“Continuity is key to
depth of thought”
–Anon
–Anon
Write to Think
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Record to Remember
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Continuity and Depth
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Reading or listening without writing is like eating
without digesting.
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If you want to remember the way it actually happened,
record it.
Memory plays tricks.
Human capacity for self-deception infinite.
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Continuity of thought is key to depth of thought.
If Darwin or Newton had not kept journals where would we be? |
After the filling out of the initial Thinking Citizen
Matrix, the task is to do research that allows you to do an even better job
next time. As you read, you should record what you learn immediately and in a
way that you can easily retrieve and decipher your notes. Ideally, the Thinking Citizen Journal should
be organized thematically with some form of highlighting different categories
of information: facts (quantitative and not), claims (warrants), and
principles.
When a decision is made whether to vote for candidate x
instead of y or to affiliate with one party or another, record the driver of
the decision: was it emotion or reason? If emotion, which emotion and where
does it come from? If reason, what is your best statement of the explicit or implicit
algorithm?
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:
If Newton and Darwin had not kept journals, where would we be?
Logs (journals) have been used for millennia by men and
women, young and old, in all fields. Benedictine monks and Puritan settlers
tracked their spiritual pilgrimage toward grace. Darwin jotted down
observations and drew connections between types of finches. Mathematicians and
physicists charted their path toward discovery of natural laws. Captains logged
their progress. Accountants kept watch on expenses and revenues. If used
correctly, the same tool can turn a college or high school social studies
curriculum from a random walk from course to course into a disciplined journey
toward greater self-awareness and deeper understanding of the many complex issues that challenge humanity over the next century.