Critical Thinking for Seers

Passed 2/11/16

Thanks to Drum for Reviewing!

Critical Thinking for Seers

Laura Fuller (Snow)

2.1 Discuss the effect of bias on thought and moral reasoning. (Minimum 100 words)

Bias is defined by Merriam-Webster as ‘a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgement; prejudice’ (Merriam-Webster).  One of the important aspects of bias is that it is unreasoned.  It is not based in logic; rather it is drawn from experience or taught to us.  Frequently, we are unaware of how deep our biases go and just how much they impact our decision making, much less our thoughts and moral reasoning. 

However, being unaware is not an excuse to let biases dictate our behavior, nor should we want to let them direct how we act and proceed through life.  Unfortunately, research shows that the majority of humans make their decisions based on belief rather than logic, and that the less time we have to make a thoughtful and thought out decision, the stronger this holds true (Howarth).

In those instances when we do not have time to come to a thoughtful and reasoned decision, bias gives us the instant, thoughtless answer to fall back on.  Evolutionarily speaking, there are times when it is critical that we are able to make a split second decision.  This is the basis for the fight or flight response and for the subconscious grouping of peoples into ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Wesson).  However in today’s society, this thoughtlessness can take forms that are hurtful and can impede our growth as humans by impacting our moral reasoning.

While each of us have to struggle to discern our own moral code on some level, true discernment doesn’t come from a snap decision based on evolutionary instinct to flee danger.  It comes from evaluating a situation and making the best possible choice.  Therefore, while we human animals can never be free of bias, it is important that we master self-knowledge so that we recognize it and do not let it interfere with our thoughts or ground our morality in something better left in the dark ages.

2.2 Define and briefly discuss the importance of critical thinking as it relates to being a Seer within ADF. (Minimum 100 words)

Critical thinking is defined as ‘disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence’ (Dictionary.com).  I feel that this is both an accurate and complete definition.  To me, clear and rational both imply that the thinking is logical.  The definition also calls for the thinking to be grounded in evidence.  I think this relates both to its logical structures, but also specifically in an ADF context, that it finds that balance between the lore and archeology and the leaps of fancy we occasionally take with Personal Gnosis.  Lastly, this definition includes that it is open-minded.  To me, this relates to being free (or as free as a human can be) from bias.  Being able to examine our work, whether archeological sources or dreams and omens, is imperative to being able to analyze what we do as seers.  As discussed in the question above, unrecognized bias causes not only errors in our interpretation, but also causes us to overlook possibilities entirely.

There are several ways that critical thinking is important to a seer in ADF.  First and foremost is the issue of interpreting omens, especially during a ritual.  There have been many times I’ve been in a group ritual and seen the seer struggle to find some way to make the omen a positive one.  In fact, there are times I’ve done it myself.  And while I do feel that all of the runes have an internal balance of bringing pain or plenty, sometimes the omen really is one that says more work is needed.  Being able to look critically at the omens we take and present to the people is I think the most important aspect of critical thinking.

Another aspect is knowing what questions to ask and how to ask them.  As I’ve been working through the section of Divination 2 that asks me to provide readings for others, it’s been blatantly obvious that people in general don’t know how to properly ask a question of the runes (and by extension all the other ways we practice divination in ADF).  Being able to frame our questions in such a way that the Kindreds can speak to us through our tools and gifts is the difference between being able to provide the service of answers to the people and not.

Lastly, being able to think critically is important for a seer to be able to discern the meanings of the messages we get.  If we cannot be critical and logical in our readings, it can be difficult to correctly interpret them for ourselves, our groves, and those who come to us for help.

Works Cited

Dictionary.com. Critical Thinking. n.d. Random House. website. 10 February 2016. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical-thinking>>.

Howarth, Stephanie, Simon J. Handley, Clare Walsh. "The logic-bias effect: The role of effortful processing in the resolution of belief–logic conflict." Memory and Cognition (2015): 1-20. Online Journal. 5 February 2016.

Merriam-Webster. Bias. n.d. Website. 5 February 2016. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bias>.

Wesson, Kenneth. Neuropsychology and Prejudice: How Stereotypes of Race and Class Get Inside Us, and How We Can Escape Them. 2006. website. 5 February 2016. <http://www.nais.org/Magazines-Newsletters/ISMagazine/Pages/Neuropsychology-and-Prejudice.aspx>.