xiii Can the fundamentals of Leonardo's approach to learning and the cultivation of intelligence be abstracted
and applied to inspire and guide us toward the realization of our own full potential?
Of course, my answer to this question is: Yes! The essential elements of Leonardo
da Vinci's approach to learning and the cultivation of intelligence are quite clear and can be studied, emulated, and applied.
p.9 The Seven Da Vincian Principles are:
Curiosita - An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
Dimostrazione - A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness
to learn from mistakes.
Sensazione - The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.
Sfumato (literally "Going up in Smoke") - A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
Arte/Scienza - The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination, "Whole-brain"
thinking.
Corporalita - The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
Connessione - A recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena.
Systems thinking.
p.50 Leonardo's intense desire to understand the essence of things led him to develop an investigative style
equally noteworthy for its depth of study as for its range of topics. Kenneth Clark... called him "undoubtedly the most curious
man who ever lived"
p.65 Although we all started life with a Da Vinci-like insatiable curiosity, most of us learned,
once we got to school, that answers were more important than questions... The authority-pleasing, question-suppressing,
rule-following approach to education may have served to provide society with assembly-line workers and bureaucrats, but it
does not do much to prepare us for a new Renaissance.
p.65 Leonardo da Vinci's life was an exercise in creative problem solving of the very highest order.
p.66 You can increase your problem-solving skills, at work and at home, by honing your question-asking
ability. For most people this requires shifting the initial emphasis away from focusing on "the right answer" and
toward asking "Is this the right question?" and "What are some different ways of looking at this
problem?"
Successful problem solving often requires replacing or reframing the initial question.
p.95 Saper vedere (knowing how to see) was one of Leonardo's mottoes, and the
cornerstone of his artistic and scientific work.
p.95 All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions. - Leonardo Da Vinci
p.97 Leonardo reflected sadly that the average human "looks without seeing, listens without hearing,
touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance,
and talks without thinking."
p.108 How can you deepen your appreciation... and enhance your capacity for saper vedere (knowing
how to see)?... Suspend judgments based on all the analytical terms you may have learned... Just look... with
fresh, innocent eyes... What appeals to you...? Make notes in your journal on [things] that affect you most
profoundly. [JLJ - quote taken slightly out of context from original intent]
p.108 Leonardo observed that "the idea or the faculty of imagination [serves] as both rudder and bridle
to the senses, inasmuch as the thing imagined moves the sense."
p.226 Armed with vision, logic, imagination, and an unrelenting desire to know truth and beauty, Leonardo
probed the infinite subtleties of nature.
p.243 You can set and achieve your goals more effectively with the help of a simple acronym - make all your
goals SMART. S - Specific... M - Measurable... A- Accountability... R -
Realistic and Relevant... T - Time Line: Create a clear
time line for the achievement of your goals.
p.254 You define your goals and vision by contemplating the question "What do I want?" You
clarify your values and purpose by contemplating the question "Why do I want it?" You craft a strategy by
answering the question "How will I get it?"
