Thinking at the edge

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Thinking at the Edge (TAE) is a general creativity technique developed by Eugene T. Gendlin and his colleagues Teresa Dawson, Mary Hendricks and Kye Nelsonaus from the special focusing method. While focusing guides people to help themselves in solving personal problems, TAE can be used universally to generate ideas .

The tentative thinking from diffuse to concrete, which can be observed in all creativity techniques, led to the naming ( edge , German: Rand, Schwelle). Like all techniques, TAE aims to make the knowledge hidden in every person ( tacit knowledge ) usable, whereby embodied knowledge should also be made accessible through the focusing-oriented approach .

Historical development

The experience gained during focusing led to the conviction that the body-related procedure could also be helpful for solving factual questions. Forerunner of Thinking at the Edge is a seminar on the theory construction, Gendlin in the 1990s at the University of Chicago conducted has. In the following years the method was further developed. The result is an introduction that is available as a PDF file. In addition, written instructions for the individual steps have been drawn up, which are available in several languages.

application

Based on the first trials of TAE on students at the University of Chicago, the method is known mainly among humanities scholars to this day . For example, the University of East Anglia offers courses in TAE, for the preparation of which it is recommended to read Gendlin's basic book Focusing . The method is also used in other areas of the social sciences .

However, TAE is not limited to use in higher education. Gendlin emphasizes that TAE, along with focusing, is a practice for people in general.

“You don't all need to build a theory with formal, logically related terms. Thinking and expressing oneself are socially vital practices. "

- Eugene T. Gendlin: Introduction to Thinking at the Edge, p. 9. In: The Folio: A Journal for Focusing and Experiential Therapy. Vol. 19, No. 12, accessed December 7, 2017.

Methodology and criticism

The TAE instructions are written for the partnership focusing process in which the participants support each other. While one person develops their ideas undisturbed, the other person takes notes without commenting or evaluating. The protocol serves as a template for further development in terms of self-management and personal knowledge management .

Those who do not know the focusing process can attend professionally guided courses in which the basics of focusing and TAE are taught. The actual brainstorming exercise takes place in pairs according to Gendlin's written instructions. People with experience of focusing use TAE without outside help, just like focusing.

Since TAE presupposes familiarity with focusing, the spontaneous use of TAE among inexperienced people is difficult.

literature

  • Heinke Deloch: The inexpressible as a source of creativity. ET Gendlin's philosophy of the implicit and the Thinking at the Edge (“TAE”) method . In: Stefan Tolksdorf, Holm Tetens (Hrsg.): Verstrickt in language examples. Or: How to show the fly the way out. Interweaving of knowledge and ability . De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2010, ISBN 978-3-11-022465-8 , pp. 257-282.
  • Eugene T. Gendlin: Focusing. Self-help in solving personal problems (translated by Katherina Schoch). 9th edition (4th edition of the paperback edition), Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1998, ISBN 978-3-499-60521-5 (German first edition, Müller, Salzburg 1981, ISBN 3-7013-0617-6 ).
  • Eugene T. Gendlin: Thinking beyond patterns: Body, Language and Situations . In: Bernard den Ouden, Marcia Moen (Ed.): The Presence of Feeling in Thought (= American University Studies . No. 7). Peter Lang Publishing Group, New York 1992, ISBN 978-0-8204-1503-1 , p. 22 ff. (English).
  • Eugene T. Gendlin: Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning. A Philosophical and Psychological Approach to the Subjective . Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1962

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eugene T. Gendlin: Focusing . German first edition, Müller, Salzburg 1981, ISBN 3-7013-0617-6
  2. ↑ Eugene T. Gendlin: Introduction to "Thinking at the Edge" . In: The Folio: A Journal for Focusing and Experiential Therapy . Vol. 19, No. 12 ( full text [PDF; 160 kB ; accessed on December 8, 2017] American English: Introduction to "Thinking at the Edge" . Translated by Hanspeter Mühlethaler).
  3. ↑ Thinking At the Edge (TAE) Steps. Links to PDF documents in multiple languages. In: focusing.org. Retrieved December 8, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Thinking at the Edge at the University of East Anglia ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uea.ac.uk
  5. ↑ Guy Claxton: Thinking at the edge: developing soft creativity. In: Cambridge Journal of Education . tape 36 , no. 3 , 2006, p. 351-362 .
  6. ↑ Tony Hofmann: Experiential Communication. How can social interaction succeed in complex situations? ZKS, 2017, ISBN 978-3-934247-94-9 .
  7. ↑ Ulle Jäger: The body, the body, the sociology. Draft a theory of incorporation. Ulrike Helmer Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-89741-143-2 .
  8. ↑ Thinking At the Edge (TAE) Steps. Links to PDF documents in multiple languages. In: focusing.org. Retrieved December 8, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Eugene T. Gendlin: Introduction to "Thinking at the Edge"