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Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Jo-Jo Who
Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
By Keith Loach
Bachelor of Music, University of Toronto Master of Business Administration, University of Toronto
PhD Music, York University (in progress)
www.bitbooks.ca
Twitter: @Loach427
This book is published in Canada by BIT Books
ISBN 978-0-9811249-6-4 — V 1.1
Copyright © Keith Loach 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission
in writing from the publisher.
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Jo-Jo Who Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
Contents
Prelude 7
Horton Hears a Who 9
YOP 10
Confidence 11
Knowledge 14
Praxis 15
Critical Thinking 16
Creativity 19
iThink 20
Horton Hears a Why 22
Finale 25
About 27
Bibliography 29
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Jo-Jo Who Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
Prelude
This paper is about the power of a single voice to
make change in the world. It is about how our approach to
truth and due diligence becomes the basis for our social
responsibility to think before we speak. Critical thinking is
possibly the most important educational tool we can provide
our youth. We are not entitled to opinions; we have to earn
them.
Knowledge is no longer about memorizing facts and
the ability to regurgitate them on demand. Fake news is not
new and though the proliferation of new sources found on
the internet may be alarming, it is not nearly as disturbing as
the conscience-free delivery of knowingly false information
that seems to have become an acceptable behavioural
standard. Presented as credible sources, these bogus sites are
becoming increasingly difficult to identify.
Our computer-linked society continuously collects
information on what we buy, what internet pages we visit,
who we interact with (friends, neighbours, and enemies),
what we say to them, our financial status, and the intimate
details of our personal lives. The information is massed,
correlated, cross-referenced, crunched, manipulated, and
sold to the highest bidder. It is then presented back to us in
the form of pop-ups, sidebars, and app advertising
(sometimes within minutes) giving us the illusion that our
choices in life are popular and shared by a broad audience.
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By delivering back to us more of the same information we
want to hear, the mining of "big-data" increases the
familiarity of our choices thereby supporting and confirming
what we already believe.
It is human nature for each of us to enjoy living in
our personal bubbles. We tend to surround ourselves with
familiarity and challenging this level of comfort is not a
preferred option. The polarization of America, so very
apparent during the U.S. election of 2016, is a direct result
of confirmation bias, which is the tendency to interpret new
information in a manner that confirms our existing theories
and beliefs. New data that does not fit into our existing
framework is dismissed.
So, we are not only bombarded by marketers with
skewed feedback that reinforces our strongly held views, but
we also process new information in a skewed manner that
tends to feed our current beliefs while rejecting contrary
opinion. There is little motivation to accept anything that we
do not already believe. Change is difficult and requires
work. Climbing outside of the bubble is a critical thinking
exercise that most people are unwilling to try.
Using the framework of a children's story, this essay
will discuss praxial critical thinking: 1) the challenge of
searching for truth in today's society (critical thinking) and
2) the importance of applying a moral conscience in sharing
and delivery (praxis).
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Horton Hears a Who
The themes in Theodor Seuss Geisel's books are
simple and promote messages of family, community, social
responsibility, and moral conscience, happily delivered in
anapestic tetrameter. The characters are melodramatic and
the concept of right and wrong can be easily grasped by the
target audience. Horton Hears a Who (Geisel, 1954) features
Horton, the saintly elephant with large ears and excellent
hearing, discovering the town of Whoville situated on a
speck of dust atop a tiny clover. It is a story about his
adventure saving the town from imminent peril as it teeters
at the edge of a pond. The altruistic themes and characters
are plentiful.
Horton, the protagonist, struggles in the face of
adversity to fulfill his life-saving mission. He is supported
by the Mayor of Whoville in building the conditions
necessary for success. The town rallies to create sufficient
noise to be heard by Horton's peers, thereby proving the
town's existence and securing continued support from the
town’s newly found benefactors.
Who is Jo-Jo? The Mayor considered Jo-Jo to be a
delinquent. In fact, he found him playing in Apartment 12-J.
"A very small, very small shirker, named Jo-Jo Was
standing, just standing, and bouncing a Yo-Yo! Not making
a sound! Not a Yipp! Not a chirp! And the Mayor rushed
inside and he grabbed the young twerp!"
The Mayor then proceeded to manhandle Jo-Jo to
the top of the Eiffelberg Tower. ""This, "cried the Mayor,
"is your town's darkest hour! The time for all Whos who
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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have blood that is red To come to the aid of their country!"
he said."
YOP
It was Jo-Jo's mighty YOP, voiced overtop of the
town's "ruckus and roar," that saved the day. Setting aside
the legal ramifications of the Mayor's abduction of Jo-Jo
(kidnapping, assault, political oppression, conscription), it
was a Tipping Point moment (Gladwell, 2002) as a small
incremental change nudged the balance to create a
drastically new outcome.
The Seuss voice lesson is simple and kind: "They've
proved they ARE persons, no matter how small, And their
whole world was saved by the Smallest of All!"
Another famous YOP was featured in the movie,
The Dead Poets Society (Schulman, 1989). Mr. Keating
(Robin Williams) encourages his class, including the
insecure and troubled Todd (Ethan Hawke), to climb on top
of their desks and yell their barbaric YOPs. Todd is
transformed, releasing him from the confines of societal
pressure and into a world of independence and artistic
expression. Yet another voice lesson in creating loud sounds
delivered with conviction.
But what about content? Jo-Jo's success was
decibel-based and Todd's success was confidence-based.
Both were worthy efforts and the outcomes were fruitful.
Delivering a YOP solely for YOP's sake (that is, for noise or
ego) may have its place and purpose, but it is not a method
for advancing discussion, resolving conflict, or building a
better society.
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Considering the high level of noise rampant in all
forms of media today, it seems that some people may have
absorbed a wee bit too much inspiration from these power-
of-voice messages.
We do not have to dig too deeply into the events of
the 2016 U.S. election to see the impact of misinformation
and misguided voice. Truth, it seemed, was determined by
who yelled the loudest. Enthusiastic participation and
unchecked sharing was encouraged regardless of the source
or quality of the content. Said the Mayor (and many other
elected officials), "We've got to make noises in greater
amounts! So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice
counts!"
People can hold a strong sense of entitlement for
having an opinion, and this is fine. The difficulty begins
when unsubstantiated opinions are delivered with
confidence and without conscience. Many years ago
commenting on social media involved yelling at the
television. Today, couch surfing trolls are provided the same
forums for recognition as leading experts in the field.
Knowledge itself has become vilified and expertise is
increasingly viewed as establishment propaganda.
A mighty YOP, delivered with conviction, can
change the world, and that is a responsibility not to be taken
lightly.
Confidence
Regarding delivery, much has been written about
how to present oneself confidently (Onstad, 2012). We are
told to avoid ending sentences with up-talk (voice rising like
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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a question) or using vocal fry (glottalization, i.e. finishing
phrases in a drawn-out low register, a-la-Kardashian).
Fidgeting is bad, a calm demeanor is good. A deeper voice
has more credibility and eye contact with an entire audience
sends a strong message.
Regarding content, studies done in the area of
confidence examine the Dunning-Kruger effect, wherein
“unskilled individuals tend to have a higher illusory
superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much
higher than is accurate.” Conversely, “highly skilled
individuals may underestimate their relative competence,
erroneously assuming that tasks that are easy for them are
also easy for others” (Kruger, 1999).
Is this the dark-side of confidence? What about
misinformation that is spread in a confident tone giving the
illusion of truth and credibility? Donald Trump is an
example of an extremely confident personality that does not
let facts get in the way of a strongly delivered opinion.
We tend to fit new information into our existing
belief systems, a framework typically established at a very
young age through experiential abductive logic. Tests have
shown that individuals receiving the exact same information
can form completely opposite opinions on a subject (Kruger,
1999). The same tests indicate that there is a negative
correlation between the increased confidence level of
unskilled individuals versus skilled individuals. That is, just
a little bit of information boosted the confidence level of the
unskilled individual to a vastly disproportionate degree,
creating an internal illusion of expertise on the subject. In
fact, both skilled and unskilled individuals were capable of
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delivering their opinions, often extreme and varied, with the
same high degree of confidence.
Dunning has since drawn an analogy: “If you’re
incompetent, you can’t know you’re incompetent.… [T]he
skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the
skills you need to recognize what a right answer is”
(Dunning, 2005).
Confucius – “Real knowledge is to know the extent
of one’s ignorance.”
Charles Darwin – “Ignorance more frequently
begets confidence than does knowledge.”
Bertrand Russell – “One of the painful things
about our time is that those who feel certainty are
stupid, and those with any imagination and
understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.”
Taking this dark-side-of-confidence analogy one
step further, who are the most vulnerable to this type of
communication? It is much easier to accept information
based on its delivery than its content and we tend to believe
things that fit into our established framework, often without
question.
Politicians get elected based on their ability to
present with confidence. The content is often irrelevant, a
mix of skewed agendas and manipulative verbiage. When
the expertise of an individual is based on their ability to be
persuasive, it may be best to ignore the delivery and get to
the content as soon as possible. But that takes a lot of work,
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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and if we wish to look at who might be most vulnerable to
this type of communication, the answer would be everyone.
Knowledge
The ancient Greeks wrestled with the concept of
knowledge. Aristotle separated theoretical knowledge from
the practical application of such knowledge, where practice
was the act of doing something with the abstract theory. A
simplistic example of this might be found in music where a
composition (theoretical) written on paper could be
performed (practical) by a musician.
The concept was further expanded identifying an
area referred to as productive, which Aristotle viewed as the
use of knowledge to create something. For example,
theoretical knowledge of the harmonic series could be
applied productively to build a musical instrument. He
considered theory to be real knowledge where production
and practice were the acts of problem solving through the
application of theory.
"The purpose of a theoretical discipline is the
pursuit of truth through contemplation; its telos is the
attainment of knowledge for its own sake. The purpose
of the productive sciences is to make something; their
telos is the production of some artefact. The practical
disciplines are those sciences which deal with ethical
and political life; their telos is practical wisdom and
knowledge."
(Carr, 1986)
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Aristotle imbued a high level of quality control into
this framework. Not only was there an expectation that the
theoretical knowledge be truthful, but also that the
productive application be creative and the practical
application be driven by good intentions, a moral disposition
he referred to as phronesis. For Aristotle, the use of truthful
knowledge drove the practice of a moral interaction with
others in society.
Perhaps it is this level of quality control that is
missing from today's loud conversations. How might it be
restored?
Praxis
Aristotle's concept of praxis begins with a focus on
social responsibility and being able to live what was
considered to be a good life—a happy and ethical existence.
Praxis is a process of deliberately reflecting upon theoretical
knowledge and then applying the theory to specific issues in
society. Well before the implementation stage, the process
involves repeatedly reassessing possible outcomes.
Changing the view, and even challenging the knowledge, are
natural components of the discovery process. The
commitment to truth and social improvement underlies all
decisions.
More recent applications of praxis are found in
education, philosophy, nursing, religion, and the arts. The
following is from Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social
Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis: "Praxis is a
multidimensional concept that includes active reflection and
critically reflective action guided by an informed ethical
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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disposition to act rightly, with continuous concern for
protecting and advancing the well-being of others. It is
action dedicated to personal and collective flourishing,
grounded in commitments to transform and enrich people's
everyday lives" (Elliott et al, 2016).
The implementation of the praxial process has steps
similar to those found in both Complexity Theory and
Integrative Thinking. All three demand a constant reflection
of existing conditions applying a bottom-up, solutions-based
application of knowledge. In the practical world, Complex
Adaptive Systems (Complexity Theory) are able to produce
solutions that, through communication, discovery, and
continuous adaptation, address problems with a deep level
of insight obtained through reworking many of the questions
inherent in established systems (Zimmerman, 2002). The
iThink methodology (Integrative Thinking) takes the
individual through the initial assessment (based on
subjectivity, abductive logic, or gut-feel) and follows with a
rigorous analysis up and down the chain of salience,
causality, architecture and resolution, constantly examining
and adjusting inputs and outcomes to arrive at the best
possible solution (Martin, 2009).
The outcomes derived from the praxial process,
again similar to Complexity Theory and Integrative
Thinking, are in no way predetermined. Each decision is a
result of a thorough examination of all possibilities and is
founded on a commitment to alter the application of the
knowledge whenever required. Change, inherent throughout
the process, can be expected as the fundamental conditions
and the end-results evolve.
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Critical Thinking
The ability to change one's mind is a necessity for
critical thinking. In conflict with this requirement is the
characteristic in human nature to resist change of any kind.
Altering fundamentally held beliefs is considered to be
extremely challenging, an issue exacerbated by a condition
referred to as cognitive dissonance, a state which attempts to
reconcile inconsistent thoughts on a subject. Changing one’s
mind is difficult when we are genetically pre-programmed to
hear only what we want to hear.
The National Council for Excellence in Critical
Thinking defines critical thinking as the "intellectually
disciplined process of actively and skillfully
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action"
(Critical, 2016).
In an article published at Edutopia.org titled News
Literacy: Critical-Thinking Skills for the 21st Century, Peter
Adams writes of the issues facing students today. He states
that "the cumulative amount of information that exists on the
planet, from the beginning of recorded history to the present,
is, by realistic estimates, doubling every two years. [...]
News literacy is a relatively new field in media studies that
focuses on defining and teaching the skills that citizens need
to evaluate the credibility of the information they encounter,
and on examining the role that credible information plays in
a representative democracy" (Adams, 2014).
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Adams suggests a six-step approach for questioning
the information presented:
Context
Quality sourcing
Verification
Word choice
Documentation
Fairness
He then provides classroom exercises that would
help students experience the process of critical thinking,
including learning modules such as Reinvent Current
Events, Explore the Power of Information, and Fact-
Checking Challenge (Adams, 2014).
The term fake news is hopefully approaching the
end of its utility as a catch-all for possible news fabrication.
Declaring something as fake news has become a simple tool
for dismissing contrary opinion, an easy method of
categorizing views differing from one's own. Lies and
deception have been around for a long time; the issue is how
society can become more adept at using critical thinking to
mitigate the potentially harmful effects of fake news.
Several internet tools have surfaced that provide
researched responses to popular and questionable issues.
Google Chrome has three plug-ins (FiB, BS Detector and
Media Bias Fact Check) and Slate (a popular story
debunker) has a Facebook extension that will flag sources
known to produce false stories.
One of the most important aspects of critical
thinking is understanding the big picture surrounding the
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information. The analysis of stakeholders and motivation
(the why) are important aspects of the back-story that cannot
be ignored.
Creativity
Thus far, the YOP has been examined in terms of its
delivery and content with an emphasis on social conscience
and doing the right thing. Having an opinion based on facts
is crucial and weighing the moral impact prior to its
distribution is an ethical choice. Another aspect of having a
voice is the unique component of the message itself. That is,
the creative challenge of having your own opinion.
Attempts to define creativity date back to the
ancient Greeks and Romans. Through the Renaissance era
and up until the late 19th century, various areas of artistic
study (religion, poetry and painting) laid sole claim to the
term. In the early 20th century, progress was made toward
including the sciences and by 1950, a more pragmatic
approach to creativity introduced concepts such as
brainstorming and problem-solving into the definition.
More recently, the work of Edward de Bono (1933-
present) is significant. He was the first person to propose
that the human brain is a self-organizing system, and in
1967 published The Use of Lateral Thinking, a book that
introduced a new concept for defining structured creativity.
It was revolutionary and inspired a deluge of variations on
the lateral thinking theme, including divergent thinking,
convergent thinking (J.P. Guilford), adversarial thinking,
and integrative thinking (Graham Douglas), all of which
provide new insight into the creative process.
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Dr. de Bono wrote the book Six Thinking Hats in
1985, a method that uses parallel thinking to focus on the
importance of perspective in problem-solving. Each “hat” is
assigned a colour and paradigm from which a problem or
issue should be viewed. For example, the red hat directs the
individual to an emotional, gut-feel viewpoint; the white
toward a view derived from information and facts only. The
intent of the exercise is to flush out all of the possibilities
associated with an issue, taking into account connections
amongst the hats so that a more informed solution can be
established.
Integrative Thinking theory was developed by
Graham Douglas in 1986. Douglas describes it as “the
process of integrating intuition, reason and imagination in a
human mind with a view to developing a holistic continuum
of strategy, tactics, action, review and evaluation for
addressing a problem in any field” (Strategic, 2016).
iThink
Roger Martin is the ex-Dean of the Rotman School
of Management, University of Toronto, and was
instrumental in developing the Desautels Centre for
Integrative Thinking, University of Toronto. His book, The
Opposable Mind (Martin, 2007), developed the theory into a
practical methodology that encourages the Integrative
Thinker to utilize a creative approach for decision-making.
Roger Martin is convinced that Integrative Thinking
can be taught and cultivated through exposure to case
studies, classroom modeling and, most importantly, hands-
on experience with the process. He distinguishes between
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integrative thinkers versus conventional thinkers and
suggests that we can train ourselves to dig deeply and
creatively for less obvious solutions. With increased
exposure to the discovery process, he believes we develop a
"habit of thought" that becomes our natural method for
decision-making in all aspects of our lives (Martin, 2007).
iThink provides a framework that rises above the
limitations of an A or B solution and resolves tensions by
finding new and creative solutions that accommodate both A
and B. He promotes being more aware of possibilities and
refers to the variables in a problem as being salient
components in the decision-making process. He also makes
an excellent case for the use of abductive reasoning
(sometimes referred to as gut feeling) as opposed to relying
solely on inductive and deductive reasoning to arrive at
decisions. Because of its flexibility and un-tethered freedom
from limitation, abductive reasoning is used as a starting and
finishing point in the analysis process. Perfect information is
a luxury typically unavailable and big-picture salience and
abductive reasoning play an important role in creative
decision-making.
The methodology moves through the initial
assessment (gut-feeling) and follows with a rigorous
analysis up and down the chain of salience, causality,
architecture and resolution, constantly examining and
adjusting inputs and possible outcomes.
Roger Martin's iThink has evolved into a practical
teaching method that can be applied to virtually any age
group. He has migrated away from clinical terms (i.e.
saliency, causality, architecture, resolution) in favour of
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wording found within the teaching vernacular (i.e.
articulating, examining, exploring, and assessing models
and possible outcomes). His opposable mind framework is
simplified into establishing two extreme and opposing
solutions to a problem and then pulling only the good points
of each into a shortlist of desired outcomes. His pro-pro
charting technique is devoid of cons or any suggestion of
negativity, a standard protocol in creative thinking
methodology. His steps include incorporating the multiple
perspectives of all stakeholders, in addition to requiring a
thorough research and accumulation of data.
The iThink methodology accommodates cognitive
dissonance and the human nature attribute of confirmation
bias. It accepts our lifetime experiences as valuable inputs
and provides a framework to use them as salient points in a
larger setting in the search of factual truth and what to do
with it.
Horton Hears a Why
Horton, a resident of the Jungle of Nool (a metaphor
for man in society), is moved to respond to an issue that he
alone has identified. The who, what, why, when, and where
of Horton's story is revealed and the moral issue develops. It
is his voice—his knowledge, his opinion, his integrity, his
bravery, his moral character, his determination—that
changes the world.
It was Jo-Jo's mighty YOP that created the tipping
point for success and it was Horton's commitment to the
cause that saved the Whos of Whoville. This, of course, is
the brilliance of Dr. Seuss' writing; his themes work on
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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many levels, for many issues, for many people. In the end, it
was the discovery and sharing of facts (critical thinking) that
led to a morally successful outcome (praxis).
The story of Horton may be about a WHO and small
voices, but it is driven by a WHY and informed choices. The
praxial application of critical thinking raises the bar for
acceptable results. Seeking and discovering truths is an
important first step in the journey toward building a better
world.
Regarding fake news, Peter Adams suggests that the
reasons behind a story are a significant part of the story
itself: Why is the story being told? Why are the stakeholders
vested? Why is the message being sent now? Why is it being
targeted at me? Why should we care? It is questions like
these that expose intention and provide insight into macro
issues and, ultimately, access to big picture solutions.
Regarding creativity, our individual uniqueness of
knowledge and experience can inspire oblique connections
that others may not see. In terms of iThink, access to our
own personal collection of salient points can provide insight
into territory possibly unavailable to individuals possessing
either more or less knowledge (creativity is not dependent
upon knowledge volume). We are unique in both our
experiences and our limitations. Put another way, “I don’t
know the same things that you don’t know” (Corner Gas,
2004). It is these cross-connections that create our voice and
the potential to see the world as no one else can.
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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The process of factual discovery is a continual
work-in-progress. Similar to Praxis, Critical Thinking,
Complexity Theory, Integrative Thinking, and Creativity, it
requires a reflective and evolving examination of what is
known, what is not known, and what can be known.
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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Finale The power of a single voice cannot be
underestimated. Seuss' story of Horton and Jo-Jo reaches out
to encourage all of us to stand up and be counted. We can
make a difference and it is through our participation that
change can happen.
Even the smallest voice can have an impact. Chaos
Theory, the component of Complex Adaptive Systems that is
used to handle unpredictability, presents a condition where a
seemingly insignificant occurrence can cause a significant
repercussion. Developed in the 1950s by MIT professor
Edward Norton Lorenz, the term butterfly effect was used to
describe how eliminating the rounding error in only one of
twelve inputs used in a weather forecasting program (he
increased the accuracy from 3 to 6 decimals), the test results
were dramatically changed.
Chaos Theory was referenced in the movie Jurassic
Park (1993) by Jeff Goldblum portraying the character of
mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm. "Chaos Theory," he says,
recognizes the "butterfly effect: a butterfly flaps its wings in
Peking, and in Central Park you get rain instead of
sunshine." It is not random or unpredictable, but rather an
unfolding of events that, being very sensitive to initial
conditions, amplify minute differences to create altered
results (Fractal, 2015).
Participation is good. Having an opinion is healthy.
Sharing views can be an important aspect of building
community and supporting causes. However, we have a
responsibility to seek truth and develop coherence before
sharing our opinions.
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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A YOP for YOP's sake may have no purpose. A
YOP that contains misinformation can be harmful. A YOP
delivered with malicious intent is ethically wrong. A YOP
delivered without the due diligence process of praxial
critical thinking is likely not worth YOPPING.
Change is difficult and altering our fundamental
beliefs even more so. Critical thinking is about keeping an
open mind and embracing the concept of lifelong learning.
Praxis is about doing the best you can with the knowledge
that you have. Praxial critical thinking is about the search
for truth and making the world a better place.
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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About
Keith Loach
Keith Loach holds a Bachelor of Music (Faculty of Music,
University of Toronto) and a Master of Business
Administration (Rotman School of Management, University
of Toronto). He is currently enrolled in a PhD Music (York
University).
Jo-Jo Who: Praxis, Critical Thinking, and Dr. Seuss
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