Acknowledging the possibily, power, and paradox of paradigm shifts, even at this state in life
I am in my mid-forties, about to hit the 45th birthday in 2 days, and I find I am experiencing noticeable shifts in my personal paradigm. One might have thought that by my age a worldview would be well and truly established. Yes. And no. You see, I like to be open, open-minded, open-hearted. With openness comes space for change. (And sometimes pain, yes.)
One instance that really paused me in my mental tracks and caused me reflect on what I think I know, how I learned what I think I know, and what may be inherently flawed about my perception and understanding occurred this morning shifting to afternoon (all these transition spaces, when I look I see them abound) as I made lunch and listened to the Kitchen Sister's podcast.
The episode heard was "The Dark Side of the Dewey Decimal System" http://www.kitchensisters.org/2019/01/22/the-dark-side-of-the-dewey-decimal-system-keeperoftheday/
At the outset of the epidode, upon reading the title actually, I thought: "The dark side of the dewey decimal system? As if. It is just an extremely effective means of cateloging knowledge, how could it have 'a dark side."If you are thinking to yourself, 'that does not sound so open-minded Brooke," then you are correct. Aspiration and moment by moment state of mind do not always coincide.
Nonetheless I listened to the episode. I am a lover of books, knowledge, language. I am also an avid sorter and organizer. I have always preferred Dewey decimal over Library of Congress as a library system. Why? Well if you had asked me before I listened to the podcast, I would say, "because Dewey is straightforward, consistent, and clear." What I might not have said, but secretly acknowledged is "because I am familiar with the system, I recognize the categories, I can effeiciently use it to find content." or so I thought.
As I listened to the podcast, well-crafted and worth a listen, I realized, there is more to the Dewey decimal system than meets the eye on a cursory inspection, let alone more to the person. I will not spoil the episode, listen to it yourself.
I will say that my mind has been opened, I acknowledge the Dewey decimal system has inherent and deeply problematic flaws, and that inherent bias blinded me to those biases. Even as a questioner or authority and preconceived notions I never thought to turn my critical and contemplative eye onto the Dewey decimal system. In so doing I have been ignorant and neglectful and downright oblivious.
Now that I do know more, I recognize the look at how I learn, what I take to be simple is complex, and that my paradigm needed a shift.
I plan on sharing the podcast episode in my college classes when we explore Worldview, and I get them to grapple with epistemology, praxeology, axiology, and all the ways in which we understand the world.
One instance that really paused me in my mental tracks and caused me reflect on what I think I know, how I learned what I think I know, and what may be inherently flawed about my perception and understanding occurred this morning shifting to afternoon (all these transition spaces, when I look I see them abound) as I made lunch and listened to the Kitchen Sister's podcast.
The episode heard was "The Dark Side of the Dewey Decimal System" http://www.kitchensisters.org/2019/01/22/the-dark-side-of-the-dewey-decimal-system-keeperoftheday/
At the outset of the epidode, upon reading the title actually, I thought: "The dark side of the dewey decimal system? As if. It is just an extremely effective means of cateloging knowledge, how could it have 'a dark side."If you are thinking to yourself, 'that does not sound so open-minded Brooke," then you are correct. Aspiration and moment by moment state of mind do not always coincide.
Nonetheless I listened to the episode. I am a lover of books, knowledge, language. I am also an avid sorter and organizer. I have always preferred Dewey decimal over Library of Congress as a library system. Why? Well if you had asked me before I listened to the podcast, I would say, "because Dewey is straightforward, consistent, and clear." What I might not have said, but secretly acknowledged is "because I am familiar with the system, I recognize the categories, I can effeiciently use it to find content." or so I thought.
As I listened to the podcast, well-crafted and worth a listen, I realized, there is more to the Dewey decimal system than meets the eye on a cursory inspection, let alone more to the person. I will not spoil the episode, listen to it yourself.
I will say that my mind has been opened, I acknowledge the Dewey decimal system has inherent and deeply problematic flaws, and that inherent bias blinded me to those biases. Even as a questioner or authority and preconceived notions I never thought to turn my critical and contemplative eye onto the Dewey decimal system. In so doing I have been ignorant and neglectful and downright oblivious.
Now that I do know more, I recognize the look at how I learn, what I take to be simple is complex, and that my paradigm needed a shift.
I plan on sharing the podcast episode in my college classes when we explore Worldview, and I get them to grapple with epistemology, praxeology, axiology, and all the ways in which we understand the world.
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