The author of Soft Technology was invited to participate the First Festival of World Thinkers, and made a speech on “Creativity come from changing the thinking mode”.

Zhouying JIN was invited to attend the First Inaugural ‘Festival of Thinkers’ that has take place in Abu Dhabi the capital of the United Arab Emirates from Saturday 26 through Wednesday 30 March 2005.

It aims to bring together the world's leading minds and intellects versed in the fields of natural sciences and research, medicine and public health, philosophy and theology, law and ethics, and theoretical and practical economy, and information technology and counsel.

The purpose is to discuss means and ways of fostering creativity at the scientific as well as social level beyond social and cultural boundaries.

It was a gathering of the finest minds to celebrate and emphasize the power of human creativity and thinking, and believe such an undertaking is timely and will succeed to benefit and guide the young in search of their future; leaders in their quest for the best of those entrusted to them; researchers in following their goal; and all in the ability to adapt to challenges.

It focused on advancing constructive thinking and its application for the good of the world at large.

The Festival of Thinkers event symbolized that the history of only putting attention to investment to tangible property for a long time will be changed, and realized that we should invest to new thinking and new ideas.

This event is jointly organized by the Higher Colleges of Technology and the Edward De Bono Foundation.

From Dr. Edward de Bono
Thinking is important. The quality of our future will depend directly on the quality of our thinking. Nothing is more fundamental than human thinking. Thinking is not just a matter of inborn intelligence but is a skill that can be taught, learned and developed.

The great prophet Mohammad (Peace be Upon Him) had more to say about ‘thinking' than any other religious leader – for example, in the Hadith the prophet says: “One hour of thinking about the works of the Creator is worth more than seventy years of praying”. In the Koran there are over one hundred verses with explicit reference to thinking.

Judgement is not enough. We also need design and creative thinking in order to design the way forward. Most our conflicts and problems arise from poor thinking. Perception is the most important part of thinking – not logic.

Teaching thinking to violent youngsters, in London , reduced the rate of criminal convictions to one tenth.

Information is not a substitute for thinking – and thinking is not a substitute for information. The more information we have the better our thinking needs to be. Yet our current thinking, across the world, is poor, limited and inadequate.

The purpose of “The Festival of Thinking” is to explore and give attention to this very important matter.

Dr. Edward de Bono
Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee
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From Dr. Tayeb Kamali

For today's youth, there is a fascination for physical exercises and fitness. However, we must encourage thinking in our younger generation as it is an essential everyday exercise to keep sharp the most important faculty that distinguishes mankind. Just as there are regimens for disciplined physical exercise, creative and constructive thinking habits could also be nurtured and developed systematically.

Festival of thinkers is hosted by Higher Colleges of Technology to celebrate "Thinking" in the august company of some of world's foremost thinkers. This festival is designed for our promising youth to brainstorm and rub shoulders with such preeminent intellectuals and radical thinkers of their time. Our youngsters will be inspired to become bold, innovative and yet disciplined in using their thinking processes to take their world forward.

We at HCT are excited to be part of this one-of-a kind global event and a first for the region and we look forward to hosting many of you in Abu Dhabi during the last week of March 2005 as delegates and participants in the Festival of Thinkers.

Dr. Tayeb Kamali
Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee
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Welcome message from the Chancellor
Festival of Thinkers: Inspiration to innovate and invent
Welcome to the Festival of Thinkers!

Here is a rare opportunity to celebrate the power and importance of thinking but also to highlight some of the great things, which have been achieved through human thought - and those achievements, which lie ahead.

The Nobel Prize has recognized some of our greatest thinkers and recognition can be very important for inspiration. It shines a light for others to see - it says "thinking is important" and great thinking can change everything for the better.

Our World, the people of this World and every living being as well as the environment, depends for its existence and welfare on the thoughts and thinking power of so many. This must include us.
To think is to realize, to draw in diverse elements of information, to seek to understand and review perspectives. In a World which is advancing at a pace never before imaginable, we need urgently to revisit our views on thinking, to rekindle the spirit of thought and celebrate our great thinkers as examples for all to follow.

We have experienced already the information revolution. Information is everywhere all around us, consuming increasing portions of our lives. The more we have a need to think - the less time, seemingly, we have left to ourselves to actually think. When we do have time to think how do we clear our minds of useless information, how do we draw out what we need?

Right now across the Globe there are many people working hard to create machines, which can do our thinking for us. But will these machines, can these machines, ever displace our own abilities and our tacit understanding of things. Will the computer feel pain or be elated by joy - and if not - how can it really do what we do - understand tacitly and explicitly the complex issues involved in the hearts and minds of others or ourselves? Machines are there to help us do things but will we ever take advice and directions for life from machines? Will we ever really decide to replace our leaders with thinking machines, which are designed to decide how best we should conduct our lives? I think not.

The secret for success in the future lies in learning better how to think and how to use our power of thought so that we are not only be a part of the future - we are designers of the future, creative thinkers who can imagine how things can be and show the way.

I believe that, in this complex World of informational technology and rapid change, we need to learn better how to use that most wonderful of human qualities - our great gift - the power of thought and our ability to convey our thoughts to others and to apply these to our way of doing things - and what we do.

This is why we have decided to ignite a new light to show the way, to celebrate thinking. I believe that great things can come from this process - if only one young person in our land yearns and learns to use this wonderful gift of thought better, maybe greatness will be the outcome. What more can we want? I look forward to a great time of contemplation during this Festival as it offers a wonderful opportunity to shape the future of this region through the creative minds of young thinkers and innovators.

www.festivalofthinkers.com