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Show Page 10 The Ogden Valley news Volume XIX Issue III May 1, 2011 How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: A Book Review By Forrest Brown Looking through our home library recently for a book to write about this month, I came across one that I read years ago that I could not put down at the time. The book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vince was written by Michael J. Gelb who is a world-renowned innovator in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and leadership development. His clients include Amoco, AT&T, DuPont, Merck, and Xerox. His is also the author of the How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook which is the companion volume to this book. Through the studying and reading of this book, one is able to master such life-changing abilities such as problem solving, creative thinking, self-expression, enjoying the world around you, goal setting and life balance, and harmonizing body and mind. There are seven Da Vician elements or principles essential for genius presented in Mr. Gelb’s powerful book. These include the following: • Curiosita or curiosity • Dimostrazione or demonstration • Sensazione or refinement of the senses • Sfumato or going up in smoke • Arte/ Scienza or balance • Corporalita or grace • Connessione or systems thinking Curiosity is something that as Mr. Gelb points out was one of Leonardo da Vinci’s strongest attributes. As a youth he possessed an intense sense of curiosity about the world around him. He was totally fascinated with nature, drawing and sketching, mathematics, the human body, and virtually everything before him. His sense of wonder and insatiable inquisitiveness, his breath and depth of interest, and his willingness to question accepted knowledge never abated during his entire life. Leonardo wrote “I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains . . . Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it . . . How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone.” Being curious like Leonardo helps one develop a unique power of creative problem solving that seems to be sorely missing in our society today. This is tied closely to continuous learning of which Leonardo said “Just as iron rusts from disuse, and stagnant water putrefies, or when cold turns to ice, so our intellect wastes unless it is kept in use.” The next principle of genius that da Vinci perfected was demonstration. According to the author of this book, demonstration is the commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Demonstration is the ability to make the most of your own experiences. Leonardo did this partly in the studio of the master painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio. The training the young Leonard received as an apprentice under the hand of a master emphasized experience more than theory. He learned to prepare canvases and paints and was introduced to the optics of perspective. Da Vinci’s independent spirit led him to question much of the accepted theory and dogma of his time. Learning by demonstration means you get your hands dirty and this Leonardo did. He walked the hills of Lombardy and held fossils in his own hands. He dissected more than thirty human bodies and countless animal corpses when he wanted to study anatomy. Despite mistakes, disasters, failures, and disappointments, Leonardo never stopped learning, exploring, and experimenting. Sensazione or the continual refinement of the senses is the subsequent principle that we look at next. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell writes Mr. Gelb are the doors that Leonardo da Vinci opened to discover the secrets of the world. Leonard believed that the universe is revealed through the senses, especially the sense of sight. He said “He who loves his sight loses his view of the universe . . . Do you not see that the eye encompasses the beauty of the whole world; It is the master of astronomy, it assists and directs all the arts of man. It sends men forth to all the corners of the earth . . . It has created architecture and perspective, and lastly, the divine art of painting.” Hearing, and therefore music, came next in importance to da Vinci. He wrote, “music may be called the sister of painting . . . because it does not fade away as soon as it is born.” Among his many extraordinary talents, Leonardo was a brilliant musician. He was popular at many events playing the flute, the lyre, and other instruments. He also valued and encouraged the refinement of the other senses such as the scent of flowers and perfumes and his passion COMMENTARY cont. from page 3 score, the economy suffers. Granting lower taxes to businesses, however, must be done in a way that assures that the benefits are converted into American jobs, not further overseas expansions or investor dividends and the like. Perhaps a formula can be developed wherein the corporate tax rate for individual companies is lowered retroactively in proportion to the number of new American jobs they create. ing; and, perhaps even more importantly, to help increase revenues to the Treasury. Indeed, encouraging job growth should be a top-priority goal in this discussion. In this regard, there is merit in considering lowering taxes and regulatory barriers on companies and corporations. After all, when a company has increased tax burdens, their flexibility in the marketplace is reduced and much of the financial burden Robert Donahoe, is simply passed on to the consumer. By any Eden for the culinary arts. He did say, however, that the average human being “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking.” The willingness to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty is a principle of genius that Leonardo cultivated and developed during his life. His search for beauty led him to explore ugliness in many forms. His sketches of battles, grotesques, and deluges often appear next to sublime evocations of flowers and beautiful youths. As he learned more about everything, Leonardo was plunged deeper into ambiguity. One of his extreme expressions of paradox was his famous painting the Mona Lisa. The mystery of her smile has over the centuries unleashed torrents of ink. Some called her a womanly equivalent of Christ and her character lies on the edge of good and evil, compassion and cruelty, seduction and innocence. Dr. Lillian Schwartz of Bell Laboratories applied sophisticated computer modeling with precision measurements to the Mona Lisa with Leonardo’s self-portrait and the outcome was astonishing. The relative locations of the nose, mouth, chin, eyes and forehead of both paintings matched precisely leading Dr. Schwartz to conclude that the model for his most famous painting was none other than the master himself. The development of balance between science and art, logic, and imagination is the fifth principle of genius that Mr. Gelb explores. This is also known as whole brain thinking. Many researchers have studied and written about the left and the right brain phenomenal, however, over six hundred years ago Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated with what we know now as whole-brain thinking. Was Leonardo a scientist who studied art, an artist who studied science? Clearly as Michael Gelb points out he was both. His scientific studies of rocks, plants, flight, flowing water, and human anatomy were all expressed in beautiful, evocative, expressive works of arts, not dry technical drawings. “Leonardo . . . took an artist’s vision into the science. He understood that science, as much as painting, has to find the design of nature in her detail . . . he gave science what is most needed, the artist’s sense that the detail of nature is significant.” Da Vinci used this characteristic of genius to do things such as developing maps. In his map of Imola his ability to see the whole picture and the amount of details he provided allowed him to make remarkably accurate maps. The sixth principle of genius as explained by Mr. Gelb is titled corporalita. Simply, it is the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. Leonardo da Vinci’s extraordinary physical gifts complemented his intellectual and artistic genius. He possessed great physical beauty and athleticism. His skill as an equestrian was renowned and his strength was legendary. Witnesses of his time described Leonardo as being able to stop horses at a full gallop, capable of bending horseshoes and door knockers with his bare hands and he was dexterous. Walking, riding, swimming, and fencing were his preferred forms of regular exercise. He was a vegetarian and an accomplished chef and believed that a thoughtful diet was the key to good health and well-being. His philosophy for medicine was holistic and urged people to “Learn to preserve your health.” He believed in order to have good physical health, you must beware of anger and avoid grievous moods, rest your head and keep your mind cheerful, be covered well at night, exercise moderately, keep upright at the dining table, eat simple foods and chew them well, and go to the toilet regularly. Wow, what a genius! The last principle of genius discussed in this book is known as connessione or systems thinking. Albert Einstein was a proponent of this theory. It basically is a recognition of and an appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Some call this the String Theory. Leonardo wrote “The stone where it strikes the surface of the water, causes circles around it which spread out until they are lost; and in the same manner the air, when struck by a voice or a noise, also had a circular motion . . . Swimming in water teaches men how birds fly upon the air . . . Mountains are made by currents of rivers. Mountains are destroyed by the currents of rivers . . . Every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.” Da Vinci was able to see past the obvious as evident by one of his daily to-do list. On it he wrote, “Show how clouds form and dissolve, how water vapor rises from the earth to the air . . . describe the aerial regions, and the causes of snow and hail, how water condenses, and hardens into ice, and how new figures form in the air, and new leaves on the trees, and icicles on the stones of cold places.” The maestro’s sense of integration of all things is obvious by viewing his copious volumes of notes. He had notes on practically everything, birds in flight, fighting machines, flying apparatuses, human anatomy, nature, and much more. In his notebooks he never provided a table of contents, an outline, or an index. He scrawled notes in apparently random order, switched from topic to topic, and repeated himself frequently. In his defense one has to only understand that this genius of all times didn’t need to organize things by category, or create an outline, because he saw how everything connected to everything else. Thus, as you read and review this incredible book by Michael Gelb, you will be captivated by this extraordinary man who set the standard in each of the seven principles of genius for the rest of us to follow. Read the book and let me know what you think at <brownfamily09@msn.com> BE INVOLVED cont. from page 3 The increase in Government Online services provides Utah citizens easy access to government. Let’s talk about lobbyists for just a brief moment. Personally, I used to think they were the scourge of the earth. After some experience, I realize, like most everything, there is good and bad. Very simply, lobbyists are experts with agendas. With the amount of bills that legislators have to consider, lobbyists become a vital part of the process. On the flip side, when developing legislation, it’s vital to get input from all affected parties. Can you imagine having to deal with so many groups and people? Nothing would get accomplished. Instead, in a very efficient system, groups hire lobbyists to represent their interests. The lobbyists, in turn, will meet with legislators to develop good policies that take in account the needs of the whole. It comes down to establishing which lobbyists you can trust. I’ve observed the usefulness of lobbyists first hand. Not only can they be efficient, they’re fun to tease. Keep in mind that the minute you contact your Representative with an opinion, you become a citizen lobbyist. To be an effective citizen, you must be informed and a good communicator. You can make a difference for good. Please do! I hope this helps. I’d be happy to answer any questions. Questions are vital! I don’t know everything, you don’t know everything, and even those who have been in leadership for years don’t know everything. It’s imperative that we ask questions. Take care of our state and country. It’s up to you. Familiarize yourself with Rules of Order. In this case they are called Mason’s Rules. Basically, all decisions will be made in public. While making those decisions, the body (the legislators) while in session or in committee meetings, will follow rules that bring order and civility making it possible to accomplish a great deal more than if there were no rules. The important thing to remember is that no official decision, no vote to affect law can be taken in private. All votes and debate will be on the public record available for anyone to view. You will find all official proceedings on the www. le.utah.gov site. Utah is the top state in the country for online government usability and transparency. Consider the following: According to http://www.centerdigitalgov. com/survey/61 : In 2010, Utah was one of only two states to receive an “A” grade in the Digital States Survey a comprehensive study that examines best practices in state government information technology, as well as progress made by the states using digital technology to serve their citizens. In 2010, Utah became the first state in the country to capture the Center for Digital Government’s Best of the Web award in consecutive eligible years when it released its innovative new website <utah.gov> The number of State Online Services has increased from 200 in 2004 to over 900 in 2010. BINGhAM’S CUSTOM MEATS Custom Meat Cutting & Retail Meat Sales Opening on May 1, 2011 Grand Opening Retail Counter May 28 371 E. 300 N. Morgan UT Find us on Facebook PreserVaTiOn. PrOTecTiOn. sTewardshiP. Join today to preserve Ogden Valley’s grace. www.OgdenValleyLandTrust.org Call Us Today at 801-645-2472 |