The Tao of Minds: Compare and Contrast

思维之道：求同和求异

In a time of two and half millenniums ago, Lao Tsu, an ancient philosopher in China, studied a breadth of subjects in the then-biggest collection of human experience recorded on bamboo slips. He processed all those information in a couple dozens of years and summed up his learning of all in one simple sentence — “Tao begot one, one begot two, two begot three, three begot all.” This is by far the most effective and efficient learning process on big data, and it was completed once through no computer but with Lao Tsu’s own manpower — his Tao of minds.
 
How could he do it? The secret is simple — by comparing and contrasting information. Comparing leads to similarity, while contrasting leads to disparity. It is through similarity that we confirm existing knowledge, and disparity that we discover new. Both are innate capacities of our brain, down to the neuron cells and the synapses that these cells are made to perform. All human knowledge is produced through either or both of these two basic biological intellectual capacities.
 
It is very unfortunate that today's school learning, or knowledge learning in general, interferes with our inborn intellects, the comparing and contrasting. Knowledge, meant to save the successors from the mental suffer experienced the predecessors, has demonstrated a subprime effect of muting the successors’ inborn capacity. When you take in 1+1=2, for example, you have not bothered to think much in its necessary and real term that this abstract mathematical principle is made non-provable.
 
How to make students learn while conserve their innate intellects is not a simple question to answer here. But you need to know that top achievers in schools are simultaneously good in learning knowledge and conserving their innate intellects — the Tao of minds.
 
I have included a few sample questions for you to test and exercise your mental power. If you can tell the similarities and disparities of the choices of the following questions through your own Tao of minds, your chances to fly in the SAT test will be much high — better than you may think of.
 
Pick one choice that is clearly different from the other three in each question.
 
1. The main purpose of the passage is to:
A) analyze a series of historic events
B) persuade readers to support an unusual practice
C) alert readers to an urgent societal problem
D) describe the underlying causes of a political change
 
2. What the word “best” most likely means?
A) superior
B) excellent
C) genuine
D) rarest
 
3. The main purpose of the passage is to:
A) emphasize the value of a tradition
B) stress the urgency of an issue
C) highlight the severity of social divisions
D) question the feasibility of an undertaking
 
4. What the word “hold” most nearly means?
A) maintain
B) grip
C) restraint
D) withstand
 
5. What the word “demand” most likely means?
A) offer
B) claim
C) inquire
D) desire
 
6. What does the author suggest of men’s primary motive towards women?
A) A selfish desire to deprive women of even smallest joy
B) A pragmatic impulse to maximize contentment
C) A cruel tendency to afford then withhold affections
D) A well meaning but ultimately ineffectual intent to act fairly
 
For explanations, you may contact us through email: info@mind2learn.org, with a title line of "Tao of Minds."