De Bono Describes Four \"Processes\" That He

De Bono describes four "processes" that he says have the same basis. What does this basis seem to be? How do they differ from one another?

In his seminal treatise Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step-by-Step, noted researcher Edward de Bono begins with an Introduction section that immediately compares his concept of lateral thinking to three other processes: insight, creativity, and humour. The statement that these four processes share the same basis is in itself an abstraction, and while de Bono does not clarify his stance in explicit terms, but it can be surmised that each one represents a way in which the human mind can be utilized. When de Bono observes how "insight, creativity and humour are so elusive because the mind is so efficient" (1970), the implication is that the artificial constructs of logical thinking can often be counterproductive. According to de Bono, insight, creativity and humour are instinctive, naturally occurring abilities which "can only be prayed for" while lateral thinking is a "a more deliberate process" capable of being taught and learned.

(2) Which of de Bono's statements lack adequate support or explanation? Where does he make logical leaps that require further discussion or evidence?

One of the long repeated critiques of de Bono's work on lateral thinking, and indeed on the entire spectrum of his published contributions to academia, has targeted the author's seeming disregard for the standard practice of supporting every claim made with substantiation. While de Bono's style of discourse is persuasive in many ways, esoteric statements like "even when information can be evaluated objectively, as in science, an insight rearrangement of information leads to huge leaps forward" (1970) would be strengthened considerably if the reader knew what those 'leaps forward' actually entailed. In other instances, the text relies on banal generalities when expressing assertions of fact, and when de Bono claims nonchalantly that "more and more creativity is coming to be valued as the essential ingredient in change and in progress" (1970), the critical reader immediately wonders who exactly holds these supposed values, and how is 'change' or 'progress' defined in this particular circumstance.

(3) How closely does de Bono's description of "lateral thinking" jibe with your current understanding of Critical Thinking? What methods and purposes do they share in common, and where do they differ? Is Critical Thinking closer to what de Bono calls "vertical thinking"?