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by Richard L. Weaver II
You are responsible! I don’t mean giving your children “a safe environment for their growth, providing for their basic needs, allowing them to develop their own identity, nurturing their self esteem, installing moral and social values, respecting them, educating them, or even spending time with them” as explained in an ezine article on Parental Responsiblity by Nigel Lane. I consider all of these expected, obvious, and necessary parental duties.
In this essay I will discuss violence, obesity, reading, and manners. In each case, I hold parents responsible for the results each of us witnesses every day in our society.
“Childhood meanness always has been a part of growing up -- taunting other youngsters, playing malicious practical jokes, indulging in gossip and put-downs, vying for pecking order in snobbish (or rebel) cliques,” writes B. K. Eakman in an essay entitled The Seven Deadly Sins of Parental Irresponsibility. “Adults, especially parents,” Eakman continues, “used to rein in such conduct, being ever vigilant of youthful excesses. They looked around when they changed the beds, paid attention to the company their offspring kept (and idolized), said ‘No!’ to inappropriate apparel and entertainment, quashed disobedience and punished foul language.”
This is not to suggest that there aren’t other factors than parents alone in influencing children. But my position is that parents must bear the primary responsibility. Eakman writes, “The tendency to give smaller offenses a free pass as in ‘don't sweat the small stuff,’ especially in areas such as tact, propriety and orderliness, so that a child views life as a constant challenge to test the limits of parents' and society's tolerance.”
Finally, Eakman makes my case for parental irresponsibility: “Even toddlers recognize that, for the most part, adults today just go through the motions of child-rearing, occasionally mentoring, not wishing to appear unyielding, inflexible or dogmatic.”
Childhood violence is just one example, obesity is another. Phil Ian Goode, in an essay entitled, Teenage Obesity A Growing Problem Parents Must Not Ignore, writes about who is to blame for the poor eating habits and lazy ways of children and teens. He writes, “The blame has only one doorstep to be laid upon, that of the parents. If the household food purchasing patterns include maximal amounts of processed foods, foods high in fats and moreover high in sugar and/or takeaway/fast foods, then this is simply parental irresponsibility in practice.” Goode continues, “The same goes for habitually buying large shipments of mega-sized soda and cola drinks. These beverages are frequently caffeine based and therefore in effect ‘addictive.’ Parents who have developed the taste for literally gallons of soda a week in their children have a great deal of blame to shoulder if their child has turned into victims of teenage obesity!”
Like most unhealthy, unattractive, and unnecessary childhood and teenage problems and characteristics, parents need to set good examples, discuss the issues, and keep a close eye on their children and teenagers. Sure, society can serve up junk food, soda and cola drinks, and candy, but parents control what is purchased. Of course there will be times when children and teenagers are in control — at school or at a friend’s house — but these times are minimal compared with time at home and the influence of good parental models. There is no excuse, and the worst one of all, of course, is, “I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
There is another aspect of parental irresponsibility, too, that bears directly on obesity and laziness as well. Randall Seltz writes in the Western Herald, Legislation Will Not Prevent Obesity for Apathetic Kids. In his essay, he states, “Many currently obese or overweight children spend more hours sitting in front of a television playing sports video games when they could be outside actually playing the sports. Parents need to encourage their children to make healthy decisions when it comes to recreation, while also providing nutritional food for them to eat, rather than fatty junk foods.” If the amount of time spent viewing television, the Internet, playing video games, and watching movies is not under parental control, then parents are not in control — and they must be!
Violence and obesity are two examples, but poor reading skills can, too, have a damaging long-term effect on one’s life, and parents are responsible here as well. Damaging long-term effect? Children who read well have higher IQs, do better in school, are more creative, develop strong language skills, and have more information. A child who says, “I just don’t like to read,” or “I don’t read well,” or does poorly in school (often traced to poor reading skills), is a child of irresponsible parents. Parents must introduce children to reading early, read to them regularly, provide a model by reading themselves, and make available reading material as an alternative to television, the Internet, playing video games, and watching movies. Not to do this will continue what has already begun: the production of a generation of semi-literate slackers.
Finally, in the area of manners, parents are responsible. The loud, obnoxious, and rude behavior of children and teenagers emanates in the home. Scott Wardell, in an essay entitled, Teaching Manners — Why Parents Need to Set An Example, writes, “We all want our children to have good manners. Manners can and should begin to be taught to children as soon as they begin to speak. Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are common manners. Parents who model good manners in front of their children often see the children beginning to use appropriate manners.” Wardell offers seven steps for teaching good manners at his website.
If we are to have a generation of civil, slender, readers, with manners, then it is mandatory that parents take charge. Children and teenagers will be as responsible as their parents were in raising them. Sure, it’s a message parents don’t want to hear, but it is a message of parental responsibility that is important to society as well as the next generation.
At Yahoo!Answers, http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080105202839AAqg7st, the question is, “Are Parents Ultimately Responsible for their Children’s Behavior?,” and the responses by those who have written are excellent and worth reading.
At the web site: http://www.blurtit.com/forandagainst/Parents_Are_Responsible_For_Their_Own_Children_Behaviour
Contact Richard L. Weaver II
Thursday’s essay, “The Message Parents Don’t Want to Hear,” is the third in a series of such messages. The first was, “The Message Men Don’t Want to Hear,” and the second in this series, “The Message Women Don’t Want to Hear.” You can still read those two previous essays. They are listed in the alphabetized archive on the menu down the left-hand side of the home page of this web site. There will be further essays in this series; stay tuned!
Share your And Then Some Story about other messages parents may not want to hear. Are you a parent? What advice can you give to other parents? Can you share your tips, stories, or suggestions? How successful were you as a parent? Would you recommend parenting to those without children? Why or why not? In what ways has parenting contributed positively or negatively to your life? We would love to hear your story. Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who has parented? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name.
Thursday's And Then Some Essay preview
The Message Parents Don’t Want to Hear
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
If we are to have a generation of civil, slender, readers, with manners, then it is mandatory that parents take charge. Children and teenagers will be as responsible as their parents were in raising them. Sure, it’s a message parents don’t want to hear, but it is a message of parental responsibility that is important to society as well as the next generation.
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by Richard L. Weaver II Every year for the past dozen or so, we take a short break during the summer months to go canoeing with friends of ours. For all but one year (because of a shoulder injury of one person) we have selected the Pine River outside of Cadillac, Michigan, as our river of destination, and our two-day trip has followed a predictable plan that is both exciting and rewarding.
We always leave after church on Sundays, and we alternate drivers so that one year we drive and the next one our friends drive. The drive to Cadillac takes between five and six hours, and after quickly settling into the motel, we head to Lakeside Charlie’s restaurant for dinner. Stuffed pork loin and prime rib were our most recent selections of choice, and all agreed that the meal was outstanding. We had a recommendation from the motel desk clerk to eat at Herman’s Restaurant downtown, however, in checking out that restaurant, we found it closed on Sundays.
Following dinner we went to Glen’s Supermarket to pick up supplies for lunch on the river the next day. From the selection of already prepared sandwiches, we decided that next year we would make our own at home and bring them with us as we do with most of our lunch supplies.
On several occasions, an evening swim or a walk in the cemetery across the highway from our motel took place, but on our most recent trip we were all too tired to pursue either of these activities so we simply relaxed in our rooms and went to bed.
The arrangement was to meet at 7:30 a.m. in the breakfast area downstairs in the motel, and there we all filled up on cereal, omelets, rolls, waffles, orange juice, and coffee.
We checked out of the motel by about 8:30 and drove to Jim Horringa’s canoe livery just beyond Peterson Bridge which crosses the Pine. We were the first canoers to arrive at the livery and after paying $40 per canoe for the 4-5 hour trip, and after shifting our lunch supplies to a transportation van, we all went to deposit our car at Low Bridge where we would be ending our trip. After putting a state park parking sticker on the mirror of the car, the van took us to Dobson Bridge where Jim had deposited two Old Towne red canoes (numbers 14 and 24) for our use.
We were on the Pine River by 10:10 a.m., and the current, as usual, was rapid, the water was clear and cold, and the sky was overcast with the potential of widely scattered showers. It was cool and the heavy mist over the water gave a Stephen King aura to the trip.
Adding to the look of the River on our most recent trip (July 6-7, 2008) was the fact that for two weeks in June it had risen to nine feet over its current height and had to be shut down to all canoers. The point at which the nine-foot height of the River affected the numerous sand banks traversing the River was obvious during the entire trip from Dobson to Low Bridge. In addition, there were trees down, stumps and limbs to avoid, and many trees tilted down toward the River in a last, desperate effort to preserve their foothold. At one point, there was a brief portage to avoid a full block of the River by trees, limbs, stumps, and other debris. At another point a large tree blocked the entire River, and we had to make a brief portage around the end of it to continue our trip.
One advantage of canoeing on Monday each year is that the crush of weekenders is over, and we have most of the River to ourselves. The exception was this year since we followed the Fourth of July weekend so closely, there were a number of other rafters and canoers (maybe a dozen or so), but for the morning, and until stopping for lunch, we saw no other people.
At 11:40 a.m. we reached the state park at Peterson Bridge where we pulled our canoes out of the water and set up for lunch at a Riverside picnic table. Our friends come prepared with a oil-cloth table covering, plates, plastic dinnerware and a spread of food that is incomparable in our picnicing experiences. We bring fruit, chips, sandwiches, and additional selections to make our lunchtime a mouth watering, extensive, celebration of food. There are pit toilets at this stop, and this year we made it a full one-half hour stop, putting into the river again at 1:10 and traveling the last portion of the River to Low Bridge (float time is 3 hours) in exactly two hours.
As if to signal the coming of the last portion of the river, the sun emerged from the clouds, and our afternoon was sunny and breezy with blue sky and beautiful white clouds.
At Low Bridge, we pulled the canoes out of the water, took the paddles and seat cushions back to the livery, and changed clothes and cleaned-up for our next experience.
Driving directly south from Horinga’s canoe livery at about 4:10, we joined up with Route 10 and proceeded directly east back across the upper lower peninsula. The trip to Frankenmuth takes just about two-and-one-half hours, and we arrived at Zehnder’s for their outstanding chicken dinner at about 6:30 or so.
We made Zehnder’s a destination one year when we put in at Peterson Bridge accidentally (instead of Dobson Bridge) and ended up with a canoe trip of just two hours instead of 3-4, and went to Frankenmuth and toured the stores and shops downtown just to occupy some time. It was a fortuitous accident which created a new tradition of eating dinner there and a new destination following our canoeing experience each year.
Ushered directly to our seats, we took approximately two hours for their standard, all-you-can-eat chicken dinner. We have had outstanding waitresses, and we end our meal with a small sundae (not on the menu), which we received as a compliment from our waitress just for asking for it. We have discovered that by asking for it, it has become a standard part of our meal.
Leaving Zehnder’s by 8:10 p.m. allowed us to get home by approximately 10:15 p.m. or so, and we made it just in time for our normal bedtime.
Much of the success of our trip has resulted from good planning. We made reservations at the motel early, know what we need to take with us to make canoeing user-friendly (like insect repellent — badly needed on our current trip — sun block lotion, hats to protect from the sun, lightweight clothes, surf-friendly shoes that can and do get wet, and rope to tie everything into our canoes. None of us have tipped over in the dozen or so years we have been traversing the river, but we prepare for that eventuality none the less.
The Pine River is an experience for knowledgeable canoists whose instincts regarding the control and maneuvering of canoes are well in place. With planning, good friends, and a great canoe livery, we have made it an exciting and rewarding annual experience.
At the Schmidt Outfitters web site, http://www.schmidtoutfitters.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=207, there is more information on the Pine River.
At Michigan.gov the Department of Natural Resources has a map of the Pine River watershed and more information about it: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-30301_31431_31442-95813--,00.html
Jay Hanks has posted a description of his wilderness trip on the Pine River at his web site, http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?855 Although his trip was longer than ours (from Edgetts to Tippy Dam) it covered some of the same territory we did.
Contact Richard L. Weaver II
Thursday’s essay, “Canoeing the Pine River,” takes a summer break from many of the types of essays we have published here. It is a simple explanation of our two-day canoe trip in the upper Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Share your And Then Some Story about canoeing, kayaking, or rafting. Are you a person who loves paddle sports? Can you share your tips, stories, or suggestions? How did your ability at paddle sports occur? Would you recommend it to others? In what ways has your prowess at paddle sports contributed to your lifestyle? We would love to hear your story. Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who has canoed, kayaked, or rafted? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name.
Thursday's And Then Some Essay preview
Canoeing the Pine River
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
Every year for the past dozen or so, we take a short break during the summer months to go canoeing with friends of ours. For all but one year (because of a shoulder injury of one person) we have selected the Pine River outside of Cadillac, Michigan, as our river of destination, and our two-day trip has followed a predictable plan that is both exciting and rewarding.
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Share your 'And Then Some Story'
And Then Some Publishing, LLC wants to hear your story. Whether you share your story through our website, link to your blog, or have a website to share your story we want to hear it.
The only way this feature can work is if you submit your story or link to us. Be the first And Then Some Fan Story to be featured or linked on our blog!
Click here to submit and share your And Then Some story!
And Then Some Works - see you THURSDAY!!
by Richard L. Weaver II
Some people have defined impromptu speaking as public speaking on the spur-of-the-moment without preparation. It is precisely this definition and especially the last two words that instill fear and panic in many people. And yet seldom is an impromptu speech given without preparation! If the “preparation problem” is resolved, much of the fear and panic associated with impromptu speaking can be substantially reduced or, at the very least, controlled.
Let’s begin, then, by defining and explaining what “preparation” means. If the definition of preparation is thorough research and investigation then “Yes,” impromptu speaking can involve no thorough research or investigation at that time. But seldom does any speech include only thorough research and investigation. Those, indeed, are often formal speeches planned well in advance of the occasion. Too, they could be those intended to fulfill classroom assignments.
“Preparation,” however, especially for impromptu speeches, encompasses far, far more. Far more than thorough research and investigation! To examine all that “preparation” encompasses should assist in reducing some of the fear and panic — especially because speakers are much better “prepared” than they, at first, may realize.
To begin, it’s important to understand that seldom are you asked to give an impromptu speech for which you have no background knowledge and experience. In many cases, the invitation to give such a speech occurs because of a person’s special expertise in a given area. In this way, a person can use that “special” expertise to enlarge, enumerate, and expand on a topic. For the most part, and for most people, this is an opportunity just ripe for the picking. When in a strange or new town, just ask a local resident to tell you what to see, where to eat, or how to get to a special location, and you will quickly be an audience of one for a unique impromptu experience!
Seldom, if ever, is anyone asked to give (or would volunteer to give) a speech that reveals his or her total ignorance or naivete. The best advice if such a circumstance occurred would be to admit your lack of knowledge: “I’m sorry, I have little knowledge or experience on this topic. Please forgive me if I decline your offer to speak on this issue at this time.” Having a couple of sentences in reserve if you are ever asked to give a speech on a topic on which you are unprepared can help relieve a great deal of stress and unwanted (or unneeded) anxiety.
How prepared are you in impromptu-speaking situations? First, if you are aware of the circumstances in which you find yourself (or can even anticipate them), you will have some facts, observations, or insights that merit comment. A previous speaker may have made a remark that deserves your attention. A current or evolving situation may have captured your attention or that of your listeners. Even an interruption or strange occurrence might need, at the least, a slight reference or acknowledgment. Sometimes it is just these opening comments that will calm your mind and give your brain enough time to assemble some additional ideas.
Second, if you keep up with the news and current events explained and developed in your local newspapers, magazines, television, and the Internet, you have a large reserve of information you can draw upon to shed light on the issue at hand or, perhaps, to put the issue into some current or historical context. Try to see the bigger picture to which this issue relates or, pretend it is a single tree in a large forest of ideas, and it is your job to help define or describe the forest. In this way the issue gains meaning, relevance, and worth.
Third, if you are a reader, think of the books, articles, and essays that you have read that provide fodder for impromptu situations. Think about any quotations that may apply, author anecdotes, or critical insights you can share that have been written about by others. Often, such ideas — especially when cited on the spur-of-the-moment like this, can add substantially to your credibility and expertise.
Fourth, listen closely to the conversations of others. Realize, first, that if you are talking you are not listening. It isn’t that you necessarily want to use their ideas as your own — although that is permissible in such situations (especially if a person will be in your audience and you can acknowledge that person and your indebtedness) — but, often people offer an idea to which you can respond, an alternative you can recommend, or a different approach you can suggest.
Fifth, depend on yourself. You have a wealth of information in your “storehouse of useless knowledge”! Although an event or issue may appear, at first, as just another scrap to add to the storehouse, that morsel can become a treasured nugget in just such situations. Suddenly, that little piece of knowledge can become the finger food that leads to a feast of new ideas, thoughts, plans, and visions. When you are a “sponge for knowledge” you build a foundation for the unexpected.
Sixth, you have viewpoints, positions, beliefs, attitudes, needs and values that you have accumulated as a result of living your everyday life. You are not a blank slate, and to draw from your own, well-developed and securely established fount of ideas will add to any public-speaking effort and make it personal and unique. In some cases, this is all that is being requested when you are asked to deliver an impromptu speech, and in many cases, this is all that can be expected.
What you must understand in every impromptu situation, your listeners clearly understand the situation, and the expectations of you and your performance are not the same as they would be for an address, a formal speech, or a planned presentation. The expectations of audience members will correspond precisely with the nature of the circumstances.
With a few ideas in mind, tell your listeners what you plan to say, say it, then tell them what you said. Another organizational scheme is simply to provide an introduction — perhaps just a brief look at the current situation — a point or two for the body of the speech (a fact and a personal example may be sufficient), and a final thought, quotation, or additional insight as a conclusion.
Impromptu speeches do not need to invoke fear and panic. You are far better prepared than you think, audience expectations correspond with the situation at hand, and with just a simple organizational scheme, you can master the circumstances just like a professional would.
At http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2007/04/steps_to_better_impromptu_spea.html, at a web site entitled MarketingProfs: Daily Fix, Paul Barsch writes an essay entitled, “Steps to Better Impromptu Speaking,” and nicely extends the comments above by placing an important emphasis on practice. Barsch stresses the importance of organizations like Toastmasters for practicing, and he discusses the need to practice speaking on familiar topics as well.
At this web site — http://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/html/impromptuspeaking.html — Ron St. John, speech instructor at the Maui Community College, has constructed one of the outstanding public speaking sites on the Web. On this page are “Impromptu Speaking Tips,” and the five he lists include: 1) Start strong; 2) Choose a specific illustration, example, or experience; 3) Don’t try to cover too much; 4) Never apologize, and 5) Finish conclusively. In addition to this information you will discover almost anything you want to know about public speaking.
Contact Richard L. Weaver II
Thursday’s essay, “Impromptu Speaking Without the Fear and Panic” is a response to a reader’s concern regarding the stage fright he experiences when facing an impromptu situation. It is written to not only show that much of the fear and panic can be relieved if speakers put the “preparation problem” into the proper perspective.. It is true that there is always some fear and panic associated with public speaking in general, and there are specific, well-accepted, ways to deal with it. Those are discussed in the book mentioned above, /Public Speaking Rules!/ Thursday’s essay focuses specifically on impromptu speaking while the book examines public speaking in general.
Share your And Then Some Story about impromptu speaking. Are you a person who has spoken impromptu? Can you share your tips, stories, or suggestions? How did your ability at impromptu speaking occur? Or, was your impromptu experience a disaster? What went wrong? In what ways has impromptu speaking contributed to your success? We would love to hear your story. Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who has experienced success (or failure) as an impromptu speaker? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name. How do you think effectiveness in impromptu speaking can contribute to a person’s business or career success?
Thursday's And Then Some Essay preview
Impromptu Speaking Without the Fear and Panic
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
To begin, it’s important to understand that seldom are you asked to give an impromptu speech for which you have no background knowledge and experience. In many cases, the invitation to give such a speech occurs because of a person’s special expertise in a given area. In this way, a person can use that “special” expertise to enlarge, enumerate, and expand on a topic. For the most part, and for most people, this is an opportunity just ripe for the picking. When in a strange or new town, just ask a local resident to tell you what to see, where to eat, or how to get to a special location, and you will quickly be an audience of one for a unique impromptu experience!
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Share your 'And Then Some Story'
And Then Some Publishing, LLC wants to hear your story. Whether you share your story through our website, link to your blog, or have a website to share your story we want to hear it.
The only way this feature can work is if you submit your story or link to us. Be the first And Then Some Fan Story to be featured or linked on our blog!
Click here to submit and share your And Then Some story!
And Then Some Works - see you THURSDAY!!
by Richard L. Weaver II An analytical approach to anything can be taught, but it is much easier to learn if it feels comfortable. Just as music or art tends to be self-selective, that is, those with some talent already tend to gravitate to these areas, an analytical or critical approach to life does the same. For some, analyzing, judging, comparing, and contrasting is as natural as the air they breathe. It is part of any science course — often referred to as “the scientific method” — but transporting that point of view from the classroom and making it part of your everyday perspective on life doesn’t always take place.
Analytical intelligence is improved and becomes more meaningful when it is coupled with creative intelligence, or the ability to cope with novelty, and with practical intelligence, or how we handle problems that occur in daily life. What makes up “intelligence” is not the point of this essay, however.
If it is true that in society today, one of the prized attributes that employers look for in new employees is analytic ability, what does that mean? Or, to turn the question around, what could new employees do to demonstrate analytic ability? Certainly colleges and universities would contend that one of their primary goals is to teach students how to think and write critically and analytically, but what does that mean, and how would it be detected?
The first step in thinking critically and analytically is perspective. When you realize that one person’s view of anything is partial, one-sided, distorted, biased, and narrow, then it becomes immediately clear that the only way to gain perspective is to stand back from the information given. It could be that you are too close to see the whole, or it could be, too, that you are so far away that you are unable to gain a close examination. Since any position you assume distorts what you are observing, the key is to examine the issue or object in detail and from many angles. Before doing anything, gain perspective.
The second step in thinking critically and analytically is persistence. One tendency of those who approach decisions or solve problems is to react too quickly. Issues must be carefully considered, of course, but examination should take place more than once. Effective critics and analyzers don’t give up on ideas, they pursue them in a determined, purposeful, and tireless manner, and it is just such unrelenting pursuit, incessant searching, and sustained striving that brings effective results.
The third step in thinking critically and analytically is gathering and evaluating evidence. Without evidence any observation or opinion is merely an assertion. In its broadest sense, evidence refers to anything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Gathering and evaluating evidence is the process of finding and determining the credibility of facts, opinions, statistics, and other data used to support a belief or viewpoint. Gathering and evaluating evidence allows the critic or analyzer to check closely to see what is accurate and what is false, compare the same issue from a variety of the points of view of other theorists and writers, determine and explain why one set of opinions, results, or conclusions is preferable to another, and keep on guard for literary or statistical devices that encourage taking questionable facts at face value.
The fourth step in thinking critically and analytically involves logic. One needs to make certain that each statement follows logically from what went before. In addition, flaws in reasoning, evidence, and in the way conclusions are drawn must be examined. At this point, too, one can check for hidden assumptions as well as attempts to lure one into agreement.
The fifth step in thinking critically and analytically is to look at implications. The essential question is, where does or will this belief or viewpoint lead? What conclusions are likely to follow? Are the conclusions suitable? Rational? If not, should the belief or viewpoint be reconsidered?
The problem is that most people are subjective. That is, they offer viewpoints and opinions that are strictly personal, individual, and emotional, and they have engaged in no activities whatever that might lend objectivity to their views with the exception, perhaps, of saying, “And I know a lot of people who will agree with me on this.” That comment alone reflects zero critical or analytical thinking.
In addition to subjectivity, poor critical or analytic thinking is reflected in weakly structured ideas, opinions and viewpoints offered as narrative [stories] instead of analysis, generalized points of view that are vague, wordy, circular in their argument, and based on value judgments and unfounded or unacknowledged assumptions. None of these form the foundation of solid ideas, reasoned decisions, or sound solutions.
When you meet people who have some training in critical and analytical thinking or who are naturally adept, you will detect it in the rigor they use in approaching new situations, the precision they demonstrate in expressing their viewpoints, their judicious selection of supporting evidence, the way they present well-thought through arguments, and clearly balance differing points of view. All of these reflect good critical and analytical thinking, and they can be detected in interview situations when interviewees are asked how they would make decisions or resolve problems in totally new circumstances or unfamiliar situations.
When you learn to think critically and analytically, it is likely to have a direct and immediate effect on your life. Why? Because of the number of daily/weekly activities where it will be revealed. It will be displayed when you persuade, or are the recipient of persuasion from others, in sales situations or dealing with political techniques, in debunking con artists, psychics, doubletalk, pseudoscience, and lies. More important, you will develop greater confidence in your ideas, and you will find it more satisfying to share them with others.
The web site is change.org, and Steve B’s short essay, “Think Like a Designer: The End of Analytic Thinking,” at http://www.change.org/changes/view/1736 offers readers an alternative to analytic thinking called a systems approach. The final line of this brief essay is: “The end result: A Redesigned System where the parts, how those parts interact, and the overall objective of the system represent the best knowledge and wisdom of today.”
At the web site Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Howard Gabennesch at http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-02/thinking.html has written an essay entitled, “Critical Thinking: What Is It Good for? (In Fact, What Is It?),” and offers considerable insight into the process. Not only does Gabennesch provide a clear definition, but he discusses the benefits and how critical thinking can be promoted as well. This is useful, worthwhile information.
Contact Richard L. Weaver II
Thursday’s essay, “An analytical approach yields confidence and satisfaction ” is written to not only show the influence that critical and analytical thinking can have in our society but, too, how they overshadow the effect of subjective, random, or commonplace thinking. People today — because of their conditioning — will almost always prefer simple observations and anecdotal evidence, and that presents a significant problem. It is that “problem” that Thursday’s essay confronts and discusses.
Share your And Then Some Story about the effect of critical and analytical thinking. Are you a person who has been influenced by such thinking? Or, do you prefer observation and anecdotal evidence? How did your preference for analytical thinking occur? In what ways has it contributed to your success in or understanding of the world? Where has this been most effective in your life? We would love to hear your story. Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who is or has been significantly influenced by critical and analytical thinking? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name. With the pervasiveness and influence of observation and anecdotal evidence, is there any way to promote greater use of critical or analytical thinking?
And Then Some Essay preview - July 17, 2008
An analytical approach yields confidence and satisfaction
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
When you meet people who have some training in critical and analytical thinking or who are naturally adept, you will detect it in the rigor they use in approaching new situations, the precision they demonstrate in expressing their viewpoints, their judicious selection of supporting evidence, the way they present well-thought through arguments, and clearly balance differing points of view. All of these reflect good critical and analytical thinking, and they can be detected in interview situations when interviewees are asked how they would make decisions or resolve problems in totally new circumstances or unfamiliar situations.
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by Richard L. Weaver IIWe live in a mediated blitz of images. They fill our newspapers, magazines, books, clothing, billboards, computer monitors, and television screens as never before in the history of mass communication. We are becoming a visually mediated society. For many — especially those who have been raised and nurtured in a television/Internet culture — understanding the world is being accomplished, not through reading words, but by absorbing and digesting images. Reading is losing to watching because viewing requires little mental processing.
We live in an image-hungry society with screens embedded into airplane chairs and phones doubling as cameras. Images compel us to look at them, and their message is instant, unlike text which requires some time and effort on our part. Consequently, when images and words compete, the consensus is generally to go with the image because often it’s the image people will remember the next day, the next week, and perhaps for the rest of their lives.
Media images have tremendous power. Often, they define how we see ourselves, and they can define what others think of us as well.
Why do images have such power? It is part of the human condition. We are visually oriented systems, programmed to store more pictures than text in our long-term memories. According to research cited by educational psychologist Jerome Bruner of New York University, the average person remembers only 30 percent of what is read but nearly 80 percent of what is seen.
Actually, it was Johann Gutenberg’s magic printing machine that disrupted the harmonious balance between words and images. With his machine, text-based communications had a quick and easy method of dissemination. The development of an equally efficient means of reproducing the color, depth, form, and movement of visual communication languished far behind. Words sped out of printer’s blocks and left images in a cloud of ink. In a race for cultural superiority, text crossed the finish line first, and pictures came in a distant second.
The intellectual valuing of words over images was passed on from generation to generation. It is just this history and precedent that causes educators to bemoan the pervasiveness of the visual culture. They blame TV for the decrease in analytic ability and students’ poor writing skills. It is true that the sheer weight of time students spend immersed in television, computer games, and other visual distractions keeps them from other educational activities.
The shift from words to images began with television which emphasizes the moving image over written and spoken language. Television is image-driven, image-saturated, and image-controlled. This is precisely what television does that books, recordings, and pictures cannot do; it brings us visual action. Now, television programs can be watched from direct broadcast, from cable and fibre optics, from satellites, from VCRs, from laser disks, and from hand-held receptors. On some television sets you can watch more than one program at a time. In a television commercial for Kodak’s Photo CD technology, the announcer reports, “Pictures have never been so powerful.”
But just because we are moving toward a visual orientation, does not mean we should be moving in this direction. The problem is that when the image dominates the word, rational discourse ebbs. These technologically animated images move and combine in ways unknown only a few decades ago, thus increasing their power to mesmerize.
The visionary reality of connected images doesn’t allow for critical discourse, explanation, duplication, or reflection — all rational activities required for separating truth from error. This is because images require viewers to be continually involved in the action. Images keep words in check because words strip images of their hypnotic and magical power.
When images overwhelm and subjugate words, the ability to think, write, and communicate in a linear and logical fashion is undermined. Television images have an immediate effect on us, but the effect is seldom to cause us to pursue their truth or falsity. Often television images are shorn of their overall context and meaning and are reduced to factoids (at best). That is, ideas located within historical and logical settings are replaced by impressions, emotions, and stimulations.
Images communicate narrative stories and quantitative information such as graphs and charts. Words are required for more linear, logical communication. Propositions and beliefs can be true or false; images don’t have truth value. Images are arresting, alluring, and entrancing, but because they shrink events into factoids or create outright falsehoods, viewers are manipulated by their normal way of operation and presentation. Viewers then assume that what they saw on television is something they saw with their own eyes.
What viewers don’t realize — because they are so totally consumed by images — is that every television minute is edited. Viewers don’t see events, they only see edited symbols or edited images of events. An aura and illusion of objectivity and truth is built up which cannot and does not exist. Despite that, reality becomes the image even when that image does not correspond to any objective state of affairs.
Think about the effect this can have on viewers during a political campaign. Truth and logic are socially constructed, and they can be deconstructed and reconstructed at whim.
What is the remedy? If truth is to prevail, image consumption must be replaced by word devotion. Teachers are correct: the desire to read, the ability to read and write all suffer under the ruthless regime of television, the Internet, computer games, and other image-dominated media.
Print, on the other hand, demands to be understood. Written sentences call upon readers
to know the importance of what is said. To read effectively, readers must come to print in a serious state of intellectual readiness not necessary with images. The mental act of reading is active, engages the mind and imagination, and makes truth possible and knowable. When language is the principle medium for communication, ideas, facts, and claims occupy a central place in our thoughts and require mental processing — little mental processing is required with images.
In the essay,“Wordplay: The Importance of Language,” Rochelle Siegel at The Sandspur (the oldest college newspaper in Florida - Founded in 1894) distinguishes among language, speech, and communication, and she emphasizes the importance of learning and understanding the non-linguistic properties of speech. Her essay can be found at: http://media.www.thesandspur.org/media/storage/paper623/news/2005/11/11/LifeTimes/Wordplay.The.Importance.Of.Language-1053959-page2.shtml
In this WebQuest, designed for 11th graders, entitled “Images and Influence,” designed by Carol Boehm, there is a wonderful lesson on the influence of images in advertising. Boehm discusses specific images and their influence, and then she asks critical questions to get students thinking such as, “What are the social and political implications?” This website offers important information and insights: http://eprentice.sdsu.edu/J03OW/boehm/INDEX/Images_Influence.htm
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Thursday’s essay, “If truth is to prevail, image consumption must be replaced by word devotion,” is written to not only show the power that images have in our society but, too, how they overshadow the effect of words not only in their impact but in their pervasiveness as well. People today — because of their conditioning — will almost always prefer the image to the written word, and that presents a significant problem. It is that “problem” that Thursday’s essay confronts and discusses.
Share your And Then Some Story about image effectiveness. Are you a person who has been influenced by images? Or, do you prefer reading? How did this preference occur? In what ways has it contributed to your success in or understanding of the world? What images have been most effective in your life? We would love to hear your story. Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who is or has been significantly influenced by images? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name. With the pervasiveness and influence of images, is there any way to promote reading and the importance of the written word?
And Then Some Essay - July 10, 2008
If truth is to prevail, image consumption must be replaced by word devotion
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
We live in a mediated blitz of images. They fill our newspapers, magazines, books, clothing, billboards, computer monitors, and television screens as never before in the history of mass communication. We are becoming a visually mediated society. For many — especially those who have been raised and nurtured in a television/Internet culture — understanding the world is being accomplished, not through reading words, but by absorbing and digesting images. Reading is losing to watching because viewing requires little mental processing.
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by Richard L. Weaver IIThousands of couples planned to wed on July 7, 2007, because they believed that date would result in wedded bliss — “lucky sevens” they thought. But, what effect does luck have on relationships?
For this essay I depend on the research of Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire who studied “luck” for more than ten years. I have avoided using quotation marks, however, I depend on his article, “The loser’s guide to getting lucky” (sponsored on the Web by BBC News) for the information in this essay.
Based on his monitoring of their lives, interviews he conducted, and experiments, Wiseman discovered that the thoughts and behavior of individuals is responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. For example, based on an experiment he conducted, he found that lucky people notice and respond to more opportunities than unlucky people. Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and it is their anxiety that disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected. They will go to a party intent on finding the perfect partner and miss opportunities to make good friends, or they will search through a newspaper determined to find a certain kind of job advertisement and miss other types of jobs.
Because lucky people tend to be more relaxed and open, they see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. This can have enormous benefits in relationships simply because of synergy—the combined effect of two people that produces results different from those that occur when acting alone. It is just such effects that are often unprecedented, frequently unpredictable, generally variable, and yet—for relationships—exceptional and unique. Lucky people, according to the research Wiseman conducted, are skilled at creating and noticing just such chance opportunities. It should be clear that it isn’t luck that comes from outside the relationship—like getting married on a special date—it is luck that occurs because one partner or the other possesses characteristics that favor luck—it’s their thoughts and behaviors.
But what about people who tend to be unlucky? Is there any help for them? The answer Wiseman gives offers hope. When he asked a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person—spotting chance opportunities, listening to their intuition, expecting to be lucky, and being more resilient to bad luck—80% of the volunteers became happier, more satisfied with their lives, and, most important of all, they were luckier—and all this, just one month later.
There are four tips, according to Wiseman, for becoming lucky, and all four can be applied to relationships.
First, listen to your gut instincts. Wiseman says they are normally right. It’s a matter of trusting your intuition. In a relationship, begin by believing that the chemistry that brought the two of you together is correct. Because you feel your gut reaction to this person is accurate, use that as a foundation. For example, believe that this person has every intention of making this relationship work, and they are willing to grow and change along with you. Trust them. Don’t doubt them. Allow this positive foundation to eliminate all indecision, suspicion, insecurity, uncertainty, vacillation, and hesitancy.
Second, be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine. In today’s world so many people rush hectically around, strive to get work done, complete errands, and fill their time by running here and there. You need to slow down and notice what is happening around you. Because you know you have found the love of your life—no doubts, no vacillation (see the first tip, above)—you need to practice paying attention to what is right in front of you. If you pay attention you will not only be surprised by the experiences, contacts, events, happenings, and adventures you will encounter, but you will be able to take advantage of the people and things that will help keep your relationship stimulating, fresh, and alive.
Third, spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well. Dwell on the positive. When you spend some time every day thinking of the good things about your relationship partner, your relationship, and yourself—even when these things are small or silly (like something you said that made the other person feel good, or an e-mail message that brought the two of you closer together, or your weird sense of humor)—it is these things that are associated with being happy. When you are happy, you are relaxed and attractive to others. You reflect a smiling, warm confidence that supplies the glue that holds relationships together.
Fourth, visualize yourself being lucky. Luck can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your relationship success depends upon communication, intimacy, relating, compromise, negotiation, and understanding. Since both sexes are equally able to perform the tasks required to make the relationship work, neither has to depend on the other for these abilities. If you believe you have the ability, your actions will not only be positive, but they will reveal that you actually have the ability to make your relationship work.
So, for those who chose to marry on July 7, 2007, because it had the potential of bringing them triple the amount of luck for wedded bliss, I leave them the following suggestions. Let your luck motivate you to pay attention and plan carefully. First, pay attention to everything around you so you can take advantage of all opportunities to make life better for your relationship and your relationship partner. Second, plan not just for today but for years ahead. Plan to make time for yourself, for your partner, and to enhance your relationship. Save money every week to assure financial security. Because there is always an element of chance in life, you need to capitalize on that chance to make life more rewarding, challenging, and exciting. If luck is truly the confluence of preparation and opportunity, then it is easy not just to understand but to support what Thomas Jefferson said: “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have it.”
At the web site, divine caroline, at http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22081/26322-make-own-relationship-luck, the essay is entitled, “You Make Your Own Relationship Luck.” This is a fascinating, personal, and insightful story about personal responsibility that can be summed up in this quotation from the essay, “Women need to stop marginalizing themselves to the status of ‘other woman’ or ‘mistreated woman’ and avoid these ‘pretend relationships’ where the guy makes us think that we’re in a relationship by throwing us just enough crumbs to keep us hooked.” Basically, in relationships, each partner is responsible for making his or her own luck.
At iVilliage.co.uk the essay, “25 Tips for Relationship Success,” by Susan Quilliam at the web site
http://www.ivillage.co.uk/relationships/couple/right/articles/0,,144_590312-3,00.html offers wonderful, practical, specific advice about what it takes to make relationships work. This essay is worthwhile whether you are looking for new relationship, currently in a relationship you consider successful, or looking back on relationships you have had.
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Thursday’s essay, “Relationship Luck Takes Hard Work,” harkens back to July 7, 2007 (7-7-7), and those who married on that date to get triple the luck for their future success. The essay looks at the relationship between relationship success and luck. Does luck count? How does luck factor in? Is there any such thing as “luck”?
Share your And Then Some Story about relationships. Are you a person who has been in a successful relationship? Did luck play a part? In what ways did it contribute to the success of your relationship? Was it hard work that made your relationship successful? In what ways? We would love to hear your story. Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who has experienced a successful relationship? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name. Successful relationships are more likely to depend on hard work than on luck; however, Professor Richard Wiseman has studied luck, and his findings can apply to making relationships successful.
And Then Some Essay - July 3, 2008
Relationship Luck Takes Hard Work
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
Based on his monitoring of their lives, interviews he conducted, and experiments, Wiseman discovered that the thoughts and behavior of individuals is responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. For example, based on an experiment he conducted, he found that lucky people notice and respond to more opportunities than unlucky people. Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and it is their anxiety that disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected. They will go to a party intent on finding the perfect partner and miss opportunities to make good friends, or they will search through a newspaper determined to find a certain kind of job advertisement and miss other types of jobs.
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Share your 'And Then Some Story'
And Then Some Publishing, LLC wants to hear your story. Whether you share your story through our website, link to your blog, or have a website to share your story we want to hear it.
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by Richard L. Weaver IIThere is no doubt about the important role that fear plays when it comes to public speaking. Public-speaking anxiety is a disturbance of mind regarding a forthcoming public-speaking event for which you are the speaker. As a fear, it ranks higher than the fear of death. It is nearly universal, yet it obviously doesn’t prevent successful speeches. Not only is it widely proclaimed, but it is widely written about as well. In this essay I want to offer a philosophical perspective that I have written about in my textbook, Communicating Effectively (McGraw-Hill), but which has the potential for overcoming it if practiced regularly.
Here is the key to this approach: Focus on your speech as a communication task, not as a performance. Most speakers with stage fright view speeches as performances. In viewing speeches as performances, the goal of speakers is to satisfy an audience of critics. That is, they realize their audience members will be analyzing and criticizing their performance just as movie critics go to movies with a different purpose and point of view than ordinary movie goers.
There are other characteristics of such a performance orientation, too. Speakers view the speech as a formal talk, and because of the formality, they tend to “put on” a false front or engage in somewhat artificial behavior. The public speech, thus, is an extraordinary, exceptional, and unusual situation undertaken in unfamiliar circumstances. Because of this, speakers feel they must follow proper behaviors to be correct, and their results — how effective they are in connecting with their listeners — depends on polish, eloquence, and refinement.
The problem with a performance orientation is simple: effective public speaking is more like ordinary communication encounters than like a public performances. This is an important insight. Just as I characterized the performance orientation, above, let’s look at the characteristics of a communication orientation to see the differences. First, the goal changes. No longer are speakers trying to satisfy an audience of critics; they are, instead, sharing ideas with an audience. And the goal of listeners is not to analyze and criticize, it is, rather, to show interest in and even learn from what speakers have to say.
There are other characteristics as well. With a communication orientation, speakers must realize that public speaking is similar to everyday conversation, thus, it is normal, natural behavior — not formal, put-on, or artificial. When your communication becomes common, ordinary, and average, rather than extraordinary, exceptional, and unusual, a whole new mindset takes place that signals speakers that this is a normal activity with which they are familiar. Being something that is standard and routine, they can approach public-speaking opportunities as occasions they can face realistically and approach in a pragmatic, matter-of-fact, down-to-earth manner.
With a communication orientation, speakers frame the entire public-speaking situation in a familiar way. Their speeches will reveal genuine and true expressions of themselves, not behaviors that must adhere to some standard of proper conduct. No longer does their effort depend on polish, eloquence, and refinement; their results depend simply on whether or not they shared their message.
Do these differences make a difference? A communication orientation has several advantages for speakers. First, and I am quoting my textbook here [without using quotation marks] it means that all those negative past public performances you may have had — from elementary school through high school — can be deleted from your memory. After all, those were “performances,” and they no longer fall under your new mindset, your communication orientation.
Second, you do not have to memorize your speech. Performances create anxiety because of the fear of forgetting words, thoughts, or your place in the speech. One of the biggest fears people have regarding giving speeches is forgetting what they have to say during the speech. It is being embarrassed which is the overpowering thought. Think about it, how often do you have memory blocks during conversations with others? Seldom, of course. When you are talking with others during speeches, you are having a conversation with your listeners, not talking at them.
The third advantage of a communication orientation is that speakers can focus on their real purpose in speaking to their listeners — getting audience members to accept and understand their information or change their attitude or actions. There is an important and worthwhile consideration here that may help speakers change their focus: Listeners are more interested in what speakers have to say than in evaluating their performance.
One thing that happens when speakers change from a performance to a communication perspective is that they become less concerned about themselves—the performer—and more concerned about their mission. Performers have to be concerned about their performance for that’s what they live for. Now, with a communication perspective, speakers can stop their preoccupation with themselves, “How do I look?’ “How will I do?” “What will they think of me?” “Will they like me?” This is a major re-orientation because it will quiet their mind by reducing the amount of self-chatter. They will be able to stop defending their ego against failure and criticism. Threats to their ego have no real implications now.
What all of this means is that if speakers dress in comfortable clothes, practice positive self-talk, are well prepared, picture (visualize) themselves doing well, take several deep breaths before speaking, pick out friendly faces and make eye contact with them, and plan to offer a reward after the speech, all the elements of potential distraction will have been eliminated, and all the elements of comfort, encouragement, and support will be supplied so that the communication orientation has a real opportunity to work at full capacity.
Speakers can do all of the things recommended for eliminating, or at least reducing, the fear of public speaking. There are many of these, and what works for one person may not work as well for another. The overarching, umbrella-like concept, however, that can make it all happen — whatever the individual elements employed — may just be a broader, more comprehensive principle. To adopt a communication perspective rather than a performance perspective may be the very key that unlocks the door to confidence, comfort, and effective public speaking.
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Daniel J. DeNoon’s article, “Fear of Public Speaking Hardwired: Speech Anxiety Worse for Some, but Most Can Overcome It” (reviewed by Amal Chakraburtty) at the website WebMD Health News MD http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/20061101/fear-public-speaking
This article reports a study that “shows that those who suffer most over speaking in public get more anxious -- not less anxious -- as their presentation gets under way. And when it's over, instead of feeling relief, they feel even more anxious.”
At Suite 101.com, Naomi Rockler-Gladen writes about the “Fear of Public Speaking.” Visit the web site: http://collegeuniversity.suite101.com/article.cfm/fear_of_public_speaking and learn how to overcome speech anxiety. Gladen has some excellent suggestions. , and they are provided in a succinct, straightforward manner.
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ANNOUNCING: And Then Some Publishing, LLC, has just published Public Speaking Rules! - All You Need for a GREAT speech! This book contains the nuts-and-bolts rules necessary for giving a great speech. The rules are easy to read and easy to use. You can view the table of contents, introduction, and chapter excerpts at publicspeakingrules.com The book is available at Amazon.com.
Thursday’s essay celebrates the publication of the public speaking book and is about a method of overcoming the fear of public speaking. On the publicspeakingrules.com website, there is another essay on the fear of public speaking: “Six time-tested ways dealing with fear of public speaking.” These two essays actually work together — this one offers a covering philosophy or way of thinking about fear while the other offers some specific suggestions.
Share your And Then Some Story about the fear of public speaking. Are you a person who has been affected by speech anxiety? Have you been able to overcome it, or at least deal with it? We would love to hear your story? Do you have a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone you just know from a distance who has experienced the fear of public speaking? Can you tell his or her story? Feel free to use a pseudonym for the person’s real name. The fear of public speaking is real, and it can have a significant impact when sharing knowledge and ideas with others. If you try the philosophical perspective written about in this essay, let us know how it worked for you.
And Then Some Essay - June 26, 2008
Fear of Public Speaking: A Method for Overcoming It
by Richard L. Weaver II
Excerpt:
There is no doubt about the important role that fear plays when it comes to public speaking. Public-speaking anxiety is a disturbance of mind regarding a forthcoming public-speaking event for which you are the speaker. As a fear, it ranks higher than the fear of death. It is nearly universal, yet it obviously doesn’t prevent successful speeches. Not only is it widely proclaimed, but it is widely written about as well. In this essay I want to offer a philosophical perspective that I have written about in my textbook, Communicating Effectively (McGraw-Hill), but which has the potential for overcoming the fear of public speaking if practiced regularly.
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Share your 'And Then Some Story'
And Then Some Publishing, LLC wants to hear your story. Whether you share your story through our website, link to your blog, or have a website to share your story we want to hear it.
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by Richard L. Weaver IIThroughout my professional career I have confronted the “curse of knowledge”—although it has not always been called that. I was even told that because I was a professor who writes textbooks, that it was unlikely (virtually impossible) I could ever publish a trade book—a book specifically designed for the popular market. My language was too sophisticated, my approach too technical, and my sentences too complicated, cultured, and refined.
Before I go on, I want to give credit where credit is due. The term “curse of knowledge” was popularized in a book entitled, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Random House, 2007), a book by Chip and Dan Heath along with a speech called “Sticky Ideas” in the August, 2007, issue of Vital Speeches of the Day.
One problem that most educators face—any adult whose interest is communicating with others—is something Heath and Heath call “the curse of knowledge,” and unless we are aware of it, it is unlikely we will compensate for it.
The curse of knowledge can best be demonstrated by a simple game—a game studied and explained by Elizabeth Newton, who, in 1990, earned a Ph.D. in psychology at Stanford based on her study. She assigned people to one of two roles: “tappers” or “listeners.” Tappers received a list of 25 well-known songs like “Happy Birthday” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Each tapper was asked to pick a song from the list and tap out the rhythm to a listener by knocking on a table. The listener’s job was to guess the song based on the rhythm being tapped.
Over the course of Newton’s experiment, 120 songs were tapped out, but listeners guessed only 2.5 percent, or 3 out of 120. You may wonder what made this result worthy of a dissertation in psychology? Before listeners guessed the name of the song, Newton asked tappers to predict the odds that listeners would guess correctly. This is what is astonishing: tappers predicted that the odds were 50 percent. They got their message across 1 time in 40, but tappers thought they were getting it across 1 time in 2.
The problem is that tappers have been given knowledge—the song title—and it makes it impossible for them to imagine what it’s like to lack that knowledge. When they’re tapping, they can’t imagine what it’s like for listeners to hear isolated taps rather than a song. This is the curse of knowledge—once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us, and it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others because we can’t readily re-create our listeners’ state of mind.
Heath and Heath remind us that this tapper/listener experiment is reenacted every day with CEOs and frontline employees, teachers and students, politicians and voters, marketers and customers, ministers, rabbis, and priests, writers and readers.
There are three areas where communicators in any field can help diminish the effects of the “curse of knowledge”: language, organization, and supporting material.
In choosing their words, communicators must use simple language, include definitions whenever possible, eliminate jargon, say things in the clearest possible way, try to increase the vividness of ideas (so they have impact), and then use repetition, internal summaries, and continually relate new ideas back to their thesis. If they are presenting new information, concepts, or theories, if they pretend they are explaining it to their grandmothers, perhaps that will help them maintain the proper perspective and frame of mind.
Order and form (organization) are important for several reasons. First, listeners’ (and readers’) attention spans are short, and it is difficult for them to keep one or two ideas in mind at the same time. They are easily distracted, and when they return to the talk (or the words), they have trouble remembering where they were, where they are, and where they are going. Often, nothing makes sense and they lose interest entirely. A simply constructed outline that contains coordinate ideas under well-defined main heads, and subordinate points that have been well-thought-out, will help listeners and readers continually understand their location within a speech or a written piece.
Assisting communicators in helping listeners understand their organizational schemes are transitions—the links established between ideas. Transitions between main heads, transitions between coordinate points, and transitions whenever a speaker or writer moves from the introduction to the body of the speech or from the body of the speech to the conclusion will help. As a teacher, I have always asked speakers to write their transitions into their outlines because I have found that a transition not prepared in advance is a transition not used. Often, transitions can include the repetition, internal summaries, and relationship of information back to the thesis or central idea as I discussed in the section on language, above.
The third area where communicators can reduce the effect of the “curse of knowledge” is in their use of supporting material. Relevant examples, illustrations, anecdotes, personal experiences, and stories, as well as facts, opinions, and statistics, all assist in information enhancement, support, and expansion. In researching ideas and talking with others, always be on the lookout for relevant, immediate, and powerful supporting material.
Another way to judge effectiveness (success) in dealing with the “curse of knowledge” is to use feedback. Maintain contact with your listeners or readers, be flexible, and make adjustments when necessary to facilitate understanding. Student evaluations and textbook reviewers always helped me. In class, I developed a half-sheet response which I used to take attendance, administer quizzes, seek questions and comments, and gain daily reflections, evaluations, observations, and opinions that would guide and direct my classroom approaches.
To be effective, teachers must use every technique and strategy they know to connect and identify with their students. This isn’t something they can do once and consider their job complete, it is an ongoing, everyday, challenging task that requires constant effort, alertness, surveillance, and adjustment. After all, to be effective, that is precisely what effective teaching (or writing) requires.
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Not only does Matt explain “the curse of knowledge” but the responses to his essay are fun to read as well. Check it out at http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/213-the-curse-of-knowledge
The Business Pundit, in an essay entitled, “The Curse of Knowledge - Why Communication at Work is sometimes difficult,” relates “the curse of knowledge” to business. The comments on this short essay are enjoyable as well at: http://www.businesspundit.com/the-curse-of-knowledge-why-communication-at-work-is-sometimes-difficult/
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