Ross, you asked about the notion of "Observer-That-One-Is."
You and I are able to see different things when we look at a situation.
Our view is based upon our unique beliefs, emotions, experiences, mental
models, assumptions, etc. which are so natural and transparent to us. Not
only do we often fail to explain them to someone, but we are often not
even aware of them ourselves.
The observers-that-we-are influence our reasoning up and down the ladder
of abstraction, and each step in our reasoning tends to confirm the
observers-that-we-are.
Humans have a capacity to construct and reinforce internal coherence. We
select a particular fact and then that fact seems right to us. We make an
inference based upon the way we look at things, and then the inference
seems right to use and confirms to us that we really are thinking about
things in the right way. We make a judgment and consequent decision, and
it all feels right to us and convinces us that we are observing it
correctly.
The combination of the reasoning steps and the observer-that-one-is can be
called the cycle of reasoning It operates at tremendous speed, almost
without thinking.
That's what I'll say for now. Does this shed any light?
Best,
Barry
-- Barry Mallis, Manager - Training and Development MARKEM Corporation www.markem.com | email: bmallis@markem.com voice: 603 357-4255 ext. 2578 | FAX: 603 352-0525Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>