The Magic of Mental Diagrams by Claudio Aros

Author:Claudio Aros
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

[Answer: it is a herbivore for two reasons, the first being that it has developed defensive plates instead of attack features, and second, that his jaw is not as big and strong as that of carnivores.]

Charles Darwin

There is no doubt that we all have the ability to classify objects, events, and people with high precision. This is partly because we have been programmed to perform such functions. But there are people in history who have excelled because they possess a well-developed faculty; in this case Charles Darwin is a good example of naturalistic intelligence.

As a child, Darwin seems to have been more of a dreamer than a child prodigy. He enjoyed long walks alone and from his earliest youth he was a passionate lover of nature. As he said, “I was born a naturalist.” Every aspect of nature aroused in him a great curiosity. He was considered an ordinary child, or rather slow compared to the average. It was said that he was very slow to learn, and once his father rebuked him saying, “You will never amount to anything, all you care about is hunting, dogs, and killing rats, you will become an embarrassment to yourself and your family.” Indeed, he preferred to collect animals, shells, eggs, vegetables, and minerals, as well as read books about nature above all other activities. Despite the bad omens that his father, peers, and teachers foretold, Darwin did very well in the natural sciences. Before Darwin’s time scientific classifications of living things already existed. The science of classification is called taxonomy. This word is composed of two others: “taxis,” which is order, and “nomo,” science.

Before Darwin made his appearance, there was a clear and useful classification of living things, but it was the young Charles who could give a reason for the existence of these groups. Charles Darwin stated unequivocally that the members of a taxon (group) are similar because they are descended from a common ancestor.

For example, the similarities between a zebra and a horse are due to the fact that they share a common ancestor. Applying the same idea to the human species created a controversy that continues to be disputed even today.

As you may have already seen, we are all born with an innate sorting “kit.” This capability, along with those mentioned previously, will be key to designing your mental diagrams. What if we start training this innate intelligence that sometimes remains hidden?

“Management and classification skills are key to designing mental diagrams.”

EXERCISES FOR CREATING ASSOCIATIONS

The following exercises are prepared to help you exercise your sorting skills. Relax and let the left hemisphere take control freely. I bet you will find them very interesting.

Exercise number 1: The shopping list

Here is a simple exercise to do with the shopping list. You have to group different products so that when you go to the supermarket it will be easy to find them in each section.

Tea

Cushion

Soda

Bread

Tuna

Oil

Detergent

Coffee

Diapers

Paper

Potatoes

Milk

Bicycle

Sugar

T-shirt

Batteries

Peanuts

Tomatoes

Cookbook

Chicken

Ballpoint pen

CDs

Butter

Eggs

Exercise number 2: Positive attitudes

You will notice that the previous exercise was very easy. This one will be

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