Edward de Bono - Critiques

Critiques

The following two critiques on research methodology assume the Philosophy of Positivism. The critiques on Positivism usually comes from the Philosophy of Antipositivism.

1. In the Handbook of Creativity, Robert J. Sternberg writes, "Equally damaging to the scientific study of creativity, in our view, has been the takeover of the field, in the popular mind, by those who follow what might be referred to as a pragmatic approach. Those taking this approach have been concerned primarily with developing creativity, secondarily with understanding it, but almost not at all with testing the validity of their ideas about it." Sternberg continues, "Perhaps the foremost proponent of this approach is Edward De Bono, whose work on lateral thinking and other aspects of creativity has had what appears to be considerable commercial success."
2. Frameworks For Thinking is an evaluation of 42 popular thinking frameworks conducted by a team of researchers. Regarding Edward De Bono they write, " is more interested in the usefulness of developing ideas than proving the reliability or efficacy of his approach. There is sparse research evidence to show that generalised improvements in thinking performance can be attributed to training in the use of CoRT or Thinking Hats tools. An early evaluation of CoRT reported significant benefits for Special Educational Needs (SEN) pupils.... However, in a more recent study with Australian aboriginal children (Ritchie and Edwards, 1996), little evidence of generalisation was found other than in the area of creative thinking."

The views of De Bono on language have been challenged by some philologists (Marco Ferri, 1994) who contend that his view of language as the biggest barrier to human progress is superficial. Ferri argues that a lack of human critical judgement should be held responsible for the transmission of out-of-date ideas.

De Bono has also been criticized for his suggestion of exporting Marmite to the Middle East in order to ease conflict in the area, as the area is associated with low zinc levels, which De Bono argued leads to heightened aggression. This idea achieved certain prominence.