“Balance is a necessary illusion.”
The Author
Comparative Thinking I:
A Fitness Program for the Brain
I. M.
Try to think of the world as a kaleidoscope. When you look in it, things are never the same. Comparative Thinking deconstructs the “kaleidoscope” and takes the mystery away from it. It is three mirrors and a handful of stones. It is a sobering experience, but you might come to view the world like never before. Comparative Thinking is a tool that helps one see the essence behind the forms.
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A Note from the Author
In this work, there is a simple formula that will serve you like a stove for a cook, money for a venture capitalist, or a flashlight for the dark. In other words, it is a tool. It is my hope that this book will stimulate you to think of what has not been said before.
In 1964, I was born in the former U.S.S.R. I learned to question “the truth” and began to use a newly developed common sense as a filter for information. In 1991, I immigrated to the United States. In the United States, I met choices that I had not had before. I met freedom of speech and opportunities.
My first 22 years were spent in a city closed to foreigners and where 19 out of every 20 people who came to live in the city left it. If you look at a world map, you will find my 77-year old city next to China in the Far East of Russia - Komsomolsk-on-Amur. There, I finished high school and music school. I worked in a factory, learned drama as an actor, and studied engineering in an institute. After service in the army, I moved to Saint Petersburg to pursue a career in drama. There, for the first time, as a 24-year old, I met my first “foreigner” (a Cuban). I also attended my first live classical concert (Ave Maria, Schubert), my first ballet (a strange art), and my first church (Issakievski Sobor). It was a time of change. As Soviet Government declared, “We are taking a course toward democracy and will not tolerate any other opinions.” Wasn’t it a nice time?