Beyond Feelings,中文译作《超越感觉》,是讲独立思考(critical thinking,也译作批判性思维)的很重要的一本书,大学的教材,里面语言的风格很好:论述通俗易懂,案例经典精彩。
以下是我做的两节的笔记。
章节名 basic activities in critical thinking
The basic activities in critical thinking are investigation, interpretation, and judgment, in that order.
独立思考要做的三件事(必须按顺序)
Investigation: finding evidence to answer key questions about that issue
调查Interpretation: deciding what the evidence means
解释说明Judgment: reaching a conclusion of that issue and meeting the test of logic
判断 看法
As we noted previously, irresponsible thinkers first choose their conclusions and then seek out evidence to justify their choices.
讲独立思考的顺序的重要性,没有独立思考的人就会凭本能想到一个结论,然后就给自己找理由合理化这个结论
The crucial thing is not to let hunches and hypotheses manipulate our thinking and dictate our conclusion in advance.
当然这样的事情也在所难免,而且在开始的时候有用。我们只要不让直觉和假设操纵我们的思考,让我们预先就设立一个结论,就好了。
章节名 critical thinking and writing
章节名叫独立思考和写作。这段讲写作有什么好处,挺有趣有用的。怎么说的呢?
Writing may be used for either of two broad purposes: do discover ideas or to communicate them. Most of the writing you have done in school is undoubtedly the latter kind. But the former can be very helpful, not only in sorting out ideas you’ve already produced, but also in stimulating the flow of new ideas. For some reason, the very act of writing down one idea seems to generate additional ideas.
写作有两个目的,发现自己的想法和表达出来自己的想法。一般都是后者。但前者更有用。不仅可以记录下来脑子里现在想到的事情,写下来这件事情本身就会激发出新的想法。
Whenever you write to discover ideas, focus on the issue you are examining and record all your thoughts, questions, and assertions. Don’t worry about organization or correctness. If ideas come slowly, be patient. If they come suddenly, in a rush, don’t try to slow down the process and develop any one of them; simply jot them all down. (there will be time for elaboration and correction later.) Direct your mind’s effort, but be sensitive to ideas on the fringe of consciousness. Often they, too, will probe valuable.
当目的是发现自己的想法时,关于草草的记录还是精细记录加工?想法来的时候,跟着它的节奏,想法来的又多又快,就草草地快速记下,不用管逻辑、句子是否完整,不要停下来为了某一点去展开,后面有时间再说。想法很模糊很抓不住的时候,也别逼自己,慢慢来,记下多少算多少。
If you have done your discovery writing very well and have thought critically about the ideas you have produced, the task of writing to communicate will be easier and more enjoyable. You will have many more ideas – carefully evaluated ones – to develop and organize.
经过了“发现式的写作”(写作目的是发现自己的想法),对于沟通式的写作(目的是表达自己的想法,跟别人用语言沟通)大有好处,会觉得更容易、更享受。