And Einstein stood out among natural scientists in his abiding curiosity about children's minds. He had once declared that we know all the physics th… - Howard Gardner

Extraordinary individuals stand out in the extent to which they reflect — often explicitly — on the events of their lives, large as well as small.

Present Content and Desired Content One should begin by determining what is the present (current) content — be it an idea, a concept, a story, a theory, a skill — and what is the desired content. Once the desired content has been identified, the various competing countercontents must be specified. The more explicitly one can lay these out, the more likely that one can arrive at a strategy suitable for mind changing in the particular instance. Both contents and countercontents may be presented in various formats.

"Einstein did not seek loneliness, but unlike Freud, he did not find it a threat. He was quite happy to be on his own from earliest life and did not crave companionship. This lack of craving for another person may well explain why neither of his marriages was a success and why his relations to his two sons were also unsatisfactory. In working out problems, Einstein once recalled, "I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of quiet life stimulates the creative mind." He went on to comment, with some nostalgia: "There are certain callings in our modern organization which entail such an isolated life without making a great claim on bodily and intellectual effort. I think of such occupations as the service [sic] in lighthouses and lightships.