Thinking in College

UI100-First-Year Seminar

Theresa Haug BelvinMost information taken from “Your College Experience: Strategies for Success” by

John N. Gardner and A. Jerome Jewler.

Early Thought ProcessesWhen you were given orders– Eat your vegetables– Clean your room– Turn off the TV

Early Thought ProcessesOrders were gradually replaced by

arguments– Requests accompanied by statements of

(apparent) fact called reasons– “If you clean you room, you’ll get your

allowance. If you don’t you won’t.”

Emotions in ArgumentsEarly arguments had a lot to do

with your emotions.– If you were lonely, instead of saying

so you might have said, “Hey, there’s a good movie showing tonight. Do you want to go?”

Explanations in ArgumentsBegan shifting from arguments that

relied less on emotions and more towards explanation

You may have noticed teachers and other adults became more willing to take time to explain things to you in a fair amount of detail.

Explanations in ArgumentsAn explanation is an argument that

relies on facts and a process of reasoning that tries to show how one idea follows from another, and it is largely separate from emotional appeals

Explanations in ArgumentsExplanations probably worked

better with you because they do not seem to order anyone around or to rely much on emotions.

Explanations in ArgumentsYour thinking should have moved

more and more in this direction toward the end of high school.

When people understand the need to communicate with respect, explanations almost always get better results than other kinds of arguments.

Working Toward ExplanationEmotional arguments tend to be

much easier to make than explanations.

However, in college and in the work you do after college, you will find that people question you much more closely, so your facts have to be more impressive.

Working Toward ExplanationYou need to develop your ability to

distinguish between an emotional argument and an explanation.

In college and in later life you will be rewarded for your skill in gathering facts and presenting them in an impressive manner.

More Examples…

Consciously or unconsciously, people tend to draw arguments off track in various ways.

For example, someone may attack you instead of arguing over your ideas:– “You’re saying we should all plant gardens?

You’re an idiot.”– “Don’t bother listening; he/she is just a

communist (Republican, Democrat, racist, environmental fanatic, redneck, feminist, fundamentalist).”

More Examples…

Or someone may appeal to your sense of guilty or pity instead of actually explaining why something is the way it is:– “You’ve upset me so you must be wrong.”– “People all over the world are killing each

other. Obviously the U.S. has to stop it.”

Four Keys to Careful ThinkingFour key resources can help you

distinguish between weak and stronger arguments and help you make more effective explanations:

1. Common Sense

Common sense refers to the idea that certain facts and bits of wisdom are supposed to be obvious to everyone.

Common Sense

People don’t always agree on what is and what isn’t common sense.

Common sense doesn’t appear to withstand temptation very well

Common Sense

Greatest danger in depending too much on common sense is that it is far more likely to be a common belief than a sensible belief.

In the course of daily thought, people depend on common sense more often than you can afford to do in college thinking.

Using Common Sense

Why do you suppose that each of the following statements was once (or in some circles might still be) “common sense”?– Men should be doctors, women nurses.

– People need to wear sturdy leather shoes.

– Women shouldn’t run long distances.

– People should eat three meals a day and not munch in between.

– The salad should come before the main course.

2. Experience

People tend to trust the things you know from experience more than you trust information obtained in any other way.

The more experience you have, the better prepared you may be to think about certain kinds of questions.

Experience

Two problems often emerge when students first try to apply their experience to college thinking:

1. Some students don’t realize that their experience is a valid part of argument and explanation.

2. However, some students rely so heavily on their own experience that they fail to see its limitations.

3. Experts

An expert is someone who has demonstrated considerable knowledge about a subject.

Experts become truly valuable only once you have found the courage and developed the skills to talk with them and ask good questions.

Experts

Genuine experts usually welcome intelligent questions about their areas of expertise.

Experts can be great resources!Take advantage of this; Don’t just

listen and accept what you are told!

4. References

“Go look it up!”

References

Treat every “fact” intended to persuade you as something to be checked out.

Where is the ultimate place to check out a fact?

References

How many references should you use?

Other than books, what other kinds of references could you use?

A Final Thought…

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

-Mark Twain