‘Creative Possibilities’
June 12, 2008 by Holst Group
Edward de Bono’s Message
The UN and individual countries can never talk in terms of ‘creative possibilities’. Every utterance has to be in terms of a ‘decided position’. This is because there is a responsibility to the electorate and also the position is going to be judged as ‘definite’ anyway. If each party put forward a range of ‘possibilities’ then it might be possible to design a way forward.
That is very much what my book is about: the difference between ‘judgement’ and ‘design’. Our thinking culture has always been based on judgement because medieval theologians needed to prove heretics to be wrong. In any case religion is more about judgement than design.
Alternatively, we could think about religion as being a life-long exploration of the many possible designs for living a good life… Yes, there can be dogma and its consequences, but religion can also point to “life in all its abundance” (which, I think, was the original idea!)
To say “religion is more about judgement than design” is to make a judgement statement. Of course, Jesus, the author of ‘christianity’ (which some say is not a religion at all) said “Judge not, so that you will not be judged.” This command embraces the idea that judgement statements lead to unproductive confrontation. Perhaps it is certain types of people, rather than religions, who are responsible for choosing the path of judgement or design.