Assignment #8 for the Departments of English & Media Studies by Prof Dr Sohail Ansari

Assignment: Learn to think why to think about.

You start to exist when you think about with thinking why you think about?

TOOLS OF THINKING

Dale L. June writes in ‘TOOLS OF THINKING’: Everyone Thinks! Or Thinks They can Think! But are they using all their tools? PROBABLY NOT!! Why Do We Think?

·         To Gain Knowledge

·         To Be Creative

·         To Make Decisions

·         To Understand Consequences of Decisions

·         To Understand Others

People think that they can think but they think without thinking why they think, therefore, not positioned to derive intellectual mileage as only thinking informed by ‘WHY’ opens one to understanding knowledge and creativity.

Activity for activity sake is end in itself, thus meaningless in a sense it has no end.  Meaning does not come out of nowhere: Knowing ‘WHY’ gives meaning to an activity; for example, reading without knowing the purpose of or reasons for reading is reading that ends up achieving nothing; thus people think that they have read but as they have read without thinking WHY they have read they have not read in the real sense of meaning.

However Understanding of Dale L. June does not extend to thinking that itself is wrong in a sense that a topic for consideration is given for consideration not chosen by choice. McCombs and Shaw are right to say “The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about.”

Why we read a book? Is different from Why we read a particular book? The concern of  Dale L. June  applies to why we read a book as he rightly believes that reading without knowing what one intends to achieve is no reading. The concern of Dale L. June, however, does not apply to the choice of a book.

 ‘WHY’ of Dale L. June does not deal with the question or the purpose of selecting an issue or a topic but with the question WHY Do We Think? Or what is the purpose of thinking over it? Or what tools should be used for thinking over something.

Our ‘WHY’ concerns with the choice: why we have selected this issue?

 ‘WHY’ of Dale L. June is not concerned with the choice but with the purpose of thinking.

 ‘WHY’ of Dale L. June is concerned with the how to play; therefore he tells the ways to be maximally benefited by an activity.

We assert that media may not be successful in telling how to play but can be stunningly successful in telling people what to play: People are subtly nudged to certain games as being exposed only to them; therefore we are concerned with the choice of games.

We are concerned ‘WHY THIS’ and Dale L. June is concerned with ‘HOW TO DO THIS’

As we are concerned ‘WHY THIS’ we have to be concerned with a question: ‘How to deal with a influence the mass media exerts on what we consider to be the major issues of life’.

This dealing begins with the realization that a limited repertoire of messages is ratcheted up and down so that recipients can never know that selected themes straddle all transmission and broadcast.

We are not concerned with the filtered truth media reflect as reality nor with a context-sensitive explanation for attitudinal outcomes that are not due to differences in what is being communicated, but rather to variations in how a given piece of information is being framed in public discourse.

We are concerned not what is being communicated but what is being selected for communication not with how it is being framed to produce  reference dependent perception but how  it is being chosen for framing to predetermine thinking; in short,  not how a piece of information is presented but why it is  selected for an emphasis.

 The media effect particularly pronounced for ambiguous stimuli is irrelevant to our consideration; therefore, so the discussion of complete suppression of it in conscious perception. We are not concerned with exploring the relationship between ideas and symbols used in public discourse or with idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events as frames are irrelevant to our concern: WHY these issues. We are concerned with themes emerging in public discourse as an outcome of media ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda. We are, therefore, focused on a focus that is orientated to themes for a focus.

The media is as much successful in telling its readers what to think about as it is successful in stopping people to think why to think about.

Exercise:

This exercise is an attempt to re-direct a focus to learn to think why to think about so that one can know what to think about.

Think about issues media does not want you to think about. Think why media does not want you to think about them?

 You think about issue media want to think about; now think why media want you to think about them?  

You think about issue media want to think about; think about the relevance and importance of these issues to your life?

You think about issue media want to think about; think how justifiable is the importances media place on them? Or do they warrant that much attention?