Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Three hundred and one days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Nine weeks to go. 

Happy New Year. Happy New Decade. Make it a good one.

295. "With enough effort you'll be able to connect anything with anything else from the past. I'm not sure that's always a good thing." (A Great)

296. The Art and Science of Catching up;
or
Hardest to learn is what we refuse to know.

297. Timeless knowledge. How does it make it to be that?

298. "How do you know, unless you look?"

299. Independent thinking—full honesty in thought can only exist when your livelihood & lifestyle are independent from relying on not thinking on your own & you're free from having to parrot what others ask you to say.

300. Learn. Never assume.

301. Nobody, but yourself.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_toxmap-federal-database-allowing-public-activity-6617752057187188736-pWWF

Thank you for bearing with us this year. See you around next decade, so to speak. Let's make the next decade a good one all together. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

"I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is to not be afraid of making mistakes or appearing naive." Abraham Maslow (1908-70)
"Cogito, ergo sum" (Rene Descartes, 1596-1650) 
"Who is John Galt?"

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Two hundred and ninety four days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Forty two weeks. Only ten weeks left to go. 

288. Embrace chaos. Make it your thinking friend.

289. Who am I? Who are we, humankind? What are we doing here? Why?

290. Business class exercise.

291. Take stock. Often. Act to improve. Repeat. "Higher and faster, Daddy!" (obviously a child is on a swing too young to push herself)

292. Violated <-> Elated => Action 
(December 22, 2019, Omaha Nebraska, USA)

293. There is always only one competitor of meaning: you of tomorrow vis-a-vis you of today. Make the competition count. 

294. Interconnectedness 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_presidents-politics-and-international-intervention-activity-6615251130358255616-E2yJ

Ask away any questions you may have. Merry Christmas. Read no. 295 to see how it is so important that today I can say that without fear. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

"I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is to not be afraid of making mistakes or appearing naive." Abraham Maslow (1908-70)
"Cogito, ergo sum" (Rene Descartes, 1596-1650) 
"Who is John Galt?"

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Two hundred and eighty seven days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Forty one weeks in our year long endeavor. 

Once again, busy with #SaveYatesForOmaha, preparing upcoming university courses, research, and a few other projects we've let the timing of the posting of the index suffer a little. It's here and up to date now. 

281. Get involved. The world is run by those who show up. 

282. Inertia—We stagnate. [...] Unless all people are thinking. 

283. Basic arithmetic. Use it. Every minute of every day. 

284. Act, don't brag. Under the radar if you must. 

285. Never give up. Fight for and cherish freedom to think. 

286. Stand up and speak your mind. Inspire others to do the same.

287. Assets. Ownership. Collateral. UCC 9 Secured Transformations.

Enjoy rehashing the last week and recognize we're past two thirds of our journey. Where did the time go? I guess time always flies when we're having fun. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

"I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is to not be afraid of making mistakes or appearing naive." Abraham Maslow (1908-70)
"Cogito, ergo sum" (Rene Descartes, 1596-1650) 
"Who is John Galt?"

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Two hundred and eighty days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Last week we completed 40 weeks in our year long endeavor. We do live interesting times. 

274. You. Buricul pămîntului. [The Center of the Universe.]

275. Believe in yourself and your objectively valid position no matter what. Future may thank you for it. Even if they may forget your actual name. 

276. Start. Fight procrastination with the brain's own ancient tools.

277. Questions to ask: Who and why would close down something that works?

278. Hardest thing is thinking and writing and speaking persuasively opposite your beliefs. Do it anyway!

279. "Always choose the right tool for the task." (A Great.)

280. As people pass away so does their thinking. Or lack thereof.

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

"I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is to not be afraid of making mistakes or appearing naive." Abraham Maslow (1908-70)
"Cogito, ergo sum" (Rene Descartes, 1596-1650) 
"Who is John Galt?"

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Two hundred and seventy three days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

This was last week, when we finished week 39. We've been very busy with #SaveYatesForOmaha and a few other ongoing projects taking first priority and thus the index of last week had to wait a week or so. Here it is, now:

267. Thank you!

268. Pioneer

269. Respect for one another 

270. Cherish help. Seek it. Nurture it. Respond to it in kind. Pass it on.

271. The trouble with thinking is that it's like an early Bugatti. "Once you get it to its incredible speed, how do you stop it?" (cca. 1909)

272. Beware majority

273. Calling
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6607841689971240960-577O

Our course is getting more and more in depth and it requires more and more detailed work from readers, aka learners. Remember I'm always available to help with a thought or analytical path or question you have and draft answer y'all are considering. Just email me and we'll schedule a live face to face conversation via Skype etc. 

Thank you!

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Two hundred and sixty six in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

We finished 38 weeks of critical thinking related concepts and procedures, introduced one a day every day. Or, in other words, we have less than 100 days to go.

260. Beware "I'm first." statements. Dig deeper. Learn.
(A solar oven is good news.—But how old is it?)

261. Ask "Why?" of any crazy idea. Any idea was crazy at one time. Make more crazy ideas live and grow.

262. In spite of.

263. W. Edwards Deming's cafeteria 

264. Translate back and forth. From everyone. For everyone. Not just language, but also culture.

or

"For [Carl Sagan's] sons. May their future, and the future of all human and other beings be bright with promise." (1973)

265. Beware accelerated information asymmetry.

266. Unbeaten path.

Less than three month and we shall be done. By now from atomic and subatomic physics to cosmos and the universe we can scan almost all of humankind's most important knowledge gathered over millennia in just one week and still recognize how little we know and how important it is to modestly recognize how little we know. Plus how important is what we leave behind, and that in all we do we always keep in
mind what we leave behind. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Two hundred and fifty nine days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Week 37 is complete. Along with the index for this week, may we propose a revisiting of the story of Pierre Dulaine (here: http://www.pierredulaine.org/the-dulaine-method), exceptionally well featured in the great movie "To Take the Lead," starring Antonio Banderas, here: 


(Trust someone. You'll be amazed at what they'll do!)

In that exact spirit we chose this week several education related resources, to serve as examples of thinking with purpose and barriers almost-free. 

253. Science and art of learning from everything all the time. Toaster.

254. Appearance of impropriety

255. Unpredictable 

256. "If I ran the circus?"

257. Teach yourself anything. 

258. Crisis in education. Crisis in human capital utilization.

259. Missed boats

The world is run by those who show up. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Two hundred and fifty two days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Week 36 is complete and we started a set of exercises meant at verifying our skills and capacity to use the framework presented to analyze critically a almost anything thrown our way. 

246. Warm up: Nebraska 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6597544681238777857-oT6V

247. Taxes

248. Technological advancements vs. human values and behaviors 

249. Inventions before their time 

250. Responsible Leadership 

251. Love. Bake. Equilibrium.

252. Up side down
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6599792291387367424-d3-A

By this time any and all the questions we're asking can lead to answers as comprehensive as a doctoral dissertation, or even to a few distinct ones. 

A starter abstract and a brief executive summary of the intent of an answer would be extremely helpful to anyone interested in checking out their understanding of the utility of our framework.  

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Two hundred and forty five days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Week 35 is complete and we focused on celebrating. The importance of celebrating onto
good thinking can never be overstated. 

239. Celebrate. Every moment of every day.

240. Celebrate individuality 

241. Celebrate the good

242. Celebrate endurance 

243. Celebrate true value 

244. Celebrate subversive disestablishmentarianism

245. Celebrate applied knowledge 

We just completed two thirds of our one year journey. All applied work ahead. 

Are we ready? Let's begin. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Two hundred and thirty eight days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Week 34 is complete.

232. Imagine 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6592852600431919104-t0Sf

234. You. Self-trusting. Always see what you've trained to see and what _you_ want to and must see.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6593242402398490624-0eNS

236. Scale of an issue. Proportionality of necessary solutions to it.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6594764270506958848-n6AS

This coming week we will reach the point  from which we will have only _one third_ of our journey of one year _left in front of us_.

Obviously that means that we are getting more and more ready to take on anything coming our way after March 4, 2020, when the _real life_ ahead that we've been getting ready to start anew will be fully possible and certainly within our full reach. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Two hundred and twenty four days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

It's been one of the hardest weeks we went through in almost thirty years. When things make little sense around you it is exactly then when you must rely on your independent thinking more than ever. It is exactly then when you must seek and execute deeper analyses. 

Our conclusion is a few words is that _everyone is alone._ Make good around you for good's own sake. Every moment counts. Make every moment a good one. Smile to everyone around you. No matter what. Enjoy every smile coming your way. Live every moment as if it were your very last. Build legacy every moment. 

218. Always stand on principle. Don't bend under pressure. 

219. Map where you stand. Again. And again. With honesty and modesty. Then act to get better. 

220. Denial

221. Run towards your dreams. No matter what. Nothing can hold you back when your dreams pull you towards the moment when you'll achieve them. 

222. Truth teller, aka Whistleblower 

223. Patience, Determination, and Endurance. All is forever relative. Make everything of true value. Always.

224. Don't re-invent the wheel. Nature already did that. Borrow "the wire to cut butter" instead.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Two hundred and seventeen days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Thirty-one weeks of #criticalthinking in 365 concepts are completed.

This new week that starts today we will reach three fifths of our journey.

We are dealing with a lot of case studies that demand our full attention in using all of our tools and processes that we introduced previously to ask questions and based on answering them to analyze and understand by ourselves what is happening in each case independently and by aggregating them in the entirety of the world taken in for analysis little by little.

Naturally, when introducing a case study I may be suggesting a direction for the analysis. It's obviously not the only direction possible. Yet, it is the one that very likely is obtained upon balancing a lot of factors in the analysis. Anyone can choose a different path in their analysis and hence a different conclusion (or claim) and then support that conclusion with their own facts and thorough analysis.

I challenge folks to conclude, if they so decide, with a sound and strong argument that the bees or the octopuses or the whales can all disappear and we should be proud to have caused their extinction for mere temporary financial profit. My brain can hardly make such arguments, but I'd be happy to comment professionally on your attempts if you choose to make them. I encountered nonetheless such arguments during my few years. I heard them from folks whom I deeply respect, but the arguments themselves seemed getting to
me after just passing through and being repeated in the words of the friends making the arguments. They were told with a lot of conviction but without a lot of thinking through of one's own, as the one mentioned in the story with Joule above. Joule was much more adamant about any disappearance of anything God made as being blasphemy—even at the mere thought of such disappearance—than the friends who today would simply say it's God's will that species disappear and they were created to serve us and other species will rise to serve us in the future. I was and am surprised to see how the same God apparently changed their mind from Joule's times to today. And, more importantly, how did we figure on the change of mind?

Why would someone born in the 1960s not be entitled to see the sign of the 34 million years old bee's existence and be impressed by it simply because someone else born a few decades earlier and a world away wanted to forever destroy the ancient bee's petrified sign under a mess of construction sites for privately owned two bedroom houses with two car garages? To revert back to Feynman's questions, where does God resolve this dilemma and how come we're not actually left to resolve it ourselves by deciding using our own moral compass and self trust that we can balance things right ourselves? Apparently back 50 years ago we were able to. It must be that we always were and thus we still are, and we'll always be able to think better for ourselves.

211. Play. Then play some more.  Don't fear results. Let curiosity lead your way. 

212. Culture. But of course.

213. It is what we don't see that could make the true value. Always. 

214. Observe. Infer. Do it again. And again. Learn from mistakes. Learn some more. Even more. Without feeling ashamed about original ignorance. Let ignorance fuel curiosity. 

215. Research agenda(s). Thoroughly and widely and deeply enough defined, and proactively and systematically pursued.

216. Dinner table training.

217. Can we say _absolutely priceless_?
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_national-geographic-on-linkedin-quantifying-activity-6586383667407446016-edHQ

What are the most important lessons we got this week based on the cases patented and some more similar ones that you may seek and look at yourselves?

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Two hundred and ten days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

We completed week thirty in our year long project. This week we dealt with systemic advise for the most part. Some elements may seem more disconnected than usual. Yet, just take Frolic. For Isaac Newton establishing anew the discipline of differential calculus was a frolic. He was after all on a quest to formalize classic mechanics. Today I'm quite surprised to see we are not following in his footsteps when studying his work in high schools across the world. We are missing out. Not empowering high school learners with the power of epistemology, as early and as crude as it would be, is most likely a very costly mistake when aggregating its results over large numbers of learners and their entire future lives. 

204. Power. Of frolic. 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6582996862586929152-vUQr

207. Advance and expand the field. Learn and build from each other. 

Monday, September 23, 2019

Two hundred and three days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

As we write these words a teenager addresses the United Nations about climate change and how adults across the globe are stealing her future with inaction and empty words.

I'm not that much of a fan of government intervention and more taxation. I obviously prefer action by well educated citizenry. Yet, I remember promoting applied science in my high school when I was fourteen, four decades ago, on a solar energy used in the household project, and getting the attention of my teacher, then winning the municipal research competition, and going to nationals, and being completely ignored when upon return from nationals my teacher and I went to administration with a draft MoU with the university so it sponsors research for high schoolers on renewable energy.

Forty years passed and curriculums did not change at all. There or here or anywhere.

It is just as if the folks owning the liveries and the gas lighting companies simply own all politicians everywhere. Didn't we see this happen before?

Remember our fundamental question: "of what is this a case?" and use it always when you are trying to make sense of anything. 

With that in mind, let's see how we addressed fallacies:

197. Strength of Argument 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6581763125735940096-9EK3

201. A journey of a thousand miles is made of putting one step in front of another. Again and again.

202. Under - Average - Above 

203. Marlboro Man, or
Beware Influencers
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6581957591352561664-_PAZ

If we learned anything, it is that fallacies are all around us and we simply love to adopt them without having a clue that we are simply "thinking" and acting at their mercy. 

Can we put a stop to it? 

Let's go back and read again things we introduced before the last two weeks and let's see how we feel now. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

It was our park. The government came and took it away.

Monday, September 16, 2019

One hundred and ninety six days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

This week we started analyzing elements of thinking and elements of argument in the same way a native speaker starts studying grammar a few good years after they are fluent in the language. 

190. Misplaced trust

191. Club of Ignored

192. Adopt _and challenge_ classics

193. Elements of Thought 

194. Elements of Argument 

195. Grounds, Backings -> Warrants -> Claim, unless Rebuttals => Balancing for Soundness of Argument

196. Fallacy
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6579554434265735168-5q4_

There is a small inversion here between rebuttals and fallacies, and strength of argument, but it is intentional. 

We shall deal with rebuttals, and then with strength of arguments, and after that we shall start looking in more detail at fallacies. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Monday, September 9, 2019

One hundred and eighty nine days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Alright, all y'all little red foxes out there, listen up: you're past the middle of the railroad bridge. The hound of stupidity running after you will never catch you now anymore. You'll keep running over the bridge towards your goal and safety of thinking well while he and his ignorance and ignorant attacks at your intelligence will simply fall in the water, hurt by his own stupidity and inattentive behavior. 

183. Love-Hate. Cross reference [17.] Interest

184. It could be you 

185. Timelessness 

186. Touch

187. Model Live
or
Immersion

188. Seek and nurture perfection. Let it reel you in.

189. Invincible 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_invincible-activity-6576873257327214592-m-kG

Enough pep talk. We were supposed to reason intuitively many a time so far. We asked for homework to be done. We did some. We used examples. We asked questions. 

We were supposed to do it without the lessons of how to and without the structured teaching and learning that happens in schools of foreign languages across the world. Because learning a language by immersion is how we learn as children. Learning by copying what we see happening around us and mirroring that which we see is how we've always learned in nature. How every baby of every species always learned from its parents. It comes naturally. And it always works. 

As humans though, we develop the abilities of abstraction and we develop more than mere natural occurrence type of learning. Now we will start introducing that. We feel we prepared everyone so far. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

One hundred and eighty two days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Twenty six weeks. Six months. Half a year. Remember how much growth you experienced in your first half year of your life? Of course we don't. But we can ask our parents to explain it to us. We can watch and nurture our newborns grow and figure it all out. Ah, that wait. Until another six month or so later they stand up and they say their first words. And then it happens. All we'll do from that one year mark onward will be to tell them: "Sit down. Shut up!" so then the schools do the same. Why do we then wonder why is that all too few of us grow to think critically for ourselves?

176. When humor is not nothing is!

177. Name Five!

178. Coffee (Jet Lag, Livery, Tax...)

179. Cybernetics

180. Sense opportunity when it knocks

181. Failure 

182. Reddy Fox 🦊
or 
Always finish _all_ that you started
or
Learn it now, benefit from it later 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_the-reddy-fox-story-in-the-original-by-thornton-activity-6574648013531205632-n1Em

Congratulations to all those who read this every day. One more half to go. Imagine yourselves at the other end of the bridge now standing up and speaking!;) Not letting anyone to tell you to shut up and sit down. And not letting anyone anymore to infuse themselves and their thoughts into your brain or to borrow your mouth to speak their own faulty thoughts with your voice. 

Good perseverance ahead! Keep it up. 

To those who joined us after March 4, 2019, please start from the beginning. Believe it or not, there is a method to this madness. We've tested it for over two decades and we've learned it from the best and we're improving on it. You can do it. Good luck. Let us know how we can help. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

One hundred and sixty eight days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Twenty four weeks. More challenging questions and applications offered as points to ponder and analyze independently to apply the concepts as tools and to propose solutions based on the analyses performed. And a frame of reference to mirror, from mathematics elsewhere, anywhere in any knowledge quest, including ours here. But of course not limited to ours here. 

Several perspective changing proposals as well, worth considering, and certainly worth expanding all of their implications as far as one can see them applied. 

The questions added to the concepts, if and when addressed, are the ones that shall make us get our time and effort's worth. 

162. Complexity 

163. Age
or
"Cine nu are bătrîn, să-și cumpere."

164. Nicolas Bourbaki 

165. Toe

166. Hybrid Leverage Freedom (HLF)

167. Myth of different versus similar in nature versus human made systems 

168. Exploration 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_cave-diver-risks-all-to-explore-places-where-activity-6569413889396658176-POKB

We are two weeks from midpoint. Watch for our story with little red fox. It's exactly time to mention it now. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

One hundred and sixty one days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

We completed twenty three weeks. We introduced deeper analytical issues, and even case studies, attempting to explain outcomes of highly contradictory debates seeming improbable at first sight, and even to then maybe predict applicability of the same logic and processes to other potential cases. 

155. Joy, or Pretense

156. Be the best of whatever you want to be. And help others do the same. 

157. Struggle 

158. Quasi-Permanence 

159. Disproportionality between potentialities and achievements of human race

160. Relationship between religion and science 

161. Discovery
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_criticalthinking-activity-6567247267235934208-dqWo

We are almost at the four ninth mark. We'll be half way on our journey shortly. 

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or suggestions or, better yet still, with requests to look over questions you are asking and answering as a result of following closely our little project here. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Monday, August 5, 2019

One hundred and fifty four days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

We completed twenty two weeks. Return to a bit more general issues, once we addressed some policy issue areas. Let's notice the opportunities presented here again, to expand much deeper on every proposed issue by way of choosing concepts previously introduced and analyzing everything in much more depth than here with the use of those selected concepts.

148. Hybrid Popular Accurate (HPA)
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_the-freedoms-we-lost-activity-6563640235543064576-E1Hl

153. Earliest foundations, or
How to not let a thriving mind be underutilized or, worse yet, subdued
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aspetrescu_the-islamic-world-was-cosmopolitan-and-multicultural-activity-6564166796046331904-5VDo

Thinking for ourselves starts as early as possible and is trained and lasts a lifetime. It may and will be attacked all too often and by anybody with an interest to trick our mind to adopt their dogmatic views. But we cannot and should never give up. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

One hundred and forty seven days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Second week in #policy making, and week twenty-one overall, are complete.

We are armed now with a few books and a few other concepts and approaches intended to lead us into the depths of the field. With thoroughness one can now delve deeper in better understanding and making a difference in virtually any policy issue area. Let us recall that prior concepts that we introduced are all fair game to use in bombarding any policy issue area with them for analysis. We exemplified that briefly in week 140 with Imagination as applied in policy making. 

Last week, preparing a few videos on another related project we will be releasing soon, particularized to parents, we recalled a story that in much part started it all. 

The story of the eighteen month old girl climbing on a chair, that she brought from the kitchen to the porch, to look past the porch railing to see where her fallen doll had landed under the porch. 

_Behavior never taught or trained._ 

We used said story to re-boost the self esteem of college and graduate students in public policy and management for a couple of decades now. It is thus only fair to emphasize it here now as well. 

_All life is a puzzle where we don't have the picture on the box in front of us._ We are equipped with the skills to address it well. All we need to do is to tap into them even when they've been covered over with false messages that we may have been forgotten or may not even be there. 

If nobody told us yet "you can't do that," we just went ahead and did it.;) If someone did yell at us the same we just didn't trust them and set out to prove them wrong!;) So we did it!

One reason we intentionally say this here and now has to do with Carnot. We know we all have the skills to ask and answer questions we must have about that and other things. Best of success.

The last week in review:

141. Agenda Setting

142. Policy Analysis 

143. Mystery Minority Stakeholder

144. Power of the Novice 

145. Lessons from Kindergarten, or Percentage achieved out of Carnot efficiency and effectiveness of a #strategy

146. Lamborghini 

147. Legacy
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6561775094903955456

As always, we're here to answer any questions you may have after thoroughly considering all these and much more that they point out to. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

One hundred and forty days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

First week focusing on public policy making, or week twenty, are now behind us.

134. Public Good

135. Equity 

136. Euphemisms

137. Hand 

138. Interconnectedness

139. Concert (of Peace; of Science)
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6559287788926234624

The future is what we make of it. Let's make it a good one. A "more perfect" one. Across the globe. We owe it ourselves. We owe it to our children and grandchildren and to theirs too. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Monday, July 15, 2019

One hundred and thirty three days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Week 19, second week dedicated to #entrepreneurship, is behind us. At least by count of days allocated. Entrepreneurship is never behind us, but is always ahead. It's part of its very nature. 

127. Hybrid Compliant-Rebel (HC-R)

128. Hybrid Information Assymetrical-Honest Business Model (HIA-HBM)

129. Integrate for Opportunity 

130. Hybrid Serial Parallel Development (HSPD)

131. Awe 

132. Universality 

133. Habit in Entrepreneurship or Hybrid Collaboration Competition in Entrepreneurship (HCCE)
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6556584443522412544

We have a lot to use in our efforts to understand and apply concepts and their applied interplay to better our world through nurtured and sustained entrepreneurship. Let's do it. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

One hundred and twenty six days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

We just finished week 18, dedicated to #entrepreneurship. 

#CommonSenseUniversity
#SwissArmyKnifeThinking

Here is a review of the week.

120. "Cîinii latră, caravana trece." [The dogs bark. The caravan passes.—original in Romanian]

121. The early bird gets the worm

122. Independence—Schumpeter Mark I and Mark II Innovation Regimes

123. Counter-indoctrination—Systemic Solution Proportional to Need (SSPN)

124. Vision

125. Barriers to entry

126. Make your weaknesses your strengths
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6554049866463539201

A lot to think about so far. Let's start a new week on entrepreneurship today. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

One hundred and nineteen days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

Seventeen weeks completed. Six weeks plus six weeks of theoretical introductory work and two weeks on education followed by three weeks on energy.

By the next indexing next week we would have crossed the threshold of one third of our journey of one year. 

We are unstoppable. Next week that starts today and another week after this one shall be entrepreneurship. It's only natural that we cross from education to energy to entrepreneurship. 

Let's recall the past week:

113. Hierarchy

114. Gangrene

115. Torrent _or_ Recovering

116. Fish _or_ Warm Body Pets, or discussing the Paradox of Value

117. Harness adversity

118. Time and energy

119. Chain link
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6551481014500286464

I am certain few of us thought either three weeks ago or seventeen weeks ago that (1) gangrene is an energy related concept, or that (2) we would have introduced before one third of the year three principles of thermodynamics without even naming them so.

We are left with showcasing how the homework for number 115 was supposed to be done. We promise we've done it. The quote after we finished an early draft was:

"All of your connections are far fetched, and I know you. How do you expect anyone else to make those?"

and my answer was of course:

"I actually don't expect anyone to make those same connections. That is how I'd do it. Everyone can do their own reasoning why torrent fits here best, or not, or why recovering fits better or not. The harnessing fear of a torrent and taming its energy instead is just my take at the question. Everyone can find, I am sure, much better ways to answer than my own."

Naturally, the goal remains that we can take any concept or situation needing analysis—this last week it was energy—, and we can select a fitted set of prior introduced concepts to bombard it with so that we delve deeper into understanding its intricacies and connections, systemically internal and external alike. 

To think, and to think well, may be considered by all of us as being the same as vicariously playing the greatest ever Super bowl or World Cup soccer game right down in the field along with Peyton Manning or Gheorghe Hagi while sitting in the easy chair and watching them play and shouting "go go go," but trust me: it's not. Nothing beats standing up and getting into the field to play and actually _become_ like Manning or Hagi of good thinking ourselves. 

Merely listening to another's argument, then either criticizing, or better yet appropriating that someone else's thinking and calling it our own doesn't make it our own. Nor does it make us thinkers. Actually training for it and then playing the game of better thinking is what makes us players in the game. Try it. The feeling and the power are mesmerizing!;) There's absolutely nothing else like it. Think about it: self induced high without either the costs or risks of running into trouble with police or anyone. 

Then again, maybe one of these days we'll have to answer questions when applying for positions that would sound like "Have you been thinking? If offered employment do you agree to subject yourself to a test to verify that you have not been thinking illegal thoughts?"

THINK.
It's not illegal yet.

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek
ASPetrescu@alumni.pitt.edu
ASPetrescu@InnovationTrek.org

Monday, June 24, 2019

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

One hundred and five days in the project #CriticalThinking in 365 concepts

We are now addressing the second policy issue area—energy—in our applied critical thinking quest. This first week we started with a duality, or even multiplicity, of interpretations possible of the term energy itself. As we can see we are taking full advantage of our understanding that specialization of our knowledge quest may often lead to allowing some questions to escape unanswered and possibly fall through our fingers. Otherwise how else can  we justify that blinded (by the Sun), Panda Bear, parenthood, or Water Cycle in nature and Hybrid between Access and Control all have a strong logical connection to energy? Of course they do—if we are ready to see it and analyze each such connection (and many more of them) fully. 

A week full of surprises, as well as thinking and connecting homework that was not even expressly specified. By now we all recognize nonetheless how important answering our questions is and how many more questions form in our mind after we've answered the ones we list here. 

It goes without saying that the example included herein can also be used with addressing energy. Similarly, some issues we addressed with treating education would just naturally transfer over to how we handle analysis here with the energy systems as well. 

98 bis. Bonus example to education—bitcoin, blockchain, and e-commerce law and cyber security too, can all be addressed quite well with our framework of analysis.

99. Energy

100. Hybrid process—Hybrid Access Control

101. Flows and Stores

102. Blinded (by the Sun)

103. Panda Bear

104. Parenthood 

105. Photosynthesis 
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6546393555739430912

This week we really stretched our demands on our minds and hearts and souls alike. The connections made and left to be made are simply so so many. All too many to list learning objectives here after all. Good applied thinking to be useful and used in any situation is the standing learning objective! That may require self-defining the operational learning objectives by the reader! But we figured this out by now. 

Adrian S. Petrescu, Ph.D., J.D.
InnovationTrek