questions, Socratic, thoughts, ideas, ask, think

December 28, 2012          Mrs. J Musing … again

Last week (see December 20 entry) I shared the quote,

 “We progress in the direction of the questions we are asking.”

Lately I’ve been studying The Art of Socratic Questioning by Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder.  I took this quote from page 5,

“You do not fully understand a thought (idea) until you understand the question (problem, reason) that gives rise to it.”

                                       Do these two statements impact each other?

And  how do the following statements impact your understanding? (These statements are my summary drawn from reading in The Art of Socratic Questioning.)

“And you do not fully understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the purpose or goal or objective behind it.

You do not understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the background information (reasons) that support it.

You do not understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the inferences or interpretations or conclusions that have shaped it.

You do not understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the concepts or theories; principals or laws that define and shape it.

You do not understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the assumptions, meaning what it takes for granted.

You do not understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the implications and consequences and effects that follow from it.

Finally, you do not understand a thought (idea) unless you understand the perspective, viewpoint or frame of reference that places it on an intellectual map, its world view.”

It is vitally important that we learn to ask questions.

Page 62 “Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions. Had no questions been asked by those who laid the foundation for a field-for example, Physics or Biology-the field would never have developed in the first place. Furthermore, every field stays alive only to the extent that fresh questions are generated and taken seriously as the driving force in a process of thinking. To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate thought”. Watch for sample questions in my next blog.