Chapter 8, Page 1

Chapter 8

Let’s Be Reasonable about It

Without logic, our thought is always at risk—the risk of inconsistency, the risk that our ideas will not fit together but rather will contradict each other, the risk of becoming a mere hobgoblin of ideas like a cluttered garage. Logic is about consistency, about how things do or do not fit together. Above all, it is about what can or cannot follow from any given starting point.

Contrary to popular belief, everything is logical. Later, I will have more to say about this claim. Meanwhile, since everything follows from something else, anything is open to logical clarification.

Logic is not different from the Dialectic. It is a particular and rigorous instance of dialectical thinking. (Interestingly, math is a particular and extremely rigorous instance of logic.)

If we are going to talk about good thinking, that means that we will of necessity deal with logical thinking. Conventional wisdom says that good thinking is either logical or critical thinking. Yes, but it is more than this. We have seen that good thinking is dialectical thinking, considerate thinking. Good thinking is OTOH, BOTOH. On the other hand, logic, like bipolar thinking, is a particular form of the Dialectic. Although critical thinking—a ubiquitous but ambiguous concept, however you define it—is not what good thinking is all about, it is one part, one that we shall ignore because it is already implicit in all this book says.

The Dialectic is the only way to become a good thinker, but, on the other hand, logic is a valuable assistant. As noted earlier, in the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogs of the 1930s and ’40s, many items were available in three different qualities and priced accordingly: good, better, and best. For instance, we could buy a “good” shirt, or a “better one,” or their “best.” The

Chapter 7, Page 1

Chapter 7

Magnetic Thinking

We seek stability. All our lives, we seek the security, comfort, and peace of stability. We don’t like uncertainty. We want things to be settled, to be definite, to stay in place. The Dialectic, however, is dynamic and is the only appropriate response to a dynamic world of uncertainty. There is a special class of relationships where we tend to claim certainty: things that we see as opposites, where we stand on one side or the other, where there is a distinct right and wrong, true and false, black and white, with no space between, no gray areas. We feel we must choose one pole or the other. I call this a bipolar tension. It’s a special form of the Dialectic: the Dialectic of bipolarity.

Definition

I use Dialectic in a broader and more inclusive sense than many others, but I use bipolarity in a narrower, more particular sense. In this chapter, I give it specific definition: It is a relationship between two seemingly incompatible opposites, a relationship in which neither pole is true by itself. It is not, as many say, a relationship of opposites in which both poles are paradoxically true. The poles are true only in the dialectical tension between them. Truth always lies somewhere between the poles, never at the pole. Sometimes, it is almost indistinguishable from a polar position, but still unpolarized, still in tension with the other pole.

Both or Neither?

So much for an attempt at definition. What am I talking about? The simplest approach to understanding bipolarity is to picture a magnet. We know that each pole of the magnet is

Chapter 6, Page 1

Chapter 6

The Medical Dialectic

In the summer of 2009, our daughter had four major surgeries to correct almost unbearable physical problems. It was a medically dialectical summer. The medical dialectic comprise three things: doctor/patient relationship; the doctor’s thought pattern, particularly in diagnosis and choice of treatment; and the nature of medications.

Doctors Are Not Gods

The Dialectic dictates that we live by dialogue with each other. In a medical situation, this means that: we should be prepared to tell the doctor clearly and concisely what we understand our problem to be; the doctor should be a good listener; and she should be prepared to engage her patient in question and answer dialogue. Too often we give our physician an incomplete and somewhat vague account of our symptoms and their history. If our problem is at all serious, we might be wise to take written notes with us lest we forget something important.

In Neil Ravin’s novel, M.D., he tells of a woman who after months of being treated for asthma, told her doctor that she only wheezed when she was in his waiting room, a room furnished with wool-upholstered chairs. And she was allergic to wool. When asked why she had never before mentioned this, she responded that he had never asked. Needless to say, her physician cancelled all her medicines and suggested she stay away from his waiting room. Who was at fault in this situation? Was it the doctor, or the patient? He had not asked, she had not told. No Dialectic at work.

Chapter 5, Page 1

Chapter 5

The Dialectic at Home

Home is where life gets itself together (or pulls itself apart). Home is our first school. Rebel against it as we may, the Dialectic of home life cannot be shaken. It shapes our thought, habit, and action more than we are aware of. We are much more like our parents than we suppose. On the other hand, to the degree that we rebel against parental example, it is that example that is calling the shots, telling us what we do not want to become. As with most of us, I was a parent, perhaps even a grandparent, before my dialectical relationship with home came into focus.

Are You Listening?

Deep into his sermon, he would lean over the pulpit and ask, “Dear hearts tonight, are you listening?” That was a long time ago, but I can still hear him addressing his congregation with these old-timey words of endearment. Daddy used the rhetoric of a bygone era, but everyone in the church knew that they were dear to him, and we knew he wanted us to pay attention because his sermons were punctuated repeatedly with, “Are you listening?” After all, what is the point of preaching if nobody is listening?

And what about us? What can we accomplish in our conversations if no one is listening? If we are going to live with each other, we will have to listen, hear, and acknowledge each other. If I don’t listen, or at least look, I may not realize when you are hurting and that you are about to go under unless someone comes to your rescue. If I don’t listen, I may not realize how much you

Chapter 4, Page 1

Chapter 4

The Dialectic

Exactly what is the Dialectic? It can be most easily understood by contrast, the contrast between dialogue and monologue. A monologue is an extended uninterrupted speech by a character in a drama, often a one-person monologue spoken to an audience. In a monologue, only one person speaks. No response from others is allowed. You are probably familiar with the dramatic monologue as a form of popular entertainment featuring someone such as Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman, or Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

In contrast, a dialogue includes at least two speakers responding to each other. What each says is influenced by what the other has said. One speaker may have to say something other than he had first intended because what the other person has said requires a new response.

However, simply because two people are in a conversation with each other doesn’t necessarily mean they are having a dialogue. Often our interchanges are merely reciprocal monologues; we each are attempting a fundamentally uninterrupted and extended speech. We have something we want to get said. When someone interrupts us, we pay little attention to what he has to say. We are only waiting for a break in the other’s monologue so we can resume our own monologue. Although more than one speaker is involved, there is no interactive dialogue taking place.

Chapter 3, Page 1

Chapter 3

The “How” of Thinking

General George Patton’s Advice

General George Patton said: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

That depends on the people and the task. I am certain that General Patton always made sure before taking his troops into battle that they had been taught how to aim and fire their weapons, how to disassemble and clean them, and how to operate and maintain their tanks and other vehicles. He wanted, as a minimum, for his men to have been through basic training in military “hows.”

Patton did not take raw recruits straight from the streets, schools, factories, and farms, put them on the battlefield, and then order them to defeat the enemy. He did not win his great victories simply by telling his soldiers what to do and leaving it up to their ingenuity to figure out how to do it.

We often follow Patton’s advice. We tell people to “Think about it,” or “Think it over,” and we ask, “Why didn’t you think?” But we cannot assume that, left to their own ingenuity, people will know how to think. They may not. But they can learn. And, after you have read this book, you will know how to thin

Chapter 2, Page 1

Chapter 2

Thinking Made Easy

It is common to hear someone say, “Thinking is hard work,” but that is not so. Thinking is not that hard, if you know how to do it. Many things are hard work if you have no training and experience at the job, but not unusually hard once you learn the relevant skills, tricks of the trade, and have the right tools. For most of us, digging ditches would be grueling labor but the experienced ditch digger knows to sharpen the shovel before he begins work and to wear boots that have sturdy construction, particularly a heavy sole and good arch support.

Supposedly, the “work” that more people fear than any other is public speaking. However, almost anyone who has earned the right to speak on his topic, and is enthusiastic about letting others hear his ideas, can make a good speech. His passion will help override his stage fright, and his earned right to speak on the subject will supply the needed confidence.

Knowledge of a simple outline such as the following, can organize most speeches: Ho Hum, Point, Explanation, Example, So What? Assume your audience is half-asleep or disinterested (Ho Hum) and begin with something that will wake them up. Then state your Point clearly, Explain what it means, how it works, and so on, give a concrete Example or two, then let them know how you would like them to respond (So What?). With only a little experience of this approach, anyone can do a satisfactory job of speaking in public. And feel good about it.