Pat Boyle

Junior Faith 06

October 11, 2006

Reason Journal

            This section in theology was unlike any previous theology class.  The section dealt with knowledge and reasoning, but within these topics lie a great deal of psychology, as well as theology.  The section showed that there really is a lot more to knowledge and thinking than I previously thought.  It outlined different types of knowledge, one of which was the main topic, reasoning.  It also stated common thinking errors, steps to critical thinking, and a process of reasoning.  The overall message of the section, which was clearly represented in What the Bleep do we Know? Is that we as humans have a natural instinct to only see what we want to see, and know what we want to know.  This is part of our human condition, and connects with the previous idea that we are still “in the cave.”  This section taught that there really are ways to go beyond our everyday knowledge, one of which is using the process of reasoning.

            There was a lot of information in this section, but it was easier for me to follow, since it wasn’t like previous theology.  The first ideas that I want to remember from this section, which are similar, are the process of reasoning and the five steps of critical thinking.  I realized that with a small change (following these steps) I can become more thoughtful and intellectually competent.  Next, I want to remember the five common thinking errors.  We constantly witness all of these in the news and media each day, but before I learned these errors, I wasn’t always aware that they were in fact errors of thought.  The final thing that I want to take away from this section is the central message of What the Bleep do we Know?  The day after we finished the film, I saw on an old grade school friend’s facebook profile that this was listed among his favorite movies.  Even though we aren’t really friends anymore, I respect him a lot, and he is very spiritual in his own unique way.  We talked about the movie, and he had nothing but good things to say about it.  He made me realize that while the movie itself might have been a little bit weird, the message of it is very enlightening, bringing a whole new perspective to the way we think.

       http://www.hayatnafs.com/marhaba/visual%20illusions-1.jpg

            One question that I have after having read and studied this question is related to the inserted image.  If we use reasoning, the five steps of thinking, or in this case, simply look hard enough, can we really change our perception and the way we see things?  The simple answer to this question is no, because the idea of telekinesis is pretty absurd.  But if you look at it not as telekinesis, rather just a deeper all around understanding, the answer gets shady. 

            To try to be a better person from this section, I want to consciously reason using the process that we learned, and be able to think critically in everyday situations, using the five steps.