The Process of Knowing

Image taken from this website A Modern Example

It was a Friday night, and Charles was at the U High Football game where SLUH would beat DeSmet in the last 19 seconds. While walking among the crowds of cheering fans, blue stuco leaders, and large band members playing brass instruments and the xylophone, Charles perceived a pretty girl walking down the track in a bright green Nerinx Hall t-shirt.

Charles thought that this girl was a total babe, but was turned off by the fact that she went to Nerinx. He had been to a couple boring dances with Nerinx girls, where he found himself struggling to enjoy himself. The girls were not very talkative and Charles found himself sitting by the punch bowl instead of dancing most of the night. Any time he tried to ask his date to dance, she would run off to the girls� bathroom. As this foxy girl approached, Charles already categorized her as the same way as the other girls were: boring, mean, and a little anti-social.

But, Charles noticed she was smiling at him as she came closer. He began to evaluate his preconceived notions that all Nerinx girls act a certain way. This girl was approaching him with confidence and looked ready to greet him. Charles thought of classmates discussing how boring it is to hang out with Nerinx girls and are not even worth meeting, but Charles thought she might be different.

So, Charles thought of ways to symbolize his thoughts. He considered using the latest cheesy pick-up line he last heard, �Am I dead, Angel? Cause this must be heaven.� But, Charles thought it better to use the direct approach.

As she finally came up close, Charlie decided to test his beliefs. Greeting her with the usual, �My name Charlie, how are you?� The girl turned out to be turned out to nothing like his preconceived notions about Nerinx girls, and spent the rest of the night hanging out with her.

Image taken from this website

Important Aspects

1. Perceiving-taking data from the senses

subject-doing the perceiving (Charles)
object-that which is perceived (girl)
objective truth- that which is real (girl exists)
selective consciousness- only taking in fraction of data (what Charles is doing
protective disinterest- that which our conscious minds shut out (band, stuco members, fans)

2. Categorizing-classifying data into abstract categories

stereotype-overly broad incorrect categorizations (Nerinx girls are mean, boring, etc)
prejudice-prejudging a person on stereotypes (what Charles did)

3. Evaluating-deciding which is trivial and which is important

herd need-what happens when we let others do our thinking and evaluating for us (what could of happened when Charles thought about his classmates speaking)

4. Symbolizing-how we express our thoughts (what Charles said)

denotation- literal meaning
connotation- additional meanings to denotations

5. Testing-trying to see if our beliefs are wrong (Charles talking to girl)

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