Ideas
So CHAPTER
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Produce far our examination of the creative process has demonstrated how to recognize problems and issues, express them clearly, and gain essential insights into them. There is one additional stage in the creative process: producing possible solutions. In this chapter you will learn the advantage of producing a wide range of solutions rather than settling for a few. You will also learn how to stimulate your imagination, how to be more original, and how to overcome the obstacles most common at this stage of creativity.
magine a pearl diver on an island in the South Seas. He pushes off his canoe from the shore, paddles out into the lagoon, dives deep into the water, picks an oyster off the bottom, surfaces, climbs into his boat, paddles to shore, and opens the shell. Finding nothing but an oyster inside, he sets off in his canoe again and begins paddling into the lagoon. Wait a minute, youre probably thinking. Hes wasting an awful lot of time. The right way to do it is not to paddle back to shore with one oyster but to dive again and again, fill the canoe with oysters, and then return to shore. Youre right. Pearls are rare; a diver must open many oysters before finding one. Only a very foolish diver would waste time and energy making a separate trip for each oyster.1 And its exactly the same with producing ideas. Foolish people think of a single solution to a problem and then proceed as if that solution had to be creative. But creative ideas, like pearls, occur infrequently. So sensible people produce many ideas before expecting to find a creative one. Researchers have found a clear relationship between the number of ideas produced and the quality of the ideas. The more ideas produced, the better the chances of having one or more good ones.2 There are two reasons for this. The first is a matter of simple probability. Creative ideas are statistically uncommon. As Alfred North Whitehead explains, The probability is that nine hundred and
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ninety-nine of [our ideas] will come to nothing, either because they are worthless in themselves or because we shall not know how to elicit their value; but we had better entertain them all, however skeptically, for the thousandth idea may be the one that will change the world.3 The second reason is that initial ideas are usually poorer in quality than later ideas. Just as water must run from a faucet for a while to be clear and free of particles, so thought must flow before it becomes creative. Early ideas, Herbert Spencer warned, are not usually true ideas.4 Exactly why this is so is not known, but one very plausible hypothesis is that familiar and safe responses lie closest to the surface of our consciousness and therefore are naturally thought of first.5 In any case, success in creative thinking depends on continuing the flow of ideas long enough to purge the common, habitual ones and produce the unusual and imaginative. In dealing with problems, the ideas you should seek to produce are answers to the How can . . . ? questions you asked in expressing the problem. In dealing with issues, your ideas should be broader, including not only direct answers to your Is (Are) . . . ? Does . . . ? and Should . . . ? questions, but also all other ideas that can help you answer those questions. Not infrequently, the idea that provides a key to resolving an issue will seem, at first consideration, irrelevant.
STIMULATING YOUR IMAGINATION
Producing a large quantity of ideas is the first way to produce creative solutions, but it is not the only way. Another important way is to stimulate your imagination. Most people behave unimaginatively not because they lack imagination, but because they fear the reaction their ideas will receive. In time, they grow used to suppressing ideas that differ from the norm, ideas that might raise eyebrows. They do themselves a great disservice because creativity depends on imagination. No great discovery is ever made without a bold guess, observed Sir Isaac Newton.6 And Albert Einstein added, I believe in imagination . . . Imagination is more important than knowledge.7 It takes more than determination to stimulate your thoughts, of course, particularly if you have gotten into the habit of suppressing them. Youll need some strategies for activating your creative imagination. Following are seven effective strategies. Some will fit problems better than issues; others, the reverse. 1. Force uncommon responses. 2. Use free association. 3. Use analogy. 4. Look for unusual combinations.
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5. Visualize the solution. 6. Construct pro and con arguments. 7. Construct relevant scenarios.
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Force Uncommon Responses
We noted that common, familiar ideas tend to come first. Nothing can be done to avoid this pattern. Therefore, your best approach is to expect them, even encourage them, to free your mind for more original ideas. Begin by asking yourself what responses most people would think of. Write them all down. When you have produced a number of these, and you cant think of any others, ask yourself what responses others would probably not think of. Press yourself for as many as you can produce. One predictable outcome of this effort is the listing of some outrageous or silly ideas. Chances are you will feel a little uncomfortable with such ideas. How can they be helpful? youll think. Problems and issues are serious mattersno room for foolishness here. Resist that feeling. Playfulness, as we saw, is one important characteristic of creative people; it contributes to their dynamism. Theres nothing wrong with writing even the most ridiculous ideas on paper. Listing them is not the same as endorsing them; you can always cross them out later. But dont screen them out now; you might inadvertently discard an original insight in the process. Dont misunderstand this advice. It doesnt mean you should try to be outrageous or ridiculous. It means you should tolerate being so when it occurs as a natural consequence of striving for uncommon ideas.
Use Free Association
Free association means letting one idea suggest another. It differs from forced response in that you are not directing your mind at all but giving it free rein, relaxing your control over it momentarily and observing what ideas and associations result. Some of them may be quite unexpected and may point out interesting and profitable directions. As with forced responses, you should not screen any associations as they occur to you. Rather, write them all for later examination. Often, what seems totally irrelevant when it occurs to you may later prove valuable. A word of warning is in order. The purpose of this strategy is to help you retrieve relevant information you originally classified too restrictively. Because this strategy involves relaxing mental control and allowing your thoughts to drift, it can slip into aimless daydreaming. You should therefore use it as a variation on other strategies and not as a substitute for them.
Use Analogy
An analogy is a reference to one or more similarities between two otherwise very different things. An analogy might be made, for example, between a football halfbacks broken-field running and the movements of a jaguar or cheetah. The history of creative achievements documents the value of analogical thinking. Creative breakthroughs often occur when a person makes a connection between something outside his or her field. (This fact suggests the value of a broad education. Narrowness of training all too often breeds a narrowness of perspective that hinders creativity.) When Gutenberg observed a winepress in operation and conceived of the printing press and when the inventor of the forklift got his insight from the doughnut machine, they were using analogical thinking.
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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To use analogy in your thinking, simply ask what the problem or issue is like, what it reminds you of. Where appropriate, you may also ask more specific questions, such as What does this look like (or sound, taste, smell, or feel like)? or What does this function like?
Look for Unusual Combinations
Sometimes, the best solution to a problem will be to combine things not usually combined. The miners cap (combining a flashlight and a protective hat), the wheelchair, and the clock radio are examples of how combinations result in invention. Perhaps the most common example of this kind of invention is the recipe. Every time a cook blends different ingredients to make a dish differently, he or she is inventing by combination. The first person to put a slice of mozzarella cheese on a veal cutlet invented veal parmigiana, and the ingenious person who couldnt afford veal and substituted a slice of meatloaf invented meatloaf parmigiana. This same strategy works well in other kinds of creativity as wellfinding solutions to social problems, for example. One problem of growing concern today is the increasing cost of our prison system. Someone wrestling with that problem might well consider combining prisons with factoriesthat is, having convicts work for private industry behind bars and be paid for their efforts, and reimbursing the taxpayers for the cost of the imprisonment. (The idea might even come through analogy, by noting that prisons sometimes resemble large factory complexes.)
Visualize the Solution
This strategy consists of imagining the problem solved and visualizing what it would look like then. For example, before the problem of automobile travel on snow- and ice-covered roads was solved, a man forced to drive in such conditions would have pictured in his mind not the reality of tires mired in snow or spinning on ice but the condition he wished for: wheels turning smoothly and tires biting into the snow and grasping the ice firmly. His imagination thus stimulated, hed have asked himself, What would those tires look like if they were able to perform the way I wish? And he might just have visualized pieces of metal wrapped around the tire (chains) or spikes protruding from the tire to grip the road (studs).
Construct Pro and Con Arguments
This strategy, an essential one in dealing with issues, consists of listing all conceivable arguments that might be advanced on either side of the issue. To use it, simply address your expression(s) of the issueIs . . .? Does . . .? or Should . . .? and list as many yes responses as you can, together with the reasoning that supports them, and as many no responses as you can, together with the reasoning for them. If, for example, the issue you examined was whether technology has had a positive or negative effect on human society, you would include these points, among others. (For the sake of brevity, supporting arguments are omitted.)
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The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Positive-Effect Arguments
Has shortened the workweek, creating more leisure time for workers. Has increased the variety of goods and services available. Has created many new skilled occupations. Has increased the monetary reward to both employers and employees. Has created the need for new kinds of educationvocational and technical.
Has made many jobs very routine, increasing workers boredom. Has decreased the quality of goods and services in many cases. Has eliminated many unskilled jobs. Has caused many workers to hate what they do for a living. Has undermined the role of the liberal arts in education.
An important warning: expect yourself to be biased, and expect your bias to affect your efforts to construct arguments. Unless you are perfectly neutral about the issue, an unlikely circumstance, at the very outset of this strategy you will believe one side of the issue to be right, and that belief will incline you to construct your list accordingly. In other words, consciously or unconsciously you will present more and better arguments for the side of the issue you prefer. The only safeguard against such bias is to go out of your way to think of arguments that might be advanced on the other side of the issue. If your investigation of the issue gave a fair hearing to both sides, this safeguard should not be too difficult to accomplish.
Construct Relevant Scenarios
We often tend to think of ideas exclusively as assertions, claims about what is or should be, such as Respect for the rights of others is decreasing in our society and Ethics instruction belongs in the nations schools. Those are ideas, to be sure, but so are scenarios, which are imaginatively conceived examples of situations and events that are relevant to the issue under consideration. Well-constructed scenarios have a special value that assertions lack: they represent reality itself and not just conclusions about reality. Lets say that the issue you are analyzing concerns whether a woman must have offered earnest resistance to a mans sexual advances for a rape charge to be filed in the courts. (This was still a legal requirement in some states as recently as 1982.) Here are three scenarios you might construct. A woman has just returned from a date with a young man whom she has known for some time, has dated previously, and has had sexual intercourse with on several occasions. She invites him into her apartment and proceeds to engage in sexual foreplay. When he proposes that they have intercourse, she says no several times but does not stop him from performing the act. A woman is lying in a hospital bed, heavily sedated after experiencing a nervous breakdown. A male nurse realizes she is unable to resist his advances and so assaults her sexually.
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Walking from the campus library to her dormitory one evening, a college student passes through a dimly lighted wooded area. Suddenly, two men jump out at her, one brandishing a knife and warning that if she resists sexual intercourse with them, he will kill her. Fearing for her life, she submits. A close reading of these scenarios will reveal the importance of constructing more than a single scenario and of taking care that those constructed cover the broad range of possibilities. All of these are believablean indispensable qualification that every scenario must meet. However, they do not shed equal light on the issue of whether earnest resistance is a reasonable legal requirement. Taken alone, the first scenario might be considered to support an affirmative answer. Yet, as the other two make clear, such an answer would be shallow. Under the very plausible circumstances they present, the requirement of earnest resistance is quite unreasonable. These seven strategies will give you significant help in activating your imagination. But dont expect to be able to use them smoothly right away. Give them time to become familiar. If you are inclined to give up after a few tries, remind yourself how awkward you felt the first time you dribbled a basketball or drove a car. That, too, seemed impossible to learn, but you mastered it. Whenever turning from one strategy to another confuses you, simply look back at your statement of the problem, regain your bearings, and continue producing ideas.
AIMING FOR ORIGINALITY
In the popular view, originality is a kind of genetic endowment. Either you have it or you dont, and if you dont have it, you have no hope of learning it. Research has demolished this idea. Like every other creative skill, originality can be learned. If you dont produce original thoughts, it is only because you have acquired the habit of being unoriginal. One study revealed that originality can be stimulated simply when the person knows it is expected.8 To achieve originality in your thinking, demand it of yourself. Remind yourself that there is nothing mysterious about originality; it lies just a step or two beyond the commonplace. Dont restrict your ideas to those you have heard or thought of before. Every time you address a problem and try to find solutions, stretch your mind a little, reach for thoughts a little more daring than you have entertained before. There is one additional method that can help you be more original: watch your fringe thoughts. The term fringe thoughts was coined by Graham Wallas.9 It means thoughts occurring on the edge or fringe of consciousness, much the same way objects appear on the periphery of our vision. When walking down the street or driving a car, we focus our gaze in one direction but continue to see objects outside that focus. When something unusual or unexpected appears there, we are able to turn our attention to it. Since original ideas often appear first on the fringe of consciousness, the more alert you are to what is happening there, the more original ideas you will discover.
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The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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WITHHOLDING JUDGMENT
Judgment is an essential part of thinking. Without it, we wouldnt be able to distinguish between good and bad solutions or select the best and most workable one. But the timing of our judgment can make all the difference. Most people dont time their judgment well: they are impulsive, evaluating ideas as soon as they are produced, sometimes even screening out certain ideas before they are fully conceptualized. At the first inkling of an idea, they say, No, thats no good or This is silly or That cant be a solution. Yet often, the most creative ideas are the ones that seem silliest at first. Rushing to judgment, therefore, causes some of the best ideas to be discarded and the least creative ones to be approved mindlessly. Ironically, it ensures that people will be uncreative just when they want most to be creative. Research has documented that thinkers who resist judging ideas during the idea-producing stage and who extend their effort to produce ideas beyond the point where they are tempted to stop are rewarded with a greater proportion of good ideas.10 As you do the applications for this and subsequent chapters, and whenever you look for solutions to problems outside this course, dont allow yourself to judge any idea until after you have produced as many ideas as you can. Dont set artificial limits on the number of your ideas. When you find yourself thinking, Ive got 10 (or 20 or 30) ideas nowthats enough, remember that the best solution to the problem very likely lies 10 or 20 ideas beyond that point. It can be reached only by pressing on. Moreover, just to be sure you are not unconsciously setting limits on your thinking, look back occasionally at previous effortsthe applications you did in the last few chapters, for exampleand decide whether you stopped producing ideas too soon.
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
The three most common obstacles to the effective production of a large and varied number of ideas are thinkers block, vagueness and confusion, and inflexibility. Learning how to recognize each, and mastering a few simple responses, can prevent your problem-solving efforts from being frustrated.
Thinkers Block
Like writers block, which prevents an author from putting words on the page, thinkers block prevents us from producing ideas. It makes us sit idle and grow increasingly nervous, waiting for ideas that do not come. Poor thinkers are not the only ones afflicted with thinkers block. Everyone experiences it from time to time. But good thinkers have learned that they neednt be victimized by it, that there are effective methods for dealing with it. The best way is to minimize the chance of its occurring by doing something we have already discussed: developing the habit of withholding judgment while you are producing ideas. Every time you stop the flow of ideas to make a judgment,
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even if you stop for only a second or two, you run the risk of not being able to start again. On the other hand, the more you resist the temptation to stop and instead sustain your idea production, the less trouble thinkers block will cause you. When it occurs despite your best efforts to avoid it, try one or more of the following approaches, in the order they are presented. 1. Look back at the ideas you have written. Read them carefully, concentrating on each as you read it. Usually, one of those ideas will suggest another that you have not written. As soon as it does, write it. Now that the ideas are flowing again, dont stop until you have to. It doesnt matter if the first few ideas are off target. You can gently direct the flow back to the problem or issue. 2. Run through the strategies for stimulating your imagination again. That is, force uncommon responses (however outrageous), use free association and analogy, look for unusual combinations, and so on through the list of strategies. Youll seldom get beyond the first or second strategy before the ideas are flowing again. 3. Copy your list of ideas over again and again, concentrating on each idea as you are writing it. Be alert to the appearance of a new idea on the fringe of your consciousness. This approach will keep you active and will prevent frustration and apprehension. 4. Walk away from the problem for a time (an hour, a day, a week). Return to it only when you can take a fresh look at it, unburdened of anxiety. 5. If all else fails, go back to the second stage of the process and consider other expressions of the problem or issue.
Vagueness and Confusion
Even the greatest thinkers experience this obstacle to problem solving. Einstein, for example, began considering the problem that led to his relativity theory when he was 16 years old. He struggled with it for seven years before reaching a solution. During that time he experienced vagueness, confusion, and puzzlement to the point of depression and despair.11 Whether this obstacle appears during the investigating stage or the ideaproducing stage, it is most often caused by losing sight of the problem. The best way to overcome it is the way noted in Chapter 8: look back at your statement of the problem or issue and get your bearings. In the beginning, you may have to stop the flow of ideas to take this backward look, but with a little practice, you will be able to do it without stopping the flow. You will merely slow it down a little. Its much like steering a car. A beginning driver often has to come to a complete stop to straighten the cars direction, but very soon, he or she learns to make slight corrections with the steering wheel while maintaining speed. You will find this kind of mental steering easier to master if you write your expression of the problem on a card or sheet of paper and keep it handy while working on the problem.
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The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Inflexibility
This obstacle is characterized by too many ideas of one type, with little or no variation. It is caused by unconsciously directing your thinking along one narrow of line thought. Whenever you find this obstacle in your work (a simple glance back over your ideas will reveal whether it is present), make a special effort to stimulate your imagination. Any of the seven strategies we discussed may be used, but the first two and the lastforcing uncommon responses, using free association, and constructing relevant scenariosare especially helpful.
HOW INSIGHT OCCURS
The most dramatic experience of the idea-producing stageindeed, of the entire creative processis the arrival of an insight. The moment of insight has been described in many ways. One is the Aha! reaction, such as Archimedes experienced when he sat down in a tub of water, noticed the displacement of the water by the mass of his body, and instantly conceptualized the principle of specific gravity. Eureka! (I have found it!) he is said to have shouted as he ran naked through the streets. (Apparently the law against indecent exposure was not well enforced then, or else he ran very fast. In any case, he seems to have escaped arrest.) Another way of describing the moment of insight is an intense feeling of satisfaction, such as we get when we find a missing puzzle piece. But perhaps the most common experience is sudden illumination, like the lightbulb glowing above the head of a cartoon character. For some reason, many insights come during moments of rest. One of the building blocks of modern science, an idea called the most brilliant piece of prediction to be found in the whole range of organic chemistry, occurred at such a time. Friedrich August von Kekul lay dozing by the fire one day in 1865 and suddenly realized that the molecules of certain organic compounds were not open structures, but ring-shaped. Heres how he described the experience:
I turned my chair to the fire and dozed . . . . Again the atoms were gambolling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by repeated visions of this kind, could now distinguish larger structures, of manifold conformation; long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twining and twisting in snakelike motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke.12
The fact that many imaginative leaps have come during periods of leisure or rest has led to the misconception that insight comes without effort. Authorities on the creative process are in agreement that insight is not associated with idleness. (If it were, the village loafer would hold the record for creative achievement.) Nor does it arrive during any type of leisure. Rather, it arrives during the leisure that
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follows periods of intense activity, in which the thinker grapples with the problem or issue, is momentarily defeated by it, and turns away in frustration. Authorities theorize that the conscious mind then turns the problem over to the unconscious, which continues working. Insight comes from that effort.13 Sudden insights, like all dramatic experiences, tend to be more widely publicized and more memorable than everyday occurrences. However, the fact is that many, sometimes the vast majority, of creative solutions come about more quietly. They are the result of alertness to details and careful analysis of ideas. Such solutions, though they arrive without fanfare, are no less valuable for that. And they have one great advantage over sudden insights. We can, to a significant extent, make them happen.
A SAMPLE PROBLEM
You are a bill collector for a magazine. You have wasted countless hours in waiting rooms, hoping to see the magazines debtors. But most secretaries have been instructed to let you wait until you get tired and leave. You examine the problem from all sides and consider a number of expressions of the problem. Finally, you decide that the best expression is How can I get to see debtors despite their secretaries refusal to let me do so? Here is how your production of ideas might proceed. You begin listing all your ideas. The first ones are outrageous, but that doesnt bother you. You know you shouldnt stop to evaluate them. Carry a shotgun and threaten the secretary. Threaten to kidnap the debtors wife and kids. Bring an attack dog to the office. Scale the building and climb in the debtors window. Tell the secretary you are the bosss brother or sister. Tie up the secretary and barge into the office.
You encounter thinkers block, so you apply one or more of the strategies recommended in the chapter for overcoming this obstacle. The ideas begin to flow again. Sweet-talk the secretary. Call and make an appointment first. Send a letter requesting payment. Fax the debtor repeatedly. Change jobs. Take a course in quick thinking. Cancel the debtors subscription. Take legal action. Sit and wait until the office closes. Take an attorney with you. Send someone else to wait in your place.
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At this point, you become confused; you believe youve lost sight of the problem. A glance back at the ideas youve just produced confirms this. They do not address the problem as you expressed it. You reread your expression and begin producing again. Bother the secretary. Give him or her a box of candy. Take him or her to lunch. Try bribery. Beg to see the debtor. Wait for the secretary to go to lunch and then barge in.
You run dry again, so you start once more with the first strategy, looking back over the ideas you have produced. Starting with the most recent, you read, Wait for the secretary to go to lunch . . . beg to see the debtor, bribery . . . . Suddenly you realize your inflexibility: you have slipped into producing ideas of the same type, with little or no variation. You try to stimulate your imagination, first by forcing uncommon responses. The ideas begin again. Pretend to be someone else. Catch the debtor outside the office. Bother the other people in the waiting room. Cause a disturbance. Be obnoxious.
The ideas stop once more, so you stimulate your imagination. When you fail to force uncommon responses, you turn to free association. Several of your ideas suggest a number of associations. Specifically, Pretend to be someone else suggests A telephone repairer A janitor A job applicant A police officer An office-supplies salesperson A priest or nun An electrician A newspaper reporter A magazine contest representative (to award a prize) A window washer
Bother the secretary suggests Ask to be announced every few minutes. Sit on the secretarys desk. Talk to him or her incessantly. Bother the other people in the waiting room suggests Talk loudly about your recently contracted contagious disease. Tell everyone loudly that the debtor has been named in a paternity suit. Tell them the truth about the debtors bill.
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Cause a disturbance suggests Fall down and feign a seizure. Practice the tuba. Yell, Fire! Jump up and down on a whoopee cushion. Sing off-key. Pitch a tent (literally). Make howling noises. Put up signs saying, This guy doesnt pay his bills.
Be obnoxious suggests Put on a horrible mask and fake blood. Rub your clothing with garlic and onions. Soak your clothes in skunk spray. At this point, youd have produced enough good ideas, including a number of creative ones, to stop producing and select your best one. (This selection, remember, will be tentative, pending your application of critical thinking.) Which idea would that be? A real bill collector, Andy Smulion of London, uses the very last one with great success. He soaks his clothes in skunk spray, walks quietly into the debtors office, and hands the secretary a note saying, Ill leave when you pay. Needless to say, he doesnt have to wait long.
A SAMPLE ISSUE
You read in the newspaper that the Television Information Office, an organization financed by the television industry, has issued a six-page research paper arguing that television is not the cause of declining reading scores in the nations schools. The research paper claims that childrens reading scores have more to do with socioeconomic factors than with the amount of television they watch and that heavy viewing doesnt cause reading problems but is the result of those problems. It states, Children having difficulty with classroom study and with homework will turn to television . . . precisely because of their reading difficulties.14 You realize that this is a matter that informed people disagree about, so you approach it as an issue and decide that the best expression of it is Is television viewing in any way a causative factor in declining reading scores? After reading several scholarly articles in the library and interviewing an education professor and a reading-skills instructor (both of them on your campus), you develop ideas as follows.*
*The form and content of this sample do not reflect what you would typically do. You would undoubtedly list your ideas in fragmentary fashion so as not to interrupt the flow of thought; yet, for the sake of clarity, ideas are presented here in complete sentences. Moreover, your analysis would involve actually conducting investigations and then reflecting on each to generate more ideas, whereas here, because of space limitations, the investigations are only suggested. The emphasis here is not on research completeness but on the process by which one strategy leads to another and produces ideas.
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The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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The television industry financed the study, so it could be biased. The conclusion says television doesnt cause reading deficiencies. That makes me more suspicious, though it proves nothing. [A move to interpretation] The claim that reading scores have more to do with socioeconomic factors suggests that the disadvantaged are the only ones with reading problems. Yet thats not the case. Middle- and upper-class students reading deficiencies must be caused by something else. What about reading problems causing heavy television viewing? Sounds odd, but the authorities I consulted agreed that it can happen. How exactly would this happen? Lets see . . . [Now constructing a scenario] Kids have trouble reading in school, grow frustrated, and so are motivated not to pick up a book but to escape. They come home, switch on the television set, and watch the evening away. It makes sense. In cases like this, reading deficiencies probably do cause excessive television viewing. [Now playing devils advocate] But how are those kids any different from the average kid? Dont many good readers watch television just as much? If reading problems dont cause them to be enslaved by the boob tube, maybe they dont always cause poor readers to do so. Is it possible that the study is in error, that television viewing does cause reading problems, after all? What would have to happen in order for television viewing to be the cause? It would have to precede reading deficiencies. Kids would first have to be hooked on television. Let me get a clearer picture of the sequence. [Now another scenario] First, the TV viewing. When, exactly? In early childhood. How? The kid plays while a parent is busy. The parent leaves the television set on as a kind of baby-sitter. The kid watches it, hour after hour, day after day, from age 1 to age 5. By the time the child begins learning to read, at age 6 or so, he or she has already watched thousands of hours of TV . . . . Thats not only plausible, its what actually happens in many cases. TV does exert influence in a childs life much earlier than formal education. [Now an attempt to interpret] What exactly is the influence of television? What happens on television that could affect reading? [Now yet another scenario, this one of a typical television hour, during a soap opera] The hour begins with a cluster of commercials, then for 10 minutes or so moves back and forth among two or three story lines. Then theres another cluster of three or four commercials and perhaps a newsbreak before returning to the several story lines . . . .
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What does all of that translate into? Frequent shifts from scene to scene, frequent commercial breaks, frequent shifts of the viewers attention, no demands on the mind, no difficulties or challengesno wonder reading seems impossibly difficult by comparison.
At this point you will no doubt be inclined to conclude that television viewing is indeed a causative factor in declining reading scores. But before you can be fully confident that this is the correct conclusion, you will have to apply critical thinking and evaluate your thinking. Chapter 10 introduces the critical thinking process.
WARM-UP EXERCISES
9.1 Many performers drop their given names and take stage names that are easy to remember and that project a particular image. Thus, the cinema had Theda Bara (her last name was derived by reversing Arab) and Victor Mature. Wrestling has Hulk Hogan, and music had Prince (until he grew tired of the name). Think of as many creative stage names as you can. The image you aim to project may be macho male, female sex symbol, charming child, or any other you wish. Think of as many creative names as you can for a restaurant. Consider all types of establishments, from the fancy high-priced variety to the lowly coffee shop, as well as all types of cuisines. Most of us complain that we dont have enough closets. Yet we seldom use very efficiently the closet space we already have. Redesign your closet at home (or if you prefer, the one at college) to achieve maximum use of its space. Do before and after sketches of the closet.
9.2
9.3
APPLICATIONS
For each of the following applications, find the best expression of the problem or issue, investigate it as necessary, and then produce as many ideas as you can, applying what you learned in this chapter. (Record all your thoughts as they occur to you, and be prepared to submit them to your instructor.) Finally, state which of your ideas you believe is best, and briefly explain why.
ISBN: 0-558-34171-3
9.1
Youve entered a snow sculpture contest. The most important judging criterion, according to the organizers of the contest, will be creativity. There is no special theme, nor are there any restrictions on size or form.
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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9.2
In Chapter 8, we noted that the problem of having the string slip out of your sweatpants can be expressed in a number of ways, but we did not discuss that problems solution. In some cultures, the elderly are greatly respected and made to feel important. Their views are considered especially valuable because they are formed out of a lifetime of experience. In our culture it is quite different. Most of those over 70 are regarded as having nothing to offer society. Many people, notably students, believe that extracurricular activities in high school complement the curriculum and provide valuable opportunities for personal growth and achievement. Yet many communities are finding the cost of financing todays schools an intolerable burden and are looking for ways to reduce that cost. Some are deciding, reluctantly, that they must cut extracurricular activities (including varsity sports) from the school budget. The American Lung Association is looking for ways to warn teenagers about the dangers of cigarette smoking. Assist the association. Going to the hospital for the first time can be a frightening experience, particularly for small children. Think of as many ways as you can to make the childrens ward of a hospital a nonthreatening, cheery place. Some states still consider adultery a crime and can legally impose monetary fines or prison sentences on anyone convicted of it.
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6
9.7
ISSUE FOR EXTENDED ANALYSIS
Following is a more comprehensive thinking challenge than the others in the chapter. Analyze and respond to it, following the instructions for extended analysis at the end of Chapter 1. Also, review The Basis of Moral Judgment and Dealing with Dilemmas in Chapter 2.
THE ISSUE: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
There is little controversy about the theoretical concept of affirmative action, which refers to any program that aims to achieve racial/ethnic balance in education and in the workplace by actively seeking out minority candidates. The controversy concerns some of the strategies certain programs have employed, notably set asides, quotas, and various forms of preferential treatment. Some people believe such strategies are both necessary and fair; others strongly disagree.
ISBN: 0-558-34171-3
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Issue for Extended Analysis
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THE ESSAYS
Affirmative Action: A Good Thing By Lawrence Bertrand However free of prejudice white people can be, they cannot understand the burden of slaverys legacy. Nor can they perceive how many slights, insults, and deprivations are still inflicted (whether intended or not) on black people. Thus, white people cannot fully appreciate the critical importance of affirmative action to the black community. To their credit, of course, many white people accept the testimony of spokespeople of the black communitynotably Jesse Jackson and Al Sharptonand vigorously support affirmative action. The case for affirmative action rests on two amply supported conclusions: it is necessary and fair. Why necessary? Because there is no other way for significant numbers of black citizens to make up for centuries of discrimination and the denial of educational and employment opportunities. Imagine a marathon race with many participants. Imagine, too, that 90 percent of the runners start at 9:00 A.M. but the remaining 10 percent are held back until 10:00 A.M. No matter how naturally gifted and determined the 10 percent may be, they will have no chance of winning the race. The situation of those handicapped runners is analogous to that of black Americans in school and at work. They have entered the competition for education and employment that the only way for them to have a chance at winning is to have their handicap removed. Present opportunity End Affirmative Action By Kimberly Jones The governments affirmative action program was designed to achieve justice but instead has created a new injustice, not just to the white majority but also, and most significantly, to the black community it was intended to help. Unlike civil rights and voting rights legislation, which is necessary to prevent racial discrimination, affirmative action is unnecessary and unfair. To begin with, it emphasizes peoples race over more important considerations, including the role of effort in achievement, the ideal of merit, and the necessity of being qualified for a level of academic pursuit or a particular job. (Interestingly, the very idea of affirmative action ignores Martin Luther King, Jr.s plea to value the content of a persons character more than the color of his or her skin.) By substituting entitlement for merit, affirmative action also robs black youth of the motivation to achieve and erodes their confidence and sense of self-worth. Many people in the black community accept the notion that white liberal supporters of affirmative action are their friends and conservative critics of the program disrespect them. The truth is exactly the reverse. The real reason white liberals are so committed to affirmative action is one they wont express publicly: they dont think blacks are capable of making it in school or on the job without government assistance.
ISBN: 0-558-34171-3
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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is fine, but it does not restore the education and jobs black people could and should have had. Preferences alone ensure parity. The second conclusion concerns the fairness of affirmative action. Some say it is manifestly u nfair to allow black students to enter college with lower test scores than white students or to set aside a certain number of jobs for black applicants. They are mistaken. Extreme situations demand unusual responses, and no situation is as extreme as a history of slavery and discrimination. Affirmative action is therefore the fairest possible response to the situation of black Americans.
A number of distinguished black authors have recognized these facts and have spoken out strongly against affirmative action. Among those individuals are Ward Connerly, Walter Williams, William Raspberry, Thomas Sowell, and Shelby Steele. For example, in Losing the Race Berkeley professor John McWhorter argues academic underachievement among black students is not caused by lack of opportunity but by liberal conditioning that they are victims who dont have to conform to traditional academic standards. Simply said, affirmative action does more harm than good and should be abolished.
CLASS DISCUSSION
KAREN: Ive heard all the arguments for affirmative action, but the
one fact that stands out to me is that it gives one group of people preferential treatment. I think that is unfair, and Im heartened to know that Martin Luther King, Jr. had the same view.
EMMA: How fair is it to have denied millions of black
Americans the opportunities historically enjoyed by other Americans?
KAREN: It wasnt fair at all but the solution is not to treat other
people unfairly. Doing that merely compounds the problem. The only real solution is to guarantee everyone equal opportunity. That was the original idea behind the Civil Rights movement. Affirmative action is a corruption of that idea.
EMMA: I agree that fairness to everyone is a worthy ideal. But that
doesnt make up for past injustices.
KAREN: It doesnt make up for past injustices because it cant do
sothe vast majority of the people who were treated unjustly are long dead. Giving preferences to their greatgrandchildren in no way removes the injustice to them. It just transfers the injustice to another group and perpetuates it.
ISBN: 0-558-34171-3
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Issue for Extended Analysis
181
EMMA: Not really. Affirmative action is both a powerful symbol of
the nations regret and a spur to black success.
KAREN: Wrong on both counts. The symbol is an empty exercise in
assuaging white guilt. And affirmative action doesnt spur black successit creates a false sense of entitlement that hinders success. Jones cited a number of black authors who take that view.
EMMA: Those authors are traitors to their race. KAREN: Its offensive for you, a white woman, to make such a
judgment.
ISBN: 0-558-34171-3 The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Ninth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Longman. Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.