8 reasons for reading-thinking-doing-repeating
An augmented summary of the book — “Art of Reasoning” by David Kelly.
“In the first place, we can distinguish thinking from feeling. Thinking is a cognitive process we use in the attempt to gain knowledge or to understand something, as distinct from our emotional responses to things. This distinction does not mean, as people too often assume, that someone with strong emotions is necessarily illogical or that a logical person must be unemotional. On the contrary, there is no reason we cannot have both: clear, logical minds and passionate feelings. But thinking and feeling do have different roles to play, different jobs to do, in our mental lives.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p1.3)[1: Read reference from the source mentioned after the number shown before this sentence.]
1. Thinking improves with practice of reading, writing and speaking. Skilful thinking is essential for a happy and satisfactory living.[0]
How could reading-thinking-doing-repeating add to general happiness? This is rather complex to understand for each individual but as a collective we understand happiness in terms of general needs of the society related to birth, food, clothing, shelter, love, safety, death etc..I have learnt that it goes as one of the goals of Economics too [0]. To learn more about the importance of classification(जातिबद्ध करना) as a means of understanding by simplification, read first chapter of the book[1].
“As you can see from our discussion so far, thinking is a complex skill. It has many component activities, each with its own methods and standards. But these methods and standards have a purpose: to help us be objective.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p4.2)[1]
As adopted sourced from a top Non-Indic scholar’s work above of what goes on in our head, we also have got some information sourced from Indic terminology. Let’s leverage these two related but differentiated paradigms to understand better the methods we can leverage to making our thinking muscles stronger.
“In 1955, H. H. Price, who was then the Wykeham Professor of Logic
in Oxford, wrote an article entitled “ The Present Relations between
Eastern and Western Philosophy” . He reports there his belief in the
existence of a “vast chasm “ separating the two philosophical
traditions, one of which “looks outward and is concerned with Logic
and with the presuppositions of scientific knowledge; the other
inward, into the ‘deep yet dazzling darkness’ of the mystical
consciousness “ ( 1 95 5 : 222 ) .” — [3]
Indic system : Our existence has two parts — First — Gross (जड़), which is physical and which will rot after the Second — Conscious (चेतन) rejects it. There are four different class of activities that go on in Latter. With the Subtle as our genus there are four species classified based on the function each has. Let’s call Subtle as “Mind” to map non-Indic terminology. Mind has four categories of functions — 4 species of genus mind — मन (Mann), बुद्धि (Budddhi), चित्त (citta) and अहंकार (ahMkAr). For convenience sake lets call them — A.Mn, B.dhi, C.tt, and D.Ankr. Furthermore convenient — A, B, C and D.
Reading David Kelly more in “Art of Reasoning”
In the next article I will also discuss another book from Indic systems.
The author of the book — “Art of Reasoning”, David Kelly argues that “thinking”, unlike “feeling” is a purposeful act. Feeling on the other hand happens effortlessly as long as we are awake. Therefore, thinking is a skill that can be improved with practice. How do we improve thinking as a skill? Author says there are “a range of standards and techniques” and he’s going to describe a part of that range.
Standards and Techniques (non-exhaustive)
The standards and techniques mentioned in the book[1] are — Reasoning, and Objectivity. For the former, the author says — “…We will study rules for evaluating inferences and learn to distinguish good inferences from bad ones….”
2. First Technique is of Reasoning.
This means to differentiate and integrate. Differentiate is meant to describe the contributing concepts to a larger concept. Integrating is to synthesise general value from simpler yet profound functions. For example, delicious meal is the result of integration and recipe is a result of integration. Identifying spices from other spices and differentiating it from vegetables is differentiation.
3. Second Technique is Objectivity.
“As you can see from our discussion so far, thinking is a complex skill. It has many component activities, each with its own methods and standards. But these methods and standards have a purpose: to help us be objective. Objectivity in this context means staying aligned with the facts, guiding our thought processes by a concern for truth. To some extent, objectivity is a matter of choice: the choice not to indulge in wishful thinking, not to let bias or prejudice distort our judgment, and so forth. But there’s more to it than that. Objectivity also involves a skill. Even with the best will in the world, we can’t really be objective unless we know how to use our cognitive equipment: how to follow and evaluate the arguments we hear, how to isolate the relevant issues clearly, how to avoid ambiguity and vagueness in the words we use.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p4.2)[1]
4. We do thinking for a purpose
— goal ( Goals are registered in A.मन.(संकल्प/विकल्प)) of finding out something.
The activity of narrowing down options and approaching the goal is done by the differentiation and integration activities done by (B.बुद्धि ).
Thinking also requires “remembering” (C.चित्त(वृत्ति)) that is done to avoid going in circles, by “talking past each other”[1], but make substantial and consistent progress. (towards the goals (ascertained in A.) that are inspired by the idea of “impositions on self”(D.अहंकार).)
“Logic can also help us develop other, more subtle skills. Most of us have been in discussions that were frustrating because they kept going around in circles. That often happens when people “talk past each other” — when they are not really addressing the same issue. Suppose someone argues that it’s wrong to treat abortion merely as a medical procedure, like removing an appendix, because the fetus is a potential person. Someone else might argue that a woman should have the right to make decisions concerning her own body. These two people are both dealing with the topic of abortion, but they may not be addressing quite the same issue. The first person may be trying to show that abortion is morally wrong, while the second is denying that it should be made illegal. Whether abortion is right or wrong in moral terms and whether it should be legal or illegal are different issues. They are related (which is why they are easily confused), but not identical.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p3)
5. To be able to tell if progress is being made
, it’s necessary to have a clear idea of the next milestone or the goal.
Goal is set by the Self (D.) as being able to discriminate likes from dislikes.
The decision about the goal is assumed as intent within A., on the basis of Reasoning in B.
I am finding this book[1] useful in understanding “thinking ability” as a skill that can be improved with practice. There are numerous exercises that will strengthen the ability of a student to be able to work better with everyday data and convey sound arguments that build the foundation of policies that run the world. This is a must-read book on the subject as it’s a comprehensive text book.
Another beauty of the book is that it can be read in multiple ways. Informal besides academic. To be able to informally understand conversations is an asset in dating, offices and among friends. Conversations that are complex; about economics, governance and man-made problems and crises. These kind of discussions happen between high-profile dates, in the offices, among learned people and sometimes even among family members, friends etc..
I hope the readers would enjoy reading the book! \o/
6. Avoid the fallacies in thinking. [2]
“The essence of objectivity is the ability to step back from our train of thought and examine it critically.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p4.3)
7. To make friends that are going to be your companion for life
, till death. Your thinking skills play a major role in the kind of people you associate with during your life.
“Objectivity also has a social aspect. It means not only presenting your own ideas logically but also listening to what others say.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p4.4)
8. Your delayed gratification is your strength.
Your patience with practising improvement of your thinking skills will start paying back. It wouldn’t be wise to quit practising when it begins getting harder and harder. Rather, ask the question, how can it be made more fun because if it’s not fun, then chances are that you don’t have hold of a right method.
“It’s going to take a certain amount of effort to improve your thinking skills and to build the muscles of your mind. As the ads for health clubs used to say, “No pain, no gain.” But the process can also be fun.” — David Kelly (The Art of Reasoning. p5.4)
Now, I will leave you with your thoughts!
References
[0]KUMAR SINGH, Amit. 40 Principles for Happy living (Economic Goals). 2023, https://liberaldart.com/40-principles-for-happy-living-7cc46558b698.
[1]KELLEY, David. The art of reasoning: An introduction to logic and critical thinking. WW Norton & Company, 2013. https://amzn.to/40qPiWp
[2]SA, Rana. 8 reasons for reading-thinking-doing-repeating. 2023, https://liberaldart.com/fallacies-in-logic-9aced270070.
[3]GANERI, Jonardon. Indian logic: A reader. Routledge, 2013.
