10.8 Criss-cross principles

Criss-cross principles can be summarized as:

1.  We should think, learn and solve problems by criss-crossing using a series of combinations of 5W1H
2.  5W1H means what, when, where, who, why, and how; and 5W1H is a comparatively broad concept (so, there might not be clear boundaries for each component), and there are sub-components within each of 5W1H. And by interrelating these components and sub-components, new components/dimensions might emerge.
3.  For ‘what’, for example, it might mean a subject matter, or a lived practice.
4.  For ‘when’, for example, it might be about exact time, seasons, speed, frequency etc.
5.  For ‘where’, for example, it might be about context, viewing angle/perspectives, route etc.
6.  For ‘who’, for example, it might be about cultural background, role-playing etc.
7.  For ‘why’, for example, it might be about purpose, desired outcome etc.
8.  For ‘how’, for example, it might be about in which mode, in which tool etc.
9.  Everything we do, there must be a structure covering 5W1H no matter what values are for each variable (dimension), and no matter whether we realize these variables explicitly or not.
10.  Learning about something is a process of identifying more and more dimensions, more and more the patterns of combining the dimensions (there must be some grammar/rules to form the patterns), and the possible values for each variable.
11.  So, in order to achieve this goal of ‘identifying’, we need to criss-cross/experiment a lot.