Global Product Reviews: Critical Thinking Using Music Metaphor

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Critical Thinking Using Music Metaphor

Music is an interesting metaphor for critical thinking. Ask yourself: Do you think in mono, stereo, quadraphonic, or in surround sound? What mental images do you get when you contemplate "mono thinking?" "Mon": "...one, single, alone, unidirectional..."

Mono thinking can be visualized as moving in linear fashion as in "problem-solution," "question-answer," "stimulus-reaction," or "right-wrong." Mono thinking is quick and easy, but it lacks depth and breadth (or richness for the sake of this analogy).

When we mono think, we rely primarily on memory and recall--what we already know. From this meager base, we try to make sense of the world, and in such an information void, our sound output will be distorted by uncritical tastes, biases, beliefs, values, prejudices, and emotions. Mono thinking is simplistic, straight line, and devoid of tonality--it is not the preferred thinking style of people who want to get the most out of their mental sound system.

Turn on the Stereo

What about stereo? Contrary to popular definition, stereo does not mean "two," it actually means "solid" and connotes three-dimensions:

if visual: width, height, and depth (3 qualities)
if sound: direction plus separation into right & left channels (again, 3 qualities)

Stereo thinking can be visualized as involving the memory/recall of mono thinking, but adding in:

superficial analysis
some questioning
judgment
evaluation

Stereo thinking is better, but still relatively unsophisticated.

What about Quadraphonic?Quad, of course, means "four" directions: front, back, and both sides. The thinking equivalents would utilize all of the components of mono and stereo, but would add:

detailed analysis
sound reasoning
comprehensive questioning
problem definition
research
inferences
some anticipation of outcomes and consequences
synthesizing

Quad thinking isn't too bad, but there are significant tracks missing that will leave out the subtle "highs" and "lows."

Let's Hear it for Surround Sound!

Now we're thinking critically.

Surround sound adds the final dimension by meshing front, sides, and back, with the sense of up and down as well: being literally surrounded by sound--or in the case of our metaphor--surrounded by all the parts and stages of effective thinking. So, add in these instruments: