The Parmenides Foundation scope of activity is structured in three pillars: The main pillar is Research, the complementing pillars are Education and Application.
Research
The Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking (PCST) is a multi-disciplinary research center that has been established in collaboration between the Parmenides Foundation and the Human Science Center of the University of Munich. PCST is commited to advancing the scientific study of human thinking. Its research agenda combines experimental investigation, modeling and philosophical/conceptual appproaches.
Education
In the field of education our goal is to develop programs for teaching “the art of thinking.” The focus is on providing customized education and training in strategic thinking for executives; and to foster thinking skills in pre-school children. To the latter we have initiated an early-childhood education program entitled “Learning to Think”.
Application
Rapidly increasing complexity and an accelerating pace of structural change constitute qualitatively novel challenges for which our cognitive apparatus is not well prepared. For evolutionary reasons human thinking exhibits systematic constraints when confronted with decisions in a complex environment, e.g. strategic management or political decisions. This is the rationale for “Supporting Complex Thinking” (SCT) as one of our main research themes. The SCT efforts develop methodologies for coping with cognitive constraints, especially via visualizing crucial thinking operations and their integration into complex reasoning architectures.
