About
Can you think in English?
Modern English is the first global decision language because it is the most widely spoken language across the world. The boardrooms of the world think in English. English is the premium language of decision-making in communications, science, information technology, business, seafaring, aviation, radio and diplomacy. English thinkers are the brains behind the global entertainment industry, gaming and the social networking phenomenon. The world wide web is dominated by English thinking.
Why become an English thinker?
A working knowledge of how to think in English is critical for advancement in a number of professions and occupations from medicine to IT to fashion. In today’s world more than a billion people can think in English to at least a basic level. The world is now divided into two groups: those who can think in English and those who cannot. The former has an unfair advantage over the latter. When it comes to thinking in English my advice is: catch up or miss out!
Looking back we can see how English became the lingua franca of today’s world. English thinking spread beyond the British Isles with the growth of the British Empire, and by the late 19th century its reach was truly global. Following British colonisation from the 16th to 19th centuries, English became the dominant language in the United States, Canada, Australia and India.
In the latter half of the 20th century widespread use of English was much reinforced by the global economic, financial, scientific, military, and cultural pre-eminence of the English-speaking countries. Most profoundly, the economic and cultural influence of America and its might as a global superpower since World War II have significantly accelerated the language’s spread across the planet.
Today, more than half of all scientific journals are published in English, while in France, almost one third of all natural science research appears in English. English has replaced German as the dominant language of science Nobel Prize laureates. It is now the lingua franca of international Air Traffic Control communications. In international diplomacy during the 20th century and at the United Nations, English has surpassed French as the dominant language.
What do you mean by ‘English Thinking’?
FACT: Many English speakers are not yet English Thinkers. There are two main facets to the term ‘English Thinking’. The first is the language and the second is the methodology.
English Thinking not only requires a working knowledge of both the language and idiom of English but it also means the ability to understand and operate these three dominant historical cognitive methods of English Thinking:
1. Greek Logic: Greek Platonic truth-based logic and Thomist judgmental thinking;
2. The Scientific Method: Scientific Method, Enlightenment and Darwinian evolutionary thinking;
3. Cognitive Science: innovation and creative thinking tools and the more recent software for the brain of cognitive science.
- Extract from ENGLISH THINKING: Learn-To-Think in English, Lessons One to One Hundred by Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson:
