Business Heaven/Business Heaven.iso/planning.w/paramind/manual

Text File | 1993-09-12 | 85KB | 2,016 lines

         PARAMIND  MANUAL

































(This only  represents a part of  the documentation included
with Paramind. If  you would like to  print out a hard copy,
print the also the Help files, which have the .wri extensions).









                        Table of contents

1)  Introduction
2)  List of Features
3)  Doing a Merge
4)  Adding and Maintaining Word Categories
5)  Advanced Features
    1.  Replace Highlighted Word
    2.  Find Word to Substitute
    3.  Replace by Category
6)  Category Printer
7)  Paramind Theory
8)  Additional Examples
9)  Questions and Answers













        Introduction

To  learn  how  to  use  Paramind  one  first  learns  about the
structure that their ideas can take and also the structure of the
"Word Category" database included with the program. There are two
areas to  study in creating  Paramind output. One  is in creating
your  own "word  categories" and   the other  is in  creating key
sentences which make  good output. The second step  is to realize
your  need to  always create  a sentence  that will represent the
basic  idea that  you want  Paramind to  expand. This sentence is
then typed  onto the Paramind  screen. Then you  access the "Word
Category" database.

Paramind has  five features that  are unique, and  other features
which are common to Windows programs. The unique features are all
found in the Create Menu. They are as follows:

Merge
Merge is used to create lists of sentences that contain new ideas
directly related to your idea.

AutoMerge  (only in  registered  versions)
AutoMerge is used to create  long lists of sentences that contain
ideas made with words you  select. It speeds up the brainstorming
process. In two or three minutes of mouse clicks, you can come up
with documents that  are 80 pgs or more  double-spaced, and which
are all related to your idea.

Replace Highlighted  Word
Uses the same technique as Merge,  but you can go into a sentence
and replace the word that you are working with instead of copying
out lists of new ideas as in Merge.

Find Word to  Substitute
This is a  brainstorming tool that takes your  text, which can be
imported from any word processor,  and looks for relationships in
the  Paramind database  -- which  can be  expanded easily  by the
user.

Replace by Category
This allows you to merge only  with categories that have the same
words as your sentence on the Paramind screen.

        Paramind is a program that  expands your ideas by copying
them and  changing each copy a  small bit by replacing  old words
with new words. It uses a simple word processor that you can type
anything  into, or  import from  other programs.  You highlight a
word  in  the  sentence  you  brought  onto  the Paramind screen.
Paramind  will  then  give  you  a  list  of  hundreds  (or  even
thousands)  of  different  word  categories  that  you can use to
expand your ideas. These word categories are related word chains,
such  as colors,  speeds, feelings,  descriptions, words  such as
"adjectives  related  to  fast   motion"  or  "verbs  related  to
feeling."

        Paramind copies  several times the sentence  you wrote on
the screen and puts a word from the word database in the place of
the  word  you  highlighted.  That  is,  Paramind  works  like  a
mail-merge routine.  A mail-merge is  the computer function  that
puts  a name  and address  in a  form letter  to address the same
letter to different people. The  sentence you write into Paramind
takes  the part  of the  form letter  and the  list of  names and
addresses  is the  part of  the word  category database.  You can
customize the  word category database by  a simple, user-friendly
interface that  lets you title a  category and type in  a list of
words  of your  choosing. You  can do  this as  many times as you
want, and organize them in their own directories.

        In the  word category database  included there are  nouns
about many different subjects,  such as office supplies, computer
parts, civil  rights, and building  construction. Also there  are
many  groups  of  verbs,  adjectives,  and  adverbs  as  well  as
prepositions and conjunctions that you  can use to merge into the
sentence you typed.

        Paramind offers you an instant way to generate new ideas.
Other brainstorming  programs require the user  to generate lists
of nouns, verbs,  adjectives and adverbs, and then  hand you back
awkward  lists  of  jumbled  phrases  that  frequently don't make
grammatical sense.  These lists are supposed  to be "triggers" to
your  more  meaningful  thoughts   concerning  your  idea.  Other
programs give you a list of questions that you are to answer. The
power of  quickly creating new  combinations of ideas  are not in
these programs. With  Paramind, you don't have to  write down all
your ideas  on a pop-up editor,  you export your ideas  to a word
processor.

        With  Paramind, you  don't have  to create  your own word
lists unless you want to. You  simply type your sentence onto the
Paramind screen, and highlight a word, select Merge or AutoMerge,
and select a category that represents the area you want your idea
expanded in. It  is a technique that has at  its center a radical
new idea in brainstorming.

        Paramind is a lot like a word processor. Which one of us,
when first turning on WordPerfect or Microsoft Word could use all
of  its features?  It is  the  same  way with  Paramind; it  is a
program that you  will be able to get more  and more done with by
each  use. To  say it  was  user-friendly  is a  bit like  saying
programming in C is user  friendly: programming in C doesn't have
to  be user  friendly since  it takes  into account many advanced
concepts.  To  people  in  research  or  creative  endeavors  the
learning curve that it takes to understand Paramind will not be a
problem because, like programming in advanced languages, there is
nothing else like it.

        If a word processor was just  a program that let you type
text onto a screen then word  processors would be easy to use. If
a word  processor didn't  have any  features such  as search  and
replace, format, copy  and move, and goto, it  wouldn't really be
that much more  valuable than a typewriter. Now,  we all know how
to use those features, and we are glad we do. Likewise, there are
worlds of new concepts waiting to be explored, and discovered for
profit in  any realm of life.  Paramind is the only  program that
offers you a way to find them systematically.

        By  its  very  nature,  Paramind  takes  a little time to
understand  because it  does new  things. New  things have  to be
learned  in order  to be  useful. Think  of how  easy many of our
computer programs are  now to many of us.  This manual is written
to make Paramind a familiar program,  and help you be able to use
your computer as a radical research and development machine.

        Paramind  is  designed  to  be  most  efficient  when you
customized it to fit your needs. Adding your own word categories,
making your  own directories with  those categories and  your own
selections of the categories we have  given you, all help to make
a brainstorming program that boosts your creativity, productivity
and  organization.   We  also  offer  a   technical  support  and
consultation service. Inquire at our address for more information
on this.

 FIVE BASIC SKILLS FOR USING PARAMIND

Paramind can be  a confusing program to use  for the casual
user. Here  are five  basic skills/requirements  any user  will
need to develop new ideas with Paramind.

 1) Type in  your sentence. Paramind won't do  anything without a
sentence typed onto its screen.

2) Go  to different "Category  Types" in the  "Create" menu. Pull
down the "Create" menu and select "Category Types" and select one
of the other  ones. The program is preset for  General 1. You can
select any of the other ones, such as Science, Business, Home, or
All for brainstorming options.

3) Make sure  the "Replace by Category" functions  doesn't have a
check mark next to it. This  is an advanced feature. In exploring
Paramind you may have toggled it  on by accident. Make sure there
isn't a check mark next to it in the "Create" menu, because it is
used after you have customized the  database (if you desire to go
in that direction with Paramind).

4) Design  a sentence that has  a "hole" in it  to be replaced by
the word categories. This "hole" takes the place of a word in the
sentence that  you see needs expansion.  It can just be  the word
"blank" in, "This company needs  blank work done to be exciting."
Make  sure the  sentences you  type in  are designed around those
"holes."

5) Find  a way to  take out the  combinations Paramind makes  for
you. You may  want to find an editor that  lets you append marked
text easily to a file.

        You  will find  many new  ideas. They  might not all make
grammatical sense. What is most important is that they are all in
context.  Context  is  more  important  than  being grammatically
correct.   No  other   creativity  package   developed  uses  the
Merge-Copy routine,  so no other  program can offer  you your new
ideas  in context.  That is  why they  feed you  back silly  word
jumbles.

        Gibberish can sometimes be  grammatically correct, but it
makes no sense because no word  is in meaningful context with the
other word.  In a few seconds  you can change the  grammar of the
sentence, but  if the sentence  doesn't contain references  (your
original sentence) there is very little chance that there will be
any meaningful  context. Only Paramind offers  you the ability to
always have your  ideas in context, and that  way new information
that  is introduced  will always   be related  to your  key idea.
Paramind keeps  things in context by  copying your whole sentence
so that  the majority of your  new sentences contain some  of the
information in your old one.

 CHAPTER TWO    List of Features

General Functions

At the top of the screen one can see the pull-down menu bar.
This is used in the common way found in other programs.

In the "File" section you'll find "New, "Open, "Save," "Save
As," and "Exit."

"New" is used when you want to start on a new screen.

"Open" lets you open files you worked on before.

"Save" lets you save what you've been currently working on.

"Save As" lets  you title or rename the  work you've been
working on.

"Exit" is chosen when you are finished using Paramind.

The  "Edit"  menu  allows  you  to  copy,  move,  clear, and
undo editing.  It  will  be  used  when  you  are  using other
Windows applications, such as Write or Clipboard.

"Undo" is  used when you want  to resume the work  you were
doing which you have erased.

"Cut" is used when you want to  remove a piece of work and put
it in another place.

"Copy" is used  when you want to save a  piece of work, but
don't want to cut it from the original file.

"Paste" is used when you want  to release what has been copied
or cut into the place where the cursor is.

"Delete" is used when you want to clear an area.

"Clear All" gets rid of the material on the screen.

 The "Search" menu includes "Find," "Replace," and "Next."

"Find" allows you to find a word or any occurrence of words.

"Replace"  allows you  to find  a certain  word or  occurrence
of words and replace them with new  ones. This can be very
useful in Paramind.

"Next" allows you to move from occurrence to occurrence.

The "Create" menu is where most  of the Paramind action will
take place.

Here  you  find  "Merge,"  "AutoMerge,"  "Substitute
Highlighted Word,"  "Find   Word  to  Substitute,"   "Replace
by  Category," "Category Type," and "Edit Categories."

"Merge" is used when you want  to create lists of new ideas based
on your sentence. It is the  root of Paramind, the part that uses
the "copy-merge"  concept mentioned. You write  a simple sentence
that states the  basics of your idea. You then  chose one word in
that sentence with  the mouse and replace it  with the many words
in the  Paramind "Word Category"  database. You simply  highlight
the word you want to remove  with the mouse by double clicking on
it. You then  select "Merge" from the "Create"  menu. It displays
the "Word  Category" index, and  then you select  the category in
the "Select Category to Expand" column.

When you see  the one you think will be  a good direction for the
expansion of your  sentence, you click on "Ok"  and Paramind will
copy your sentence, each  time substituting your highlighted word
with a word in the category.

"AutoMerge" is  a method to  create dozens of  pages, as many  as
even a hundred or more, new pages of ideas in a similar manner as
the  "Merge," but  you select  the  choices  at one  time. It  is
basically the  feature you will  want to use  once you understand
"Merge."

"AutoMerge"  can turn  a two-line  sentence into  fifty pages  of
related ideas in about two minutes. With planned usage, which can
be gotten  from studying the  category database, these  lists can
contain anything from scientific  discoveries to decorating ideas
for a living room to idea  development for a novel. Paramind will
send  you  back  your  list,  which  you  can  then  go  over and
highlight,  saving  the  ones  that  you  want.  Paramind's  word
processor is too small to contain them, so they will be stored in
a file  called Merge.txt.  You will  want to  start up  Microsoft
Write, or any other word processor, and examine the file.

"Substitute Highlighted  Word" allows you  to browse through  the
databases and  find a word  that fits your  idea. It is  unlike a
thesaurus as it doesn't limit you  to look for words with similar
meanings, but words in related word chains. You must first have a
word  highlighted in  your sentence,  like the  way you  did when
using  "Merge," to  use this  feature. It  is a  condensed way of
looking through the related word chains.

When you find a word in the "Selected Category to Expand" column,
you then click it on and the words in that category appear on the
column on the right. You can pick one of those words, or click on
another  category on  the left  hand column  (Select Category  to
Expand) to see words in that category.

When you find one you like just highlight it and click on OK. You
will then have that word replace the word you chose.

The  "Find Word  to Substitute"   is an  automated search  of the
categories in the directory that you  are in at the time. It will
only search one  group at a time. So, check  the Category type to
see     if     your     in     a     "General"     category    or
"Business,""Science,""Home" or "Other." You may want to select on
the "All" category for this feature.

You can import  any text you have on  your computer into Paramind
by copying it  in a Windows compatible format  and using "Paste."
Each word  in your sentence  is analyzed to  see if it  is in any
category. If  it is not, then  you will not see  any new screens.
But if  it is found, the  "Categories" screen will come  up which
will  show you  which categories  contain your  word, and  if you
click on that category, or any one of the categories, you will be
shown  the   contents  in  the  right   column  called  "Word  to
Substitute." This  is also a  feature like "Replace  by Category"
that  is more  advanced, and  requires a  large category library.
(You can  create more categories  yourself, or write  to Paramind
for plans on releasing more word category libraries).

If you  prefer one of the  words you are now  presented with, you
can choose  it by clicking on  it. It will then  replace your old
word. If you don't like the word,  just hit enter. You will see a
sign that says,  "Continue Search?" Hit "Enter" for  yes or click
on  "No" if  you want  it to   stop. You  can use  "Find Word  to
Substitute" on any text that  can be imported into Paramind, thus
you can use Paramind to brainstorm on any pre-existing text.

If you like  this feature and find that you  would like to use it
often, you may  consider putting all your word  categories in one
directory for times when you want  to use this feature. Then when
you want  to use it  you can point  the "Directory Type"  to that
directory,   and  you   will  then   have  access   to  many  new
possibilities. Like  other processes that  require long searches,
such as  spell checking, or database  indexing, Paramind may take
several seconds on slower machines  to load and check the indexes
for your words.

"Replace  by Category"  is a   toggle that  allows you  to either
search the database or skip the search. It is an advanced feature
that is best used when you  have built a large custom database. A
toggle is another  name for a switch; you can  either click it on
to put  a "check mark"  next to it,  or click it  on to take  the
"check mark"  off. You will know  if it is toggled  on by a check
next  to  it.  If  you  want  to  merge  without  knowing about a
customized database, you will not want it to be toggled on.

An example of using it is to  toggle it on, highlight a word, and
then select "Substitute Highlighted Word." You will see the group
that your  highlighted word fits  in, and you  may substitute any
one  of  those  words  for  your  word.  This  is one of the more
advanced Paramind  routines, and it requires  a large database of
words to work properly.

The  "Category Type"  is the  section which  will determine which
word  list Paramind  will brainstorm  from. You  can change  what
directory  you want  Paramind to  read by  clicking on  "Category
Type" and  then clicking on  one of the  boxes. This way  you can
store your own word category lists for the subjects that interest
you in any category.

It is automatically set to General  1, but you don't have to keep
it  there.  You  will  be   storing  your  word  lists  (or  word
categories) in  multiple directories. It  is necessary to  change
this setting  if you want  to explore different  ideas. You might
not have it accessing the right directory most of your words will
trigger  related word  chains in.  If you  want to  brainstorm on
business  ideas  and  it  is  reading  the  "General  1" (general
directory  #1) or  the "Science"  directory, it  would better  to
change  it  to  the  "Business"  directory.  If  you  have  other
directories which have Paramind categories,  you will use this to
switch between them.

        If you  make your own custom  word list directories, then
select  "Other" on  the bottom  of the  "Category Type" box, then
"OK" and type  in the Dos pathway where Paramind  can find it. If
you want to  create many new word categories  to create new ideas
with,  first  make  a  Dos  sub-directory  to  put  them in. This
sub-directory  will be  the name   that you  type when  you click
"Other" in the "Category Type" box.  For instance, if you want to
make a  directory that had  all your word  categories relating to
environmentally safe fuels, you would type "c:\paramind\safefuel"
in the  other category pathway box,  if you had created  that sub
directory in your Paramind directory.

        To create your own  sub-directories in Paramind, you have
to type "md sub-directoryname" which stands for "make directory."
This is  typed off the  root directory, so  your prompt will  not
have a directory name. It will look like this "C:\" or "D:\". For
more information on this, look in a Dos manual.

        "Edit Categories" is the area  which you can add new word
categories, change or  delete them, and manage them  in any other
way.  When you  click it  on you  will first  see the "Dictionary
Editor."

        If you want to go into different word category lists, you
will want  to first click  on the "Category  Type" on the  bottom
center. That will pop up  another "Directory Type" screen that is
specific to  the "Category Editor."  The two are  not related, so
you may have to select the category that your in all over again.

        The word column  on the right side is  different than the
word column  on the "Category Editor."  It will not show  you the
contents of the highlighted categories  on the left hand side. It
simply  shows you  in alphabetical   order all  the words  in the
categories that are in the directory your in.

        The "Add"  button lets you  add a new  word category. All
you have to do is type in words and select OK, and you have a new
category. You will  then press the build index  button and let it
build an index, or just select "Exit" and you will be prompted to
build the  index. You will have  to do build the  index each time
you work on the categories.

        The "Delete" and "Edit" functions work when you highlight
a word category with the mouse.

        The "Delete" button will let you delete a category. There
is no  message that will  come up asking  if you are  sure, so be
serious if you press it.

        The  "Edit" button  will let  you go  into a category and
change it in  any way you like. Since you  must rebuild the index
each time you  change a category, you might want  to do your work
on the categories all at the same  time, so that you only have to
rebuild the index once.



CHAPTER THREE           Doing a Merge

        The  first  thing  that  Paramind  can  do  for you is to
multiply your ideas.  It is like a spreadsheet  of ideas. It does
this mainly  by its "Merge"  and "AutoMerge" features  located in
the "Create"  menu. To merge  something means to  combine it with
something. Your  not just combining  your sentence that  you type
onto Paramind with another sentence, but your quickly copying the
sentence and  combining it with a  list of words that  you see as
being a part of the direction you want your idea to go in.

        To do  this you first  type a sentence  into the Paramind
screen or "editor." The editor works like a simple word processor
does.  You have  an idea,  any idea,  and that  idea can be first
stated by a few simple words.

        Let's use this sentence as an example

        I wish I knew a good way to create more ideas.

        Then you pick a word in  that sentence by clicking on the
mouse twice, or highlighting it with the mouse. The word you pick
is a word that you see as being a good place for your sentence to
be merged into by another word. That  new word will then be a new
idea for your original sentence.

        I wish I knew a (good) way to create more ideas.

        Here  we  are  using  "good"  as  a  great place to start
merging. The parenthesis or brackets around "good" in the example
is just  a way of  showing you that  we will use  "good" to merge
from.

        You are then ready to  start developing new ideas. Select
the "Create" pull-down menu by  selecting it with the mouse. Pick
"Merge"  and you  will see  a list  of words  come up. You simply
click on any of the words and you will see the words contained in
that list. We call the lists "Word Categories." Click on each one
and see what words are in them. Find one that you can see being a
good choice for your sentence.

        We are  looking for a better  way to describe the  way to
create  ideas. The  word good  really doesn't  describe it in any
way. Everyone knows  we all are looking for a  good way to create
ideas.  We  wouldn't  be  using  a  brainstorming  program  if we
weren't! So look  through the word lists. "Good"  is an adjective
so lets look at words that have an "adj" in them.

        We look  through the "adj" categories  such as "adjexist"
"adjmotion",   "adjpleasure"   and   "adjtime".   We  think  that
"adjexist" is a  good place to start to get  a good broad base to
work in.

        The "Merge"  feature will copy  that idea and  combine it
with all the words in that category.

        For instance, say that you have:

        I wish I knew a (good) way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a existent way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a current way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a real way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a true way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a non-existent way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a positive way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a negative way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a personal way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a impersonal way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a subjective way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a objective way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a relative way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a unrelated way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a related way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a low way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a deep way to create more ideas.

        I wish I knew a shallow way to create more ideas.

        That is the result of the first merge. Look over the list
and  think of  which one  describes an  area you  haven't thought
about regarding idea generation.  Someone making this merge might
find that they really needed to be more "deep," such as `I wish I
knew a  deep way to  create more ideas.'"  Perhaps "deep" is  the
word they  use to associate  brilliant ways of  thinking. Another
person realizes "a more personal way"  to create ideas is best as
in "I wish I knew a personal way to create more ideas."

        With Paramind you can chose as many words in the sentence
to  merge on  as you  want. If  you didn't  get anything from the
results  you made  you will  want to  select another  word in the
sentence. If  you want to  re-merge the same  word you choose  in
your first  merge you will have  to "Copy" the sentence  from the
Edit menu  and select "New" from  the "File" menu and  then paste
the original sentence  onto the top of the  screen. Paramind will
only  allow you  to merge  once on  the same  word (except in the
"AutoMerge" function).

        That simple  merge wasn't good  enough to really  help us
start to think  of new ways to think of  ideas, so we will select
another word to merge.

        I wish I knew a (good) way to create (more) ideas.

        We chose the word "more" because it shows us what kind of
ideas  we want  to create.  We chose  the word  "good" because we
wanted to find out what a better word than "good" that would mean
more to use. Again, we highlight  "more" with the mouse, and then
we pull down the "Create" menu and select "Merge."

        I wish I knew a existent way to create permanent ideas.

        I wish I knew a current way to create seasonal ideas.

        I wish I knew a real way to create lasting ideas.

        I wish I knew a true way to create endless ideas.

        I wish I knew a non-existent way to create passing ideas.

        I wish I knew a positive way to create overdue ideas.

        I wish I knew a negative way to create previous ideas.

        I wish I knew a personal way to create future ideas.

        I wish I knew a impersonal way to create present ideas.

        I wish I knew a subjective way to create new ideas.

        I wish I knew a objective way to create old ideas.

        I wish I knew a relative way to create daily ideas.

        I wish I knew a unrelated way to create nightly ideas.

        I wish I knew a related way to create young ideas.

        I wish I knew a low way to create aged ideas.

        I wish I knew a deep way to create frequent ideas.

        I wish I knew a shallow way to create periodic ideas.

        Now you see what Paramind can do.  We'll do it again.

        Let's make up some ideas about how to design the front of
a dream boat we are going to build

        "My boat's  front should be functional,  but it should be
designed well."

        "Well" isn't a good enough  word to describe the front of
your  dream boat.  It really  doesn't tell  you anything. We will
pick "well"  as the word  that we want  replaced by words  in our
word category lists.

        Select "well" with the mouse.

        Then go  into the Create pull-down  menu and select Merge
again. The  same list will come  up. Click on any  word you wish.
Now go through the list to find  a better way to describe the way
your  boat's front  should be  designed. Select  a word  that you
think will  help you better  describe how it  should be designed.
Since well is here used as  an adverb lets look through the "adv"
categories   such   as   "avdtime",   "advexist",  "advform"  and
"advidea". We'll  pick "advform" and  see what we  get. Select it
and  then  click  on  "Ok"  and  the  merge  will  be to copy the
sentence, replacing well with the words in "advform."

        You will get this result:

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
well.

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
flat

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
lengthwise

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
horizontally

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
on edge

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
against the grain

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
vertically

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
open

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
in and out

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
round and round

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
however

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
still

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
powerfully

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
richly

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
completely

        Let's  pick  the  word  "functional".  "Functional" is an
important  word  for  the  sentence,  but  since  we already have
decided it  should be functional  we can go  on. You may  want to
save the file  as is by calling it boat1,  so that you don't lose
the thought of this first idea list.

        My  boat's front  should be  (functional), but  it should be
designed well.

        We  then go  into the  "Create" menu  and select  "Merge"
again to  look through our word  categories. Here we see  that we
can chose different categories, and get different and interesting
results.  We want  to keep  in mind  that this  will be our dream
boat, so  we are looking  for an  exotic  color for it  to be. We
chose  "blues"  because  that  word  category  has many different
shades  of  blue.  We  then  click  on  "Ok" and Paramind creates
another word list.

        My boat's front should be functional, but it should be designed
well.

        My boat's front should be turquoise but it should be designed
flat

        My boat's front should be steel but it should be designed
lengthwise

        My boat's front should be slate but it should be designed
horizontally

        My boat's front should be sky but it should be designed on edge

        My boat's front should be royal but it should be designed
against the grain

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
vertically

        My boat's front should be peacock but it should be designed open

        My boat's front should be navy but it should be designed in and
out

        My boat's front should be midnight but it should be designed
round and round

        My boat's front should be marine but it should be designed
however

        My boat's front should be lapis but it should be designed still

        My boat's front should be indigo but it should be designed
powerfully

        My boat's front should be French but it should be designed
richly

        Here you  see the scope  of the new  imagination Paramind
brings you.  You can even  create a new  list, such as  a list of
different parts of the boat  by using the Edit Categories feature
of the  Create Menu. We  will get to  that in a  minute but let's
take a look at what we've done so far.

        You'll notice  the original sentence  typed in is  always
copied as it remains. This is so you never lose the track of your
first thought.  You must select  a word from  that first sentence
for Paramind to  merge. You can merge as many  times as you like.
To avoid  creating lists that  go too far  off the track  of what
your trying to think of, it is  wise to figure out a good pattern
of saving  and naming the  files you create.  For instance, using
the "Edit" menu  you may want to save the  sentence. You like the
sentence  "my boat's  front should   be powder  but it  should be
designed vertically" because  you like the idea of  a powder blue
boat, but "vertically" doesn't really say much to you.

        You would rather keep the idea of a powder blue boat, but
have a visual  list of what the boat's front  would look like now
that you have it in powder blue. To get this you simply copy that
sentence  with the  "Copy" function  in "Edit."  You then  select
"New" in the "File" menu. After that Paramind will ask you if you
want to save your idea list.

        Select either  yes or no  according to what  your looking
for. It might be a good idea  to make many idea lists because you
or a friend may see something later that you missed.

        Then you  have "My boat's  front should be  powder but it
should be  designed vertically" at the  top of the page.  Go back
into the  "Create" menu after highlighting  "vertically" with the
mouse.  Pull down  "Merge" and  select "advform"  again. Click on
"Ok" and this is what you will get:

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
vertically

        My boat's front should bepowder but it should be designed flat

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
lengthwise

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
horizontally

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed on
edge

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
against the grain

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
vertically

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed open

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed in
and out

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
round and round

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
however

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed still

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
powerfully

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
richly

        My boat's front should be powder but it should be designed
completely

        Now you  can start from  the beginning with  the frame of
mind your looking for. Remember,  these examples are only to show
you the stages a sentence can go through, and are not meant to be
brilliant.  Look  at  the  way  the  sentences  changed  with the
different techniques we've just learned.

 AutoMerge   (only included in retail version)

        "AutoMerge" is the engine of Paramind.

        "AutoMerge" is a way of  producing pages and pages of new
word combinations in just minutes. For the times when you have to
see  how things  look in  different relationships  to each other,
"AutoMerge" will feed you back hundreds of new relationships. You
can then  scan through them  with a word  processor and copy  the
ones that  you like for  a custom document  that highlights great
new areas for your idea to move in.

        To use  "AutoMerge" you don't  need to highlight  a word,
you simply type in your sentence,  click on "Create" and click on
"AutoMerge." You will see that you have a choice between "Simple"
and "Complex."  "Simple" will let  you select five  words in your
key sentence to merge with, and  "Complex" with let you chose two
words,  but  those  two  words  can  be  replaced  with more word
categories than the Simple AutoMerge.  Try both and see which one
you like. You  can also produce output in  "Simple" or "Complex,"
and then cut  and paste a sentence you  like to the top of  a new
Paramind screen, and re-"Merge" or "AutoMerge" on it for many new
ideas.

        Automerge has some instructions included within it as its
running,  but  this  documentation  will  help  you understand it
further. You  pull down the Automerge  screen simply after typing
in your  key sentence (the sentence  you intend on merging  on) .
You don't have  to select any words to merge  on yet, like you do
when you  are doing a  Merge. Automerge will  prompt you for  the
words in your sentence that you want to merge on. When you do get
prompted for the words to replace, you simply "tag" the words you
want selected.  "Tagging" is a way  to select a group  of things.
Its used often in menu programs,  when you want to copy different
files all at one time.

        The Automerge  feature uses two  routines to expand  your
idea: Simple and Complex.

        "Simple" selects up to five words in your key sentence to
merge with new word categories. Then each of these five words you
select is merged with 2 choices of word categories.

        "Complex" allows you to chose  2 words to merge, but this
time each word can be merged with 5 choices of word categories.

        This is how it looks in diagram form:

        Simple AutoMerge:

        Our key sentence is:

        The grey sky looks fine in the sunshine.

        We are given the sentence  in horizontal layout, one word
on top of the  other, and we tag the words we  desire to merge on
by clicking them.

        Here's some  words in our  sentence that will  be good to
expand on:

        1   2    3          4            5

        The grey sky looks fine in the sunshine.

        1 The 2 grey 3 sky 4 fine 5 sunshine

        In Simple AutoMerge, each one  of these words can be used
to merge with  two new word categories. Paramind  will prompt you
for  them.  Make  sure  you  are  already  in  the  word category
directory such as  "Biz," or "All," etc. that  will have the word
categories that  want to select  from. You must  use the "Add  to
List" button on  the screen. If you don't  like a word, highlight
it  in  the  box  that  contains  your  selections  and  click on
"Remove."

        One does not  have to select the maximum  number of words
possible. If one selects less words that the maximum you will get
some bad  formatting in the  output. Automerge is  a good way  to
speed up your  merges even if you want to  only chose one word to
merge with five word categories.

        "Complex AutoMerge"  uses two words  with five categories
each, and runs in the same way that "Simple" does.

        Here we will use the key sentence:

        Red paint looks better

        We will choose the first two words

        1 Red 2 Paint

        Each one  of these words  can be replaced  with five word
categories. Since in each word category there are up to 22 words,
the output one receives can be dozens of pages long.

        AutoMerge will give you a text that will be too large for
the Paramind editor. Its called  Merge.txt, and you can access it
by Write  or any other  word processor. You  should rename it  at
once so that  you won't have new Automerges  replace the old one.
It will be found in the Paramind directory.

        In version 1.3, the key  sentence is not displayed on the
pop-up screen, so it is helpful to write down your sentence since
this screen  covers it up.  In our next  upgrade we also  plan on
including a tagging feature so  that editing of output is easier.
One  way to  quicken the  editing is  by running  Write twice and
using the "copy and paste" method  to dump wanted material into a
clean new file. Another way is  to block whole areas that have no
important meaning  and deleting them, leaving  the good sentences
behind. In a  concentrated effort of a few  minutes, one can work
on  a large  Merge.txt file  and put  the good  merges in a clean
edited file. This  way one will not hesitate to  look at the work
you've done because of the length of work.



 Some Tips on Using Paramind

SEARCH
One feature  that can be used  with great effect is  the "Search"
functions. What  might look like  a useless Paramind  page can be
fixed easily with the "Search-Replace" routine. You can also turn
adjective word categories  into adverbs by adding an  -ly next to
them, and  change present tense  verbs into past  tense by adding
aned. Sometimes you may want to even create a type of grammatical
shorthand by  adding other suffixes  or prefixes that  might look
like typographical  errors but put  things in better  context for
you.

For  instance, if  one has  a verb  that is  written in  the Word
Categories  in the  singular, one  can use  the "Replace" to make
those verbs into plurals. First merge  with a word using it as an
adjective,  or have  another word  as a  reference around it that
will be  repeated in each  section. Then use  that reference word
for the word to search for in "Replace." Put the word plus an "s"
to be replaced. The result will be something like this:

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it increase s ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it enlarge s ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it advance s ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it rise s ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it mount s ideas.

Then  take out  the space  next to  the "s"  and the  word it
is pluralizing by looking for a " s" (that is a space and a "s")
and replacing that with a "s" that will very effectively take
out the spaces, and you will have salvaged a file.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it increases ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it enlarges ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it advances ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it rises ideas.

This is  the cutest little program  around because of the  way
it mounts ideas.

"Search and  Replace" should also be  used if there is  a problem
with a  space missing between the  new word from the  merge and a
word next to it in the  sentence. Sometimes this will happen if a
user highlights  the space next  to the word  they want replaced.
The way to  add a space in each one  of those marred sentences is
to search for the word that  is common to all those sentences and
place a space next to the word as the "Replace with" feature.

Sometimes, when using Paramind you will find that there is a word
in  your original  sentence that  is better  in a different form.
Instead of "mighty" use "might," instead of "testing" use "test",
instead of "windmills" use "windmill." Sometimes this editing can
be  done with  Search and   Replace, in  different modes  of that
operation in  Paramind, or maybe the  Search functions in Windows
Write can work  better. Simple editing by hand  sometimes is best
however, as one  maybe able to change what they  want in a minute
or less.

When testing  the features "Find Word  To Substitute" or "Replace
by  Category" we  found it  hard to  find different  forms of the
word. Words  such as "wonder" "wonderful"  and "wondered" are all
related, so and  one version of Paramind found  "wonder," but not
"wondered"  or  find  "form"  but  not  "forms." The old Paramind
database might find  one instance of your word,  and not another.
Paramind  now finds  the largest  percentage of  a word.  It will
probably find all words similar to each other, but you might want
to experiment  to make sure.  This gives it  a strange appearance
when it is going over a word, and sometimes it will skip a simple
word like "the."



 CHAPTER FOUR  Adding and Maintaining Word Categories

        Let's  go into  "Edit Categories"  and make  that list of
boat sections.

        We go  into "Create" again and  select "Edit Categories."
Select the "Category Type" button and make sure it reads "General
1." Then select Add and you will see another screen come up which
is where you will write your new word categories.

        Call the  new word category "boatparts"  and start typing
this list, with  each time you finish typing  a line, hitting the
tab key to go to the next line.

        stern bow deck sail cabin observation tower rig freeboard
kitchen mast bowsprit rudder hull

        Add  any  more  words  you  like.  Then select the "Build
Index"  and  Paramind  will  add  this  new category called "boat
parts" to your list.

Instead  of  keeping  "front"  in   "My  boat's  front"  we  will
substitute "front" with the "boatparts" category.

        It will look like this:

        My boat's front  should be powder but it  should be designed
vertically

        My boat's stern  should be powder but it  should be designed
flat

        My  boat's bow  should be  powder but  it should be designed
lengthwise

        My boat's  deck should be  powder but it  should be designed
horizontally

        My boat's sail should be powder but it should be designed on
edge

        My boat's cabin  should be powder but it  should be designed
against the grain

        My boat's  observation tower should be  powder but it should be
designed vertically

        My  boat's rig  should be  powder but  it should be designed
open

        My  boat's  freeboard  should  be  powder  but  it should be
designed in and out

        My boat's kitchen should be powder but it should be designed
round and round

        My boat's  mast should be  powder but it  should be designed
however

        My  boat's  bowsprit  should  be  powder  but  it  should be
designed still

        My boat's rudder should be  powder but it should be designed
powerfully

        My boat's  hull should be  powder but it  should be designed
richly

        My boat's front  should be powder but it  should be designed
completely

        Notice that  since we have  a smaller amount  of words in
the  "boatparts"  category  than  the  words  in  our  other word
categories we  have a few  sentences left over  in our idea  list
where  the  first  three  words  "My  boat's  front" haven't been
changed. You  simply don't have  to make all  your word-lists the
same size, your not required to fill up the whole list box.

        To put it  a different way, the first  word list that you
used  to merge  makes a  difference how  many sentences will come
out. That  first merge will  copy your original  sentence as many
times as  there are words in  that sentence. This is  because you
copy your sentence once for each word in the category.

        Again, let's  imagine that you  like a few  of these word
lists, but simply because you  never thought of how the different
parts of  the boat, such  as the observation  tower are going  to
look. You can save your whole idea list as boat2, and then select
sentences out of it you like to merge again with other word lists
in the word category list.

        You can also edit the word categories by highlighting the
word category  and selecting "edit." Likewise,  by highlighting a
word category you can also chose  to delete it. You will be asked
to rebuild the category. Like  other database programs that build
indexes, it may  take a few minutes on  slower machines. Don't be
alarmed, this is normal.

        One special  note that you  must know about  the category
structure is that you are  required to have your categories title
be the same in Dos as it  looks in the top of the Edit Categories
screen.  That is,  if you  have a  category called "pretflow.cat"
which  to you  is "pretty  flowers category,"  you can't  call it
"pretflow.cat" in your Edit Categories screen, and then go to Dos
and rename it  "niceflow.cat" -- it must stay  the same. This can
be the cause of your category changing its shape over time.

        Make sure that if you change the name of your category to
a better name over time, you go out to Dos and find the old name,
and use  this Dos command, "Ren  oldname.cat newname.cat" -- that
way Paramind will be able to access the correct old category.

CHAPTER FIVE       Advanced Features

        Using Merge and AutoMerge is the  best way to get a start
in Paramind, but you will notice that there are other features on
the Create Menu.

1)   "Replace Highlighted Word" is also located in the Create
Menu.

        This feature lets you replace  a word here and there, and
lets you pick one word to replace your old word instead of having
to look through  a whole list. This makes Paramind  a tool like a
thesaurus, but since Paramind's database isn't built of synonyms,
but related word  chains, you don't a better  way to express what
you want to express, but  you find suggestions for expanding your
idea.

        We will select the word  "powder" to explore the "Replace
Highlighted Word" category.

        My  boat's  front  should  be  (powder)  but it should be
designed vertically

        Highlight "powder" like you did before by double clicking
the mouse or dragging the mouse over it.

        Now with  "powder" highlighted pull down  the Create menu
and  select "Substitute  Highlighted  Word."  Go through  all the
words that come up in the  word category screen, clicking on them
with the  mouse each time. You  will see words in  all categories
that  you could  put in  the  context  of your  word that  you've
highlighted.

2) "Find Word to Substitute" is a useful feature which allows you
to import any  text into Paramind to brainstorm  upon. You simply
import the  text by cutting  and pasting it  from another Windows
application, or by opening it as  a text file from the File menu.
Select "All"  in the "Category  Type" to make  sure that a  large
portion of the Paramind categories will be used, or perhaps use a
custom  database   of  word  categories.   (For  downloading  and
uploading  purposes,   the  "All"  directory   doesn't  have  all
categories listed.  If you have a  fast computer you may  want to
copy them  all in there  by going out  to Dos and  entering "Copy
*.cat c:\paramind\all" from the different directories).

        (Note --  the way to turn  this feature off is  to select
"OK" and then select "No" for continue.)

        This feature  goes over the  text on the  Paramind screen
and looks  for any of  the words in  the word category  lists. It
goes over one Category Type at a  time, so if you don't find many
words you might want to go into the "Category Type" and change it
to "General 2" or "Science" or any other category.

        To give you  an example of this program  in use, go ahead
and mark  the above paragraph from  "Now we will..." to  the last
sentence  in it,  ending with  "...any other  category." Like any
other text, you can work on  this manual in Windows Write, but be
sure not to  change it in any way because  Write will save it for
you in a write format. You  can get around this by selecting "No"
if it asks you to save.

        Select "Copy" in Windows Write and in Paramind go to Edit
and select  Paste. Paste it into  the editor and the  go into the
Create menu and select "Find Word to Substitute."

        You will see a "highlighter" automatically come up on the
screen which will block each word  as it goes into "General 1" or
whatever category  you selected in "Category  Type" and looks for
your  words. You  will see   it find  several word  categories in
"General 1" that contains words in the paragraph. When it does it
will come up  with the word category unhighlighted.  Click on the
word category  in the left-hand box  and see if you  would rather
use those words  instead of the one you  have already written. If
you would like one, highlight the  new word you like and click on
"Ok." This  will replace your old  word with the new  one. If you
don't like it, just hit cancel.

        The word  categories are three  kinds: specific groupings
related  to  parts  of  speech  (in  General 1) general groupings
related to parts of speech  (in General 2) and specific groupings
not entirely related  to parts of speech (General  3). Types like
"adjaffect"  or "advtime"  stand for  "adjectives relating  to an
affect" and "adverb relating to time" respectively, then some are
general like  "comnou1" or "abnou1" stand  for "common noun group
#1" and "abstract noun group #1" respectively.

        3) "Replace by Category" is a feature that will allow the
Merge control to only select  category databases that contain the
words in your text. This is a  good feature for those who want to
only  pick word  categories relating  to their  sentences at that
time.

        The "Replace  by Category" is what's  known as a "toggle"
in computer terms. A toggle is  simply another word for a switch.
It switches on here a search function much like the "Find Word to
Substitute feature."

        Suppose you want to do a merge and you want to just merge
lists that have  the idea you've highlighted. You'd  click on the
"Replace by Category"  toggle so that there is  a check mark next
to it. Now Paramind will go  into the word category lists to find
out if there  is a word category with your  word list in it. This
feature  is good  for those  who work  frequently with lists that
they use over and over again.

        Suppose someone is an interior designer, and they like to
have different combinations of  room items. By selecting "Replace
by Category" Paramind will find  the word categories that contain
whatever  word   they've  highlighted.  If  they   want  to  find
combinations with  antique sofa's, Paramind  will bring up  those
word  categories, if  they  want  Persian carpets,  Paramind will
bring up  those word categories.  Then they have  already found a
list of  word categories to merge  with, they don't have  to scan
the entire word category index.

        It  can also  be useful  for more  scientific uses of the
program.  "Replace by  Category" also  works the  same way if you
want to use "Substitute Highlighted Word." Here it only brings up
those word  categories for you to  look at to see  if you want to
substitute just one word.

        You  must  have  a   word  highlighted  for  "Replace  by
Category" to work when it is  switched on, since it must look for
a word. If you are getting the message "Word not in any category"
you may  want to "toggle"  or switch it  off, since this  feature
works best  when one has  more experience with  Paramind, and has
customized  Paramind or  upgraded  the  word category  library to
include  more  word  categories.  You  toggle  it  off  by simply
clicking it again with the mouse.

        This feature is also used  when you want brainstorming to
be  a  little  more  precise.   Suppose  you  have  several  word
categories that have similar words, and you want to get different
ideas from different lists. You use this category to move between
them.

CHAPTER SIX    CATEGORY PRINTER FEATURE

To get  the best results and  creative benefits you will  want to
have the  "Word Categories" to  reference outside the  machine on
paper. It is important to know  what words you'll be merging into
your sentences, and nothing is quite so simple as making notes on
a paper  output, or  bringing that   with you  if a  laptop isn't
available. While it is true that  you can see them on the screen,
it is helpful (and  less of a strain on the eyes)  to have a hard
copy of them.

We thought it will be useful to have a clean way to print out the
"Word Categories" by organizing them in columns with the title of
the  word category  above each  column. We've  done this with our
"Dictionary Printer" program.

You  first  use  the  "Dictionary  Printer"  by  putting  it  the
directory  that contains  the categories  you want  to print. You
then type "dictprn" and it will  print out ".prn" files that each
have  two word  categories. You   can then  print them  by typing
"Print *.prn."

Sometimes it  will only be  possible to print  a fraction of  the
ones  made at  a time  because the  computer's printer buffer can
only store a small amount to  print. Therefore, if you delete the
ones that have printed, you can  then enter "Print *.prn" and the
next few  will print. Do this  until you've printed them  all and
then move to the next directory.

(The Dictionary Printer is only included in registered versions).

CHAPTER SEVEN       PARAMIND THEORY

        Paramind is the first  brainstorming programs written for
the computer that  goes beyond random word jumbling  or by asking
the  user questions  relating to  their subject.  Paramind is the
result   of   investigation   into   how   to   create  ideas  by
computer-human interaction. The first  problem encountered was to
get   the  computer   to  understand   the  complexity   of  word
relationships. Failures  in this area produce  output that aren't
grammatically  correct, and  if they  are, the  words are  not in
context with  each other, so  they don't make  sense anyway. With
Paramind,  the user's  work is  always in  context, and is almost
always grammatically correct. All  the categories in Paramind are
reusable, so you  don't have to type in  new categories each time
you  use   Paramind.  These  are   all  faults  found   in  other
brainstorming programs.

        With  Paramind, you  don't  use  random word  jumbling to
create outputs  that can only  "invoke" ideas. Paramind  works by
replacing only one word in your idea-sentence with a word that is
the same part of speech and  even the same subject matter, tense,
class, etc. And you can then replace another word in the sentence
for even more  new ideas. You take out a  noun to replace it with
another noun,  or you take  out an adjective  to replace it  with
another adjective. You can do complex searches of the database to
locate related word chains to make your new ideas appear fast and
be related.

        Obviously,  if the  user  could  predict the  results, he
wouldn't  need   the  program  in  the   first  place.  With  any
brainstorming program, you will get  some output that isn't going
to be helpful. But with  Paramind, you can select word categories
that  are configured  to fit  into your  own sentences.  You scan
through the word categories to  see which category is best suited
for your ideas.

        Paramind is also  geared for those who want  a hard copy,
or a paper trail in their  pursuit of their topic. No matter what
idea your after, you can work with that idea by typing in some of
your  own word  categories, and  then use  the existing  Paramind
categories to fill  out the parts of speech  that aren't specific
to your idea.  It can expand grammatically any  idea with all its
avenues, and you  can make a hard copy  to index that exploration
when you don't have a computer nearby.

        Paramind can also  help the user just find  one idea, and
splice that  idea into pre-existing  text, by using  the "Replace
Highlighted Word" feature.

        You can see  that Paramind is no gimmick.  Unlike the few
brainstorming programs  that have failed  to establish themselves
on the market, and put computer idea generation on the map,

        Paramind is not a cheap word jumbling routine or a simple
thought  organizer. Paramind  is the   first step  to get  at the
computer  that hands  you back  lists of  ideas for  you sentence
(which takes the place of a sentence  with a "hole in it that you
type into the editor) To us  at Paramind, its conceivable that we
can  put  brainstorming  programs  in  every  place  that  has  a
computer,  and  help  people  who  understand  how  to  use these
programs  to  create  solutions   for  problems  they've  thought
unconquerable.

        Paramind is  a Windows environment editor  that let's the
reader write out a sentence or two of their idea and then expands
that idea in any direction desired.

        That is how Paramind helps you brainstorm your ideas. And
you can add  your own word lists to the  database with the simple
"Category Add"  feature. Paramind also provides  hundreds of word
categories which the reader can merge within his sentence.

        With Paramind, you will be able  to take an idea that was
only  a  sentence  and  in  five  minutes  come  up with pages of
information related to your idea.  You can then easily export the
ideas to your word processor and edit and print the results.

        Using  Paramind  means  using  the  hidden  properties of
words. It  means interacting words  in ways never  before thought
of. The  computer now becomes  a brainstorming tool  that creates
usable output, not  just a file cabinet or  graphics tool. Now we
are  on the  verge of  using the  computer as  a tool  that helps
anyone explore and expand ideas. Paramind involves learning a new
technique  to  explore  your  ideas,  and  by  learning  this new
technique you learn a way to explore avenues that no one has ever
thought of before.

        The merge routine concept in brainstorming was created to
solve a simple problem: If words are segments of thought, and our
library equals the interaction of these segments of thought, then
how  could  more  ideas  be  generated?  The  answer is simply by
working  on new  interactions of  words. The  merge technique  is
ultimately  the primary  technique for  re-interacting words with
each other.

        To merge  simply means uniting  or combining things.  The
merge  concept of  thinking is   possibly one  of our  next major
ideas.

        If our dictionary is a  collection of words which are the
units  of ideas,  and our  library contains  the contents  of the
dictionary organized  in different intelligible  ways, then there
could  be   more  books  written   which  would  simply   be  our
dictionary's words organized in a different intelligible ways. By
working with the interactions of words  we can find all manner of
new ideas if we simple exhaust  the interactions of words in ways
that make sense.

        We can  further illustrate this  by the fact  that floppy
disc drive  terminology was already  present with us  when Edison
invented  the phonograph.  At that  time someone  could logically
have seen the  idea of the personal computer.  I'm of the opinion
that in some sweep of imagination some brave soul stood forth and
said, "You know, one day they will be able to write books on that
thing,  and  have  the  rolls  play  back  the  books  and move a
mechanism that writes their contents on paper!"

        The ideas  frequently come many decades  before the fact.
And the new  ideas can almost always be stated  in words from our
own dictionary (or in combinations of the old parts of words such
as suffixes and prefixes).

        With  the  program  of  Paramind,  creative  individuals,
whether   they   be   scientists,   teachers,  artists,  business
executives  or  social  workers,   can  now  start  to  seriously
experiment with  thinking outside the speed  of their mind. Since
all  future ideas  are represented  by our  language, it could be
said that  by sophisticated new uses  of our language we  will be
able to find these new ideas.

        "Absurd," you  may say. "All  we will get  is gibberish".
That  is  where  linguistic  knowledge  comes  in. Linguistics is
another word for the science of  language. We must be able to use
linguistic rules  to even get  at sentences that  make sense, let
alone have any value. The easiest way to do this is to brainstorm
with the merge concept. The merge concept in brainstorming allows
us to practically always  produce meaningful if not grammatically
correct output.

        Paramind can  be used by scientists  at any level because
anything can be typed onto the editor and the word categories can
contain  anything  as  well.  Symbol,  word,  phrase,  or number;
anything that  can be typed  can be stored  and re-used. Paramind
thus becomes a spreadsheet for ideas if used skillfully.

        Paramind can do more for the deeply creative thinker than
any  other  brainstorming  product  on  the  market. It will also
provide  brainstorming on  ideas for  making money,  engineering,
business planning, or anything else.

        The thinker without Paramind to help them is stuck at the
thinking speed of their own associations. They may have a library
of books to  help them, maybe even a CD-Rom  and a modem on their
computer, but they are still restricted to how fast they can type
or how fast they can talk into a tape recorder. That is it.

        Higher speeds of association are now possible because now
we have  the copy-merge concept  of brainstorming. For  instance,
one scientist  could merge together concepts  in such sciences as
electronics,   industrial   engineering,   botany,   and  organic
chemistry to form  a totally new approach to  supplying the needs
of  a  technologically  advanced  society.  And  through skill in
Paramind  we  may  arrive  at  these  sciences  in a few decades,
totally  saving us  from any  further degradation  of the natural
environment.

        A  trained scientist  would use  Paramind like  this. One
see's a  shiny fabric, or the  kind they call "neon  colored" and
one thinks to oneself, "Well that is shiny but what would be even
more  so?" One  takes that  meaning  and  merges it  with a  word
category  of things  that shine.  Well, we  can merge fabric with
light, or sun, and we get  something we have never had before but
conceivably more advanced civilizations  than us would have. That
is,  a  fabric  that  would  glow  in  broad  daylight -- a light
emitting fabric.  Clearly this idea  seems as complex  as did the
electric  light  to  people  150  years  ago.  But  now  with the
computer, we  can discover new  and UNNAMED concepts.  A new idea
must first at least be named -- and that is a great taboo.

        We  can  chose  sentences   that  would  approximate  the
invention of a light emitting cloth, such as this one:

        "A  light   emitting  cloth  was   invented  by  treating
conductive  fabric  with  electricity  until  the  material  held
luminosity  stored by  the cloth  or provided  by the electricity
source."

        Then  we break  down the  idea, bit  by bit,  sentence by
sentence. We  explore the notion until  we can get more  and more
realistic possibilities.  We end up  with perhaps a  five-hundred
page analysis  of an idea in  a forty-hour work week,  and within
that  analysis is  very likely  to be  the correct  formula for a
luminous cloth.  The work, incidentally, must  be done by someone
who  understands  the  technical  language  pertaining  to what a
luminous cloth would be.

 CHAPTER EIGHT        ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

        The first examples in the  manual were centered on simple
examples just to show you  Paramind's routines. Now let's look at
a way to create a bold new idea,  such as an idea that might help
you make a profitable new business venture.

        You type in the sentence:

        "Home  appliances that  help with  cleaning make  life a  lot
easier"

        You  go  through  the  word  lists  after  you select the
"Merge" feature  and look through  the words. You  might get some
ideas for  other categories, but the  one that works best  is the
"morning.cat" word category. Let's merge it with our sentence. We
get this list:

        Home appliances that help with cleaning make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with alarm make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with breakfast make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with awake make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with cereal make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with shower make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with shave make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with coffee make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with eggs make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with exercise make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with fruit make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with go to work make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with make bed make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with news make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with sleepy make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with sunrise make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with walk make life a lot easier

        Home appliances that help with yawn make life a lot easier

        Now you  have a list of  important parts of the  day that
could be use to find products  to make life easier. Some might be
profitable if no one's ever worked in them before.

        You can use any Windows compatible software as a backdrop
for more work on any of  these ideas. Simply pull down the "Edit"
menu and select "Copy" and you will be able to store the Paramind
screen in memory.  Call up Write and you will  be able to "Paste"
them in and work on the ideas there, making notes as they come to
your mind.

        Let's  pick another  word,  the  adjective "Home"  in our
sentence to find more areas to explore with.

        Home  appliances  that  help  with  cleaning  make life a lot
easier

        alltime  appliances  that  help  with  alarm  make life a lot
easier

        anytime appliances  that help with breakfast  make life a lot
easier

        bad appliances that help with awake make life a lot easier

        beat appliances that help with cereal make life a lot easier

        bedtime  appliances that  help with  shower make  life a  lot
easier

        best appliances that help with shave make life a lot easier

        daytime  appliances that  help with  coffee make  life a  lot
easier

        do time appliances that help with eggs make life a lot easier

        every  appliances that  help with  exercise make  life a  lot
easier

        free appliances that help with fruit make life a lot easier

        fulltime appliances that help with go to work make life a lot
easier

        fun appliances that help with make bed make life a lot easier

        good appliances that help with news make life a lot easier

        half appliances that help with sleepy make life a lot easier

        high appliances that help with sunrise make life a lot easier

        hot appliances that help with walk make life a lot easier

        lifetime  appliances  that  help  with  yawn  make life a lot
easier

        We  could have  come up  with a  better example than that
this, but we will  use it here so we can go  into a little detail
about different ways  of using your Paramind output.  Also, if we
gave certain examples to  show you Paramind working/brainstorming
perfectly, it wouldn't be as  helpful as describing the shorthand
that Paramind uses to feed you ideas.

        You'll notice  that sometimes the output  doesn't make as
exact sense.  But one can just  allow the words to  suggest ideas
that won't be immediately apparent. "Bad" and "hot" are both used
as slang for  "excellent," and might have a  stronger meaning for
you,  or at  least a  slightly different  one. "Half  appliances"
might be seen as being smaller appliances.

        The sentence "anytime appliances that help with breakfast
make life a  lot easier" brings up a clear  image of an appliance
that  could  be  used  at  any  time  to  prepare  the next day's
breakfast,  because we  all know  how  sleepy  we can  be in  the
morning,  and how  that can  get  in  the way  of cooking  a good
breakfast!

        So  even  though  this  idea  list  might  look  a little
awkward, it does contain a few gems. But it only takes one gem to
create that great idea. All you have  to do is copy the ones that
you like to a clean new file, and then you have what your looking
for.


Suppose your an inventor and you  want to discover more ideas
for your invention.

You start out by writing this sentence:

I want to examine the energy properties of (power) for my
invention

You then  select the Category  Type "Science" from  the
"Category Types in the Create "menu," after highlighting "power."

You will get this output:

I want to examine the energy properties of power for my invention

I want to examine the energy properties of alcohol for my
invention

I want to examine the energy properties of benzol for my
invention

I want to examine the energy properties of calorie for my
invention

I want to examine the energy properties of diesel for my
invention

I want to examine the energy properties of ethyl for my invention

I want  to  examine  the  energy  properties  of  gasoline for
my invention

I want  to  examine  the  energy  properties  of  hydrogen for
my invention

I want  to  examine  the  energy  properties  of  lignite  for
my invention

I want  to  examine  the  energy  properties  of  methanol for
my invention

I want to examine the energy properties of octane for my
invention

I want to examine the energy properties of oil for my invention

I want  to  examine  the  energy  properties  of petroleum for
my invention

I want to examine the energy properties of propane for my
invention

I want to examine the energy properties of solar for my invention

I want to examine the energy properties of turbine for my
invention

I want  to  examine  the  energy  properties  of  unleaded for
my invention

I want  to examine  the energy  properties of  hydropower for
my invention


Now let's suppose your a salesperson for a company. You need some
motivation to make some sales, so you type the simple sentence

Its my (qualities) that will make it sell.

(Remember, we are  using the parenthesis to indicate  the word
we are going to replace).

"Qualities" not being a good  enough word, let's highlight it and
replace it with "Genaffect" from the Category Type "General 1."

We get this result:

Its my qualities that will make it sell.

Its my mood that will make it sell.

Its my nature that will make it sell.

Its my feeling that will make it sell.

Its my sensitivity that will make it sell.

Its my insensitivity that will make it sell.

Its my callous that will make it sell.

Its my excitement that will make it sell.

Its my passion that will make it sell.

Its my composure that will make it sell.

Its my gratification that will make it sell.

Its my discontent that will make it sell.

Its my attraction that will make it sell.

Its my repel that will make it sell.

Its my content that will make it sell.

Its my discontent that will make it sell.

Its my relief that will make it sell.

Its my regret that will make it sell.

Its my ill that will make it sell.

Here's a list  that you can ponder when your  hoping to make more
sales. Of  course, you can  make it more  exact to your  specific
needs, including your product names.

Now  let's get  into the  realm of  motivation and self-help,
and think of a sentence there.

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more (this).

Suppose you couldn't  even find a word for how  you feel, so your
will put the  word "this" in just to show  Paramind that you want
to merge  there. You can  even just type  an "x" or  a "1" if you
like Now we are going to go into the General 2 category to select
the word category "Certain." Remember,  you have to pull down the
Category  Type  to  select  the  "General  2"  category,  because
"Certain" isn't in "General 1."

This is the result that Paramind will make for you:

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more this

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more assured

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more solid

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more well-founded

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more authentic

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more definite

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more of course

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more probable

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more possible

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more hopeful

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more surely

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more positive

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more unmistaken

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more unquestionable

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more inevitable

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more trustworthy

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more evident

It isn't that I feel more attractive than the rest, its that I
feel more established

Remember  you can  merge on  any of  the words,  such as
"feel," "more" "attractive" or "rest."

 CHAPTER NINE            QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question:

I can't get any results that help me in anyway.

Answer:

It  could be  that your  not asking  yourself the right
question. Good questions to ask your self are:

Do I understand the what the word category database represents?

Do I understand fully all the parts of speech? (In grammar,
parts of speech are nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, etc.)

Do I understand  which word in the sentence  needs to be
replaced and merged?

Have I written in my own word categories?

How can I  write the best kinds of sentences  that will work
good with the copy-merge routine?

        Unless  you  are  skilled  in  Paramind  by  having  long
experience in the copy-merge method  of idea development, you are
likely to only find small bits  of useful information in merge in
the  beginning. You  can use   Paramind as  a type  of meditative
device, to just explore different  ideas without really having to
save  any results.  Paramind can  best be  defined as  a powerful
piece of  machinery for professional  brainstormers. Just because
it is hard to use doesn't mean that it shouldn't be learned.

Question

It seems to me that I understand the theory and the technique but
I don't see how it applies to my work.

Answer

There is no  way that the human mind can  think at the speed that
Paramind  "thinks"  when  it  hands  you  back  your  new list of
sentences. This "thinking" of  Paramind is further augmented when
you use  the "Replace by  Category" on custom  databases added by
the user.

It is up to you to generate the subject matter that fits into the
Category Database.  We can't criticize  a word processor  for not
giving us  interesting stories, exciting news  copy or meaningful
essays. It is the same with  Paramind. Paramind will give you the
results your looking  for when you've chalked up  some hours with
it.  Be sure  to keep  a  separate  directory of  you outputs  to
access, and even bind hard  copies of them, highlighting the best
ideas with  a highlighter. You  can also use  an outliner program
for better organization.

        Paramind represents a tool. Its  a tool that can help you
dream or be practical. Any tool takes time to use. The person who
will get the most out of Paramind  is a person who takes the time
to type  in the word  categories that relate  to their interests.
That  person  can  be  in  any  field  since  Paramind is totally
configurable. How  can one do  medical research with  Paramind if
there  are  no  medical  research  terminologies  in the Category
Database? Oneself  or an assistant  can type in  words or phrases
from individual  chapters or indexes of  textbooks, or find other
rich sources of categorized terminologies at a library.

        The  skillful   user  of  Paramind  has   long  lists  of
sentences,  cut  from  documents  made  by  word  processors,  or
invented especially  for the copy/merge  process. Future versions
of Paramind will  have a tagger feature that  will allow the user
to make multiple  blockings, or tag different lines  all over the
output and then dump them in a single operation.

        Lastly, when one starts  to study the theoretical notions
regarding the  "exhaustion of the  interactions of words"  -- one
will see it is only a program  like Paramind that can give us new
word combinations (sentences) that present new ideas.

Question

My sentences  and output don't  make grammatical sense.  Many
are meaningless.

Answer

To  a   certain  extent,  the  fact   that  output  doesn't  make
grammatical  sense,  isn't  as  important  as  what their general
meaning is.  Learn to read  the Paramind shorthand,  and you will
find new  ideas, irregardless of  the strangeness of  the form of
the sentences. In  the science of linguistics, there  is a notion
of the  deep structure and  surface structure of  a sentence. The
surface  structure is  the phrasing   of the  idea, and  the deep
structure is the  actual idea. The surface structure  is the form
of  the idea,  the deep  structure is  the semantic  value of the
words.

        In Paramind  output the surface  structure may appear  at
times non-grammatical and words out of context, but if we examine
the different possible meanings we get at deep structure ideas.

Warranty and Ordering

        This program  is provided as  is without warranty  of any
kind.  The entire  risk is  assumed by  the user.  No warranty is
expressed or implied. Paramind Software  is in no way responsible
for any claims one may have  for any damages or problems the user
might experience.

        For  a  copy  of  a  114,000  byte  example  of  a single
AutoMerge  output send  $5 to  Paramind Software,  P.O. Box 1006,
Seattle WA  98111-1006. This is  an example of  how AutoMerge can
create fifty  pages or more  of output in  only a few  minutes of
work.

        If  you  don't  have  a  version  of  Paramind  that  has
AutoMerge you  are missing out on  a very exciting way  to change
your  ideas.  Send  49.95  to  Paramind  at  the  above  address.
Registration also includes phone  technical support, one upgrade,
additional documentation  and word categories,  a subscription to
our newsletter and the category printer program.

        If  you  have  used  Paramind  and  found it helping you,
please  consider  sending  a  contribution  of  any  amount. Also
examples of you  use of Paramind are desired  even if you haven't
registered  yet.  Send  all  correspondence  to  Robert  Pearson,
Paramind Software, P.O. Box 1006, Seattle WA 98111-1006.

        For  a free  copy of  our Newsletter  send a  SASE to our
address.