Sounding Board: A Case for More than Internal Dialogue

There is a blind side to human nature to trust the self and exclude all other facts. The topic I want to cover is about how the most excellent thinkers have an external check on this, another individual or group that they consult, even as they go through the formulating process. An example that illustrates the effect of this is one most students will be able to relate to. Lets say that there's a report due this Thursday and one of the students of this class is worried that he might forget it on his way to class. He decides that the appropriate thing to do is to TAPE the report to the doorknob, making it impossible to forget the detail of keeping this among his class materials. This is similar to setting up thought checking, explaining your ideas to another to make sure they are feasible and hold up under scrutiny. This is something the rational mind would set up based on past experience.

The real life prospect of this was best shown in Albert Einstein's first set of published works. For each of his first five proposed scientific theories, the prenatal development came while walking through the countryside along a railroad track with his friend, Besso. Although Besso was another patent-office worker and not filled with a profound understanding of physics, he would accompany Einstein on these walks and listen to his theories, trying to understand by asking questions. The challenges he posed were answered by Einstein to great effect, and resulted in the publishing of Einstein's first five works, the so called "Annus Mirabilis Papers." Even though Besso had no degree in physics, and contributed no specific theories of his own, Einstein had the mind to thank him in all of these papers. Besso's patience, efforts, and inquisitiveness had driven forward Einstein's progress.