If I am claiming the child because she poops a golden egg each day, then I might exhibit fear at the idea of her death.
If a mother is claiming a child because she loves the child, then she might exhibit fear at the idea of her death.
I agree that the more we know about a situation, the more we will understand the entire range of forces in play.
I just don’t see how threatening to kill a baby would be linear or holistic in nature by itself. It is just a clever way to invoke reactions from the people involved. It seems pretty cause and effect to me.
Ah…it’s holistic because the threat isn’t the point…reading the room is the point. A person, mother or no, who loved the child or cared for their well-being, would likely relinquish their claim on the child rather than see them harmed. I take it you are unfamiliar with this trope?
I think that the action taken to solve a problem is neither holistic nor linear. Without an exploration of the thoughts of a person, you cannot know if a character is holistic or linear in their process. Maybe the issue is… in movies it is much more difficult to express a character’s process. The logic behind the decision is obscured without knowing what’s inside the characters head.
Maybe this is even the reason that holistic problem solvers appear to be sidekicks more often than the MC. Because they seem to be holistic because we aren’t in their head and we can’t see any direct connection for their actions, but it is there.
Also, a character can either focus C on R or P and bring about O. Maybe there is an assumption that directing current at P is linear and directing current at R is holistic. But I’m not sure that is correct either.
It can’t really account for the complexities that a holistic evaluation of a situation would need to go through.
I just came up with that last bit… either you can increase/decrease the Current or increase/decrease the Resistance. I don’t know if that really has anything to do with the situation here. But…
Anywho, I’m not sure that I like linear and holistic. Maybe it would be more comfortable to say direct and indirect. I guess holistic problem solvers don’t feel unrelatable to me. But I do live in China and East Asia is famous for being holistic – so I am getting beaten over the head every day with it.
And it is a very foreign way of thinking in comparison to the west. Literally, their heads function differently.
Anyway, I think there is something troubling in the question or the answer about problem-solving style and I’ve tried to express some of those concerns here. Who knows. Maybe it means something.
I think it’s a linear response. Even looking beyond the ‘let’s think logically’ line (which always makes me think ‘linear’ thinker), he’s looking at the cause and effect of it all:
“The cop car is holding up these trucks, so we’ll never get past. If I slow down, he’ll have to speed up. And when he speeds up, he’ll whizz past the cop. When the cop arrests him, there won’t be any more hold up.”
I’m not sure if what she’s doing is Linear or Holistic, though. I would argue it feels more holistic because she’s looking at the big picture of the journey and thinking about the relationship between the length of the journey, which road the cop may take, and the speed they’ll have to hit to make it.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: looks at motivations
Linear Problem-Solving Style: looks at purposes
The boy looks at why the line of vehicles are motivated to follow the speed limit.
The guy in the sports car looks to speed up.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: tries to see connections
Linear Problem-Solving Style: tries to gather evidence
The boy sees the connection between the police officer and a douchey fellow in a sports car. They are like peanut butter and jelly. And he sees the connection between all the vehicles in the line and the police officer.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: sets up conditions
Linear Problem-Solving Style: sets up requirements
The boy creates a condition that is unbearable to the guy in the sports car.
The girl talks about the requirements necessary to make the trip in time.
The guy in the sports car must pass the cars to speed up.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: determines the leverage points that can restore balance
Linear Problem-Solving Style: breaks a job into steps
The boy thinks about what he can use to the maximum advantage: the doucheyness of people who drive Ferraris and a bored cop with no purpose. A marriage made in heaven.
The girl starts to define the problem in a step by step mathmatical equation.
The guy driving the sports car must pass the people blocking his way.
Interesting the equation is:
police officer + line of semi-trucks = us going too slow + sports car behind us
He just reorders the equation.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: seeks fulfillment
Linear Problem-Solving Style: seeks satisfaction
The boy wants to fulfil the police officer’s needs.
We all know the satisfaction of passing people on the road (even when we aren’t in a hurry.)
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: concentrates on “Why” and “When”
Linear Problem-Solving Style: concentrates on “How” and “What”
The boy focuses on why and when the problem started.
The guy in the sports car focuses on how and what he needs to do to fix the problem: pass them all.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: puts the issues in context
Linear Problem-Solving Style: argues the issues
The boy realizes that going faster isn’t the answer. Contextually, the answer is a pairing of two elements in the equation… not solving the equation.
The guy driving the sports car argues the issue by honking his horn and swerving erratically.
Holistic Problem-Solving Style: tries to hold it all together
Linear Problem-Solving Style: tries to pull it all together
The boy doesn’t fight the slowness, he embraces. He maintains his calm. He doesn’t force anything.
The guy in the sports car pull ( ) in front of all the other cars. He tries to force the people in front of him to speed up (honking). He tries to force past them.
I don’t know. Maybe that was just an exercise in semantics, but I wish I knew if this kid was a holistic or linear problem solver. I’d have to watch the movie for that.
He wants to go to the go to the college in question because the girl is going there. He gets accepted and she decides not to apply after an a interview that she perceives as having gone poorly. He then encourages her to hand deliver her application.
I didn’t watch the whole movie, I just skipped through to find this scene. However, I remember most of it. I should watch it again and try to storyfrom it.
He just seems like an emotionally driven MC. I feel as though he is holistic, but I’ll have to watch it again to be sure.
Also, I don’t see why a linear and holistic thinking can’t arrive at the same solution. It is more about the journey than the action.
I think this is why the Users Group meetings usually request multiple examples to back up the arguments. It’s easy to dismiss one example, but three or four consistent examples are harder to disprove. These are great points though. I’ll try and make notes on a few.
This, I think, is the best example I can point to of why I think it’s linear: this is a step-by-step/cause-and-effect relationship. He’s just not vocalising it as an ‘I can do this and then do this’, he just does it. Essentially, his thinking is a kind of ‘I can’t get anywhere because of the cop. But if I get this guy to speed up, he’ll get the cop out of the way and we can go on.’ Which is very linear.
She, however, doesn’t understand the logic of slowing down. And it’s only when he does it that she pieces it together. Which, depending on whether the guy is linear or holistic, is a pretty clear indicator that she will be the opposite.
I think her efforts to define the problem are way more holistic. I haven’t seen the movie, but her line of “We can’t go 55, it’ll blow the whole equation” leads me to believe that she’s trying not to upset the balance of things (it sounds like she’s already calculated the route and speed). And when it becomes clear that they won’t be able to keep going at that speed, she starts looking at everything else to maintain the balance she created: hence, trying to calculate what speed they’ll have to go and at what distance, dependent on whether or not the cop takes the other road, etc.
Does he, though? If he’s trying to fulfill anybody’s needs, it’s his own or the girl’s. All he really wants is to get to the front of the line. He’s not thinking about the cop’s needs. He barely even focuses on the cop, actually. Only really at the beginning before the jerk turns up.
Again, I’d say it’s the girl that’s trying to hold everything together. She’s the one trying to figure out how to ensure they don’t slow down and ‘ruin the equation’.
They could arrive at the same solution, but their methods of getting to it would be WAY different. There’s a great post on this very site that illustrates how a Holistic assassin would work, as opposed to the commonly-understood linear assassin (which is basically just ‘I find the target and kill them’). Essentially, they have different ways of handling situations. Whichever one works better for the given situation depends on the situation (and the author, naturally).
I noticed in the real world some things that could be examples of the difference between holistic & linear preferences. Caveats: I make no claims to expertise. I think one preference is not better or worse or smarter or dumber than the other. Everyone uses both to some degree–depending on the context & if the initial preference doesn’t work well. Also, in some cases, they look like semantic differences because most people use both as complements in the thinking process & don’t necessarily separate them out into this linear process and that holistic process.
Problem: Train a new employee/student on how to perform a complex task.
Linear: The directions state step 1 is…, step 2 is…, step 3 is…, etc until the last step, step 10. It’s been proven to work for last 20 years–both in terms of ease of use and reliable effectiveness.
Holistic: The key steps are 4 & 9. The other steps have some importance but, in truth, you can take or leave them. We should change this process anyway because it’s inefficient.
Problem: Assess your relationship with another person.
Linear: How is it going? What is the situation of this point in time now?
Holistic: Where is it going? What is the direction projecting forward?
Problem: The state legislature hears a debate on exacting & spending taxes to build a bridge.
Linear: What are the effects of the outcome of having this bridge once it is built?
Holistic: What are the tradeoffs involved in the process of building the bridge?
Haven’t seen this. But it reminds me of Mulan. All the men were trying to get to the top by just climbing the pole with their hands. Only she saw the way the weights in the scarf could be used as a way to get up the pole much more easily.
If you want to understand holistic vs. linear, I’ve found no better example than going to a local park, doctor’s office, or the like where adults are overseeing a bunch of energetic young kids and watching those adults. Those that are skilled at overseeing a bunch of energetic young kids are exemplifying the holistic approach.
Throw out the “feminine” vs. “masculine” bs. It isn’t helpful.
) in front of all the other cars. He tries to force the people in front of him to speed up (honking). He tries to force past them.