Why Think?

Why Think?

- Quotes, deep meaning lost in the sterile “scientized” psychology

Girl . . . Interrupted

Think Darnit! Think!

This is the perpetual and pitiful tragedy of the practical man in practical affairs. He always begins with a flourish of contempt for what he calls theorizing and what people who can do it call thinking. He will not wait for logic--that is, in the most exact sense, he will not listen to reason. It will therefore appear to him an idle and ineffectual proceeding to say that there is a reason for his present failure. Nevertheless, it may be well to say it, and to try and make it clear even to him. G. K. Chesterton, 2/29/25

Assumptions About Theory
Assumption: any theory is as good as any other
Pitfalls of that assumption
Lack of sophistication
Inability to learn and grow from engagement
Assumption: there is a “perfect” theory
Pitfalls of that assumption
Allergic to thinking?
I don’t need this, I just want to be a therapist (social worker)

How people know they’re right:

"It's true because I believe it"
(innate egocentrism: in which case I find myself continually assuming that what I believe is true even though I have never questioned the basis for many of my beliefs)

"It's true because we believe it"
(innate sociocentrism: in which case I find myself continually assuming that the dominant beliefs in the groups to which I belong are true even though I have never questioned the basis for many of these beliefs)

"It's true because I want to believe it"
(innate wish fulfillment: in which case I find myself believing in, for example, accounts of behavior that put me (or the groups to which I belong) in a positive rather than a negative light even though I have not seriously considered the evidence for the more negative account. I believe what "feels good," what supports my other beliefs, what does not require me to change my thinking is any significant way, what does not require me to admit I have been wrong)

"It's true because I have always believed it"(innate self-validation: in which case I feel a strong ego-attraction to beliefs that I have long held even though I have not seriously considered the evidence for the critique of these traditional beliefs).

"It's true because it is in my vested interest to believe it"
(innate selfishness: in which case I find myself gravitating to beliefs which if true would justify my getting more power, money, or personal advantage and not noticing the evidence or reasoning against those beliefs)

http://criticalthinking.org/University/questioningmind.htm

A theory is a series of two or more ideas that have a meaningful relationship
The relationship between them can be
1. Hypothesized
2. Presumed
3. Factually demonstrated
Basically: Theory = thought and theories are fallible

Responses to Fear of Thinking and Theorizing
Eclecticism
No escape
Nihilism
Work ceases
Denial
No improvement
Fighting familiarity
Fear Not! You can Theorize too!
Necessity of a “meta – theory” or a way of theorizing about theory
The nature of the relationship between ideas in a theory varies
Finding categories of the various ways ideas relate can be helpful
One such meta – theory is examinations of causality