Don't Expect to Be Spoon-Fed

Over the three months since our first episode dropped, we've received many positive responses, replies, and reactions to what we've done, Not just little emails or texts, but serious, lengthy comments, paragraphs containing validating phrases such as strong intellectual DNA, worthwhile theme, the host has credibility, both academic and professional, and leaves me thinking well after the podcast is over.

Let me tell you, after spending a lifetime, and I've entered my eighth decade on this planet, a lifetime trying to build my own critical thinking, and that of thousands of others in the classrooms, both in public school and at the graduate level, these comments are extremely gratifying. but it's not enough because while these strongly validate what we're doing here's one worth its weight in gold in a different way said the listener great description of 10 critical thinking methods which you can find that episode one but where are the how-to instructions what should the next step be for managers parents and others who are helping to shape the minds of yet another generation.

What's the how-to?

And that's precisely one of the main points here. Were I to comply and answer those questions, I'd be sabotaging the push towards critical thinking, independent critical thinking in the first place.

It's like the guy who says to his boss, say you want some creative thinking around here, what are the guidelines?

Sorry, no.

So don't expect to be spoon-fed because then you wouldn't be thinking independently or constructively.

I will, however, lean heavily on what we know as effective human learning mechanisms, and I will push to use the widest variety of them as possible.

For instance, human beings learn through stories, and we're the only species that does.

It's how we grew up.

Mommy and Daddy read us books. They sat us on their laps. They read us stories. And later, we did that by ourselves.

In that light, I've already told a very poignant story about Nicholas Copernicus in episode five, and another very good one about Sandy Koufax last week in episode nine.

Yes, that's Sandy Koufax.

Now then, I think I should share a few things that I've learned with you, and here's what I've learned so far by launching this podcast. One, the world has no shortage of podcasts and certainly doesn't need just another voice in an already crowded room. And that's just it. I wasn't trying to create just another podcast. Instead, I wanted to create a place where challenging, even difficult questions could be explored without ideological slogans, where curiosity mattered more than certainty, and where people left each episode thinking a little different than when they arrived.

Listener response told us We did that and are doing that Two The valuable lessons we learn Come in many different packages Stories, experiences, mistakes Independent thought, parallel thinking Puzzles, paradoxes See Exit Episode 6 And the ever-critical what-if question, and so on. That's why the episodes take so many different shapes. We just have to recognize them as such.

Three, we've gotten some very encouraging data analytics telling us who and how many people are listening to our podcast. but the real measure of success is not in the data. It's in my inbox.

Almost immediately after launch, listeners began sending thoughtful messages, not quick compliments, but long emails describing how an episode had challenged an assumption, changed the way they approached a difficult decision, or helped them rethink a career transition. position.

Some agreed with my conclusions, others expanded on ideas that had only been briefly mentioned during the conversations, but nearly all of them had one thing in common.

They had continued thinking long after the episode ended, and that was always the objective.

Critical thinking is all about the future, but many of its lessons are found in the past.

For instance, we easily yield to inertia, what we already know, better known as your comfort zone.

Not one step of progress of humans on this planet has ever been made within anyone's comfort zone.

As the old saying goes, behold the turtle who goes nowhere until it sticks its neck out.

Case in point, and a great case study.

It took roughly a thousand years to emerge from the Dark Ages into what we know as the Renaissance in the 15th century.

The good news is that a chap in Ireland, whom we now know as St. Patrick, saw the Dark Ages coming and did something absolutely monumental about it a millennium ahead of time.

I refer you to Thomas Cahill's fabulous book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, for this great story told by an even greater storyteller. I wasn't going to tell you anything about the story, but I decided against that and to give you just a little teaser. But in the 4th century and into the 5th century, history, Patrick saw the decline of any kind of enlightenment and saw all history and culture endangered. He recruited hundreds of monks and got them together to transcribe and copy every book or record that had ever been kept and store them away for posterity's sake.

Good thing he did.

Read Cahill's book.

Here's the point. Patrick and others did not ask what the aforementioned listener asked about what are the how-tos.

Using one or more of the 10 most well-known critical thinking techniques and approaches. They solved the problem and took advantage of the opportunity.

Now, you can find those 10 in my first episode of Vantage Point.

The critical decline of critical thinking.

And if you'd like to find it easily enough, please go to www.eliamdur.com, E-L -I-A -M-D -U-R.com. And while you're there, please check out and support our generous sponsors to whom we are grateful.

With these lessons learned, our mission proceeds.

And that's the story for today.

Got some aphorisms coming up. Got some what-ifs coming up. Got some great minds to share with you coming up. But right now, we'd like to take a break and highlight one of our generous sponsors. Be right back. That question, how do you actually do it, gets answered every day about 10 miles from where I sit. Here's a word from our sponsor, Bergen Volunteers. Vantage Point is brought to you by Bergen Volunteers. Since 1966, they have been quietly at work in Bergen County, neighbors helping neighbors across 70 towns.

They mentor kids who need someone in their corner, and they help seniors stay independent at home. And through Bergen Leads, they have trained hundreds of people to lead in their own communities.

Nobody there waits for the perfect plan. They see what a town needs, and they go and do it. They call that critical thinking with the sleeves rolled up, and that is exactly right. To everyone at Bergen Volunteers, thank you for supporting this show, and thank you for the work you do. And you can learn more about them at bergenvolunteers.org.

We're back. I'm back. Everybody's back.

I'd like to share some aphorisms with you and remind you that these are my thoughts these are aphorisms that I've put together after 57 years of a career in learning what life and work is all about I'm not going to defend them, I'm an aphorist, I'm convinced I'm right take them or leave them, but this is the way I see the world aphorism number one today when you're driving the herd it's a good idea once in a while to look over your shoulder to see if the herd is still there aphorism number two never interrupt your competitor or enemy when he's making a mistake stake number three begins with a question there are six frogs on the log five decide to jump off how many frogs are left on the log one no six they're still all there because deciding to do something and actually doing it are two different things altogether when you're making decisions about action.

Remember the six frogs on a log.

I want to offer a thought from a great mind, one of the great minds in American history and writing, Oliver Wendell Holmes, senior, who said a mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension that's what you call getting out of your comfort zone and loving it and I'm going to finish up today's episode with a very big thought about one of the biggest events in world history And that event is the Columbian Exchange.

That event is what has happened ever since Columbus journeyed across the Atlantic and came upon the New World.

There's a lot of skeptical writing about Columbus that he didn't really take the route that he said he took.

Some say that he didn't even take the journey, that he made it up.

Some say he copied ideas from Marco Polo.

But it's pretty much established that he did do all this.

Now we get into the difficulty of dealing with colonialism, But under it all, the Columbian exchange, those things that went back and forth because Columbus came here, cannot be denied or minimized.

As a result of the Columbian Exchange, the potato, tobacco, and chocolate showed up in Europe, each with enormous value.

Chocolate, for instance, was valued at a level greater than gold.

Kings and queens hoarded it tobacco instantly addicted Europeans and changed lives and the potato one of the staples of the world with 50 some odd varieties grown in Peru alone the way we eat the way we recreate, the way we garnish, all because of the Colombian exchange. What came this way? What came from Europe? The horse, which gave tremendous edge in warfare. steel, another advantage, guns, complete superiority, and germs.

It's pretty well documented that many people in South America, and the islands in the Caribbean were first infected with the germs that the Europeans brought over. And when they were weakened, they were conquered by the Europeans yielding their power through guns.

And finally, and bigger than all, what the Europeans brought here was Christianity.

Do a little research on your own and look at the art of South America and Mexico in the 1600s, the 1700s, the 1800s and forward. And the dramatic transition that took place Once Christianity took hold of the dominance of these countries, of two continents, what if Columbus didn't facilitate these exchanges?

What if he came here, showed up, conquered a few indigenous people, and then went home and retired?

Columbus is not just important because he, quote, unquote, discovered America. He did not discover it. The indigenous people were living here for thousands of years.

He's important because he facilitated, and those who followed him facilitated, the exchange of things not only that influenced lifestyle, like tobacco and chocolate.

He changed economies. He changed life.

So the what is, very simple. What if he didn't do it? What if he actually veered on his three trips looking for India, which is what he thought he found, and never showed up here on this continent to begin with?

I'm not going to answer those. us think about it.

And while you're doing that, please accept my thanks for being with us again.

Enjoyed talking to you.

Coming up in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to talk to you about two of the most important people of the entire 20th century, both in the field of medical science I'm going to talk to you about I'm going to tell you a story that I've told many times called Ascending Everest the story of conquering Mount Everest and next week I'm going to tell you a great story that didn't occur current in Everest, but occurred right here in New Jersey.

It's called the power of the positive word.

So a lot of good stuff coming up. Thanks again for being with us. I'm Eli Amder. Talk to you next time. Until then, keep questioning, keep learning, and keep thinking critically.