge workers, Enterprise Application Integration solution providers.

Uses of Tools for Thinking. Projects of thinkers, and what they reflect about the needs of thinkers.  In Lithuania, during the Soviet occupation, a remarkable number of thinkers worked in isolation to develop sophisticated systems of ideas.  Hewlett-Packard is showing some interest in the mature needs of such thinkers.  Meeting their needs is a way of preparing for future market opportunities.  Of special interest to: Independent thinkers, market researchers.

What are We Thinking? We Develop Structures for Thinking

Features of Structures for Thinking.Effects of structure on thinking, and what these effects determine about a general format for information.  Kestas Augutis had an idea for "3 Books" by which a school child could write her thoughts in a sequence to create her own chronicle, in a hierarchy to create her own thesaurus, and in a network to create her own encyclopedia.  By arranging ideas in a sequence, we distinguish between the strong and the weak ideas, in a hierarchy - the broad and the narrow, and in a network - the vague and the clear ideas.  Such effects let us understand what a sequence, hierarchy, and network mean with regard to the arrangement of thoughts, and how best to formalize these structures in defining a standard for notes.  Andrius Kulikauskas presented a first version of such a standard to the Unified Knowledge Language work group at the January, 1999 meeting of the Knowledge Management Consortium International, and to the Infrared Mobile Computing work group at the April, 1999 meeting of the Infrared Data Association.  Of special interest to: Educators, programming language creators.

Uses of Structures for Thinking. Useful restructurings of information, and the tools and formats that each such restructuring requires.  Natrificial Software Technologies, www.thebrain.com, a member of the Minciu Sodas laboratory, is the maker of The Brain, software for creating and visualizing relations between items.  Why and how might systems of notes be transferred to such software from Lotus Notes, HTML, Microsoft Word, and vice versa?  Programmers will create converters to transfer notes to and from various software by way of a common format.  Of special interest to: Software vendors, software users.

Are We Thinking? We Promote Formats for Thinking

Features of Formats for Thinking. Components of standards for structuring information, and how each might be expressed within a universal format for thoughts.  Standards for information usually include auxiliary fields devoted to harmonizing records, for example, last update.  Various standards might work better together if these auxiliary fields were understood within a broader framework. Communities of thinkers can learn from such auxiliary fields, in their search for "rules of the road" for cooperation that would discourage unhelpful discussions.  Of special interest to: Community organizers, standards developers.

Uses of Formats for Thinking. Possible applications of a universal format for thoughts, and how they might be realized through existing formats. Andrius Kulikauskas presented a possible vThought standard for sequences, hierarchies, and networks of information to the Infrared Mobile Computing work group.  It was suggested that he collect examples where such a standard might enrich the communication through infrared waves of various consumer appliances.  Such practical examples from every day life could speed up the creation and implementation of a standard for structured notes, and help give rise to a fantasticly woven world where devices can be thought of as talking and thinking.  The Infrared Data Association can implement such a standard within twelve months.  Of special interest to: Consumer product makers, consumer groups.