EXERCISE 3

Thinking about thinking

PURPOSE

This exercise helps you to systematically reflect and expand your thinking about an axiom that you might hold as part of your view of the way the world works or should work. An axiom is a statement that one regards as self-evidently true.

TASK

Identify an axiom from your personal view of the world related to your professional or private life. For example:

 

  • «The goal of a business is to make money.»

  • «The most important thing in life is to be happy.»

Think about your axiom in logical thinking mode.

Ask yourself:

• What makes your axiom true?

  • Is the negation of your axiom obviously false?
  • Why is it that the axiom cannot sometimes be both true and false at the same time?
  • If the axiom was false, what would the consequences be?

    Now think about your axiom using the four modes of dialectical thinking. Ask yourself the following in:

    • Structural Mode: Might the truth of the axiom depend on the context?

    • Process Mode: Might the truth of the axiom change from time to time?

    • Relational Mode: Might the truth of the axiom depend on the meaning of specific ideas and how these relate to each other. (For example, if your axiom is that the most important thing in life is to be happy, what does the word “happy” mean to you?)

    • Transformational Mode: How might you develop the axiom into a more complex and complete statement about the world, given the answers you gave in the structural, process, and relational modes?

      Invite a dialogue partner to say what they think about the axiom and what it means to them. Ask yourself:

      • Does your partner share your view of the truth of the axiom?

      • In what ways does your partner interpret the axiom differently to you?
      • What are the areas of common ground between you and your partner in your understanding of the axiom?

        Now move into Metathinking mode. Ask yourself:

        • How has this process transformed your view of the initial axiom?

        • Is it possible for you to hold different perspectives of the axiom simultaneously?

        • Can the axiom be both true and not true, depending on your perspective?

        • What has been helpful in examining one of your axioms in this way?

        INTERESTED IN OTHER EXERCISES?

        EXERCISE 1
        EXERCISE 2