"Search is fast, but thinking is short-sighted."
In this smart age, why has it become harder to think deeply?

Cognitive psychologist Professor Taehoon Kim tells us
5 Mind Training Techniques to Reclaim Your Deep Thinking Power in a Fast-paced World

★ Strongly recommended by cognitive psychologist Kim Kyung-il and neuroscientist Jang Dong-seon ★
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Students who only ask, "What's the answer?" in class and are unable to ask questions of their own; office workers who seek out AI output before brainstorming in meetings; and we, who have become accustomed to consuming only "correct answer-type information" on social media.
In this way, we are all living without the opportunity to think for ourselves.
"Buffering Thinking" is a book born from this very question. In an age where AI provides all the answers, how much of our "power to think for ourselves" do we truly retain? Cognitive psychologist Kim Tae-hoon explores ways to maintain human originality and foster creativity even in the age of AI.
He argues that the 'buffering moment' should be viewed not as a simple pause, but as a preparatory process for new ideas.
In the past, time spent thinking was essential to solving complex problems.
But now, with AI providing instant solutions, we are being robbed of even the opportunity to 'think'.


To address these issues, Buffering Thinking combines cognitive psychology and creative thinking methods to propose a five-step framework called SCORE (Sense, Constrain, reOrganize, Relate, Execute) to revitalize our thinking abilities.
This framework is not simply a concept; it contains specific strategies that can be effectively applied in real-world creative problem-solving processes.
In other words, through the process of observation (Sense) that grasps the essence of a problem and stimulates creativity by opening the senses, constraint (Constrain) that generates new ideas in a limited environment, reorganize (Reorganize) that breaks the familiar framework and looks at the problem from a new perspective, connect (Relate) that creates innovation by connecting different ideas, and execution (Execute) that turns ideas into reality, we can regain the 'power to think' that is more important than quick reactions and maintain human creativity even in the AI ​​era.

This book began with the concern that our thinking skills are gradually deteriorating in an age where AI and algorithms are replacing our thinking.
We focus only on speed, failing to effectively utilize buffering and repeatedly producing mediocre results.
But rather, we should use the moment of 'buffering', when our mind pauses due to overload, as an opportunity for creative thinking.
In other words, let's look at buffering not as a simple state of standstill, but as a preparatory process for new ideas.
From a cognitive psychology perspective, moments when the brain cannot provide an immediate answer are not simply gaps.
Rather, it is a process in which the brain rearranges existing information and creates new connections to find more creative answers.
However, many people cannot tolerate these buffering moments, and in the pressure to find answers quickly, they miss opportunities for deep thinking.
This is why I decided to write this book.

--- From "In the Age of Speed, Take Advantage of the Moment of Buffering"

The experience of preparing for a meeting frantically from the morning, only to have your mind go blank when it's your turn to present.
There are times when you need to come up with a new plan, but no matter how hard you think, no idea comes to mind.
It was a busy day, but looking back, I feel a sense of emptiness and wonder, 'What did I do?'
Are these moments simply due to fatigue? Or is my mind truly hardened? We dread these moments.
(…) However, cognitive psychology focuses on these ‘buffering moments’.
Your brain is still working.
It's just that it's not visible on the surface.

We are exposed to a tremendous amount of information every day.
We check our smartphones as soon as we wake up in the morning, scroll through the news on our way to work, and check messengers and emails throughout the day.
In meetings, immediate answers are required, and at work, quick decisions must be made.
Even after work, I consume new information through social media and watch YouTube or Netflix to relieve my fatigue.
The modern human brain is like a CPU that operates without rest.
--- From "To You Who Bewildered When Your Thoughts Stop"

We often experience moments when it feels like our brains have stopped working.
Sometimes you suddenly feel speechless, unable to come up with ideas, or as if your thoughts are floating in the air.
These moments are often mistaken for 'incompetence' or 'lack of concentration', but in reality, they are more likely the brain preparing for deep thinking.
I like to call this phenomenon buffering thinking.
This is a similar concept to 'buffering', where the computer pauses for a moment while loading data or performing complex calculations.
Although the screen may appear frozen, our brains are actually processing complex information internally, stopping their immediate reactions and instead organizing or reassembling information.
These buffering moments occur especially frequently during creative thinking and problem-solving processes.
For example, when trying to solve a complex problem, there are times when your thinking seems to stop.
But this is because the brain has entered a preparatory process to perform higher-level thinking rather than simple calculations.
In other words, the buffering moment is not a simple pause, but a process in which the brain searches for a better answer.
--- From "The moment of buffering is an opportunity, not an anxiety"

How can we transform "buffering moments" from mere pauses into creative thinking? The answer is to utilize the SCORE framework.
SCORE is a model that organizes the creative thinking process into steps, with each step organically connected.
The five steps of Sense → Constrain → ReOrganize → Relate → Execute are not simply a way of thinking, but provide a way to strategically utilize buffering thinking.
A buffering moment is not simply a pause in thought.
It is the starting point of new thinking, and if we utilize this moment well, creative thinking can be born.
However, many people fail to utilize this process properly and try to find immediate solutions to relieve their anxiety.
It's like planting a seed and expecting a tree to grow right away.
Creative thinking can be developed through step-by-step thinking training.
Now, let's look at how each step of the SCORE framework organically connects.
--- From "How to Use Buffering Time 200%"

Among whiskey lovers, Kavalan is a fairly well-known brand.
It has achieved outstanding results in numerous international competitions, and received significant attention in particular when it won the World's Best Single Malt award at the 2015 World Wishkies Awards.
Unusually, Kavalan whisky is a Taiwanese product.
Traditionally, whisky is made by aging it for a long time in cool climates, such as Scotland.
Therefore, producing it in Taiwan, with its warm and humid subtropical climate, was a challenging endeavor.
This is because high temperature and humidity greatly increase evaporation, which is called the 'angel's share', resulting in significant losses during ripening.
It is said that as many as 15% of them disappear every year.
However, Kavalan has instead turned the rapid maturation process into a product advantage. Using the STR (Shaving, Toasting, Recharring) process, they focused on achieving a deep flavor even during a short maturation period.
These technological innovations have enabled Taiwan to overcome climatic limitations and produce high-quality whiskey.
In fact, isn't it true that what's important in whiskey is taste and flavor, not aging period?
While maturation period has long been considered a criterion for measuring the quality of whiskey, ultimately, the key is how rich and balanced the whiskey is to the palate.

--- From "Don't break the mold, twist the mold"

A good example is HOKA, a new sports brand that recently threatened Nike.
Hoka, which has been receiving great responses from runners around the world and has shown remarkable growth in market share, was founded in 2009 and was acquired by Deckers in 2013. It is now a major sports brand with sales exceeding 1 trillion won.

What extreme customer demand did Hoka reflect, and how did it do so? It was a shoe that allowed for fast running without slowing down, even on downhill slopes.
Runners don't just run on flat ground.
Sometimes you have to climb uphill and sometimes you have to go down steep hills.
When going downhill, you have to slow down because of the risk of impact or injury… … .
Isn't it too much to ask for a shoe that can fly high on a downhill slope where it's difficult to even maintain balance?
However, Hoka thought about how to provide a stable fit while maintaining cushioning and traction, and introduced a running shoe with a unique thick yet lightweight sole that absorbs shock when going downhill.
Actually, Hoka's products are not that pretty.
In particular, when the product first appeared in 2009, minimalist shoes with thin and clean sneakers were in vogue, so Hoka's design was the complete opposite, maximalist, so it must have seemed even more strange.
The colors are too flashy, the brand logo is too big, and the oversized sole looks bizarre.
However, because it is perceived as being as comfortable as it is ugly, it has become popular with customers in jobs that require standing for long periods of time, such as nurses.
Customers who have actually tried Hoka say that it feels so fluffy, like floating on a cloud.

--- From "The most demanding customer is the compass of business"