Finding Reality
Four Ways of Knowing
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Foreword
In times of uncertainty, answers have a very short shelf-life, but a good question can last a lifetime.
When I began working with chaos theory and complexity science in the late 1980s, I was looking for guidance in an unpredictable business environment. A bright friend asked, “If a science doesn’t help you predict and control the future, then why would you study it?” I mumbled something about unpredictable futures being much more interesting that predictable ones. Since then, wise action in uncertainty has become more than just interesting. It is urgent. Economic, weather, social, and political climates have become so unstable that we expect surprise in all parts of our private and public lives. In many facets of decision making and action taking, the lessons of chaos have proven to be practical guides to success in an uncertain future.
Chief among the lessons of complexity is the power of inquiry.
As thinking, responsible human beings, we use our memories and imaginations and in-the-moment perceptions to collect data, make meaning, and take action. It is just what humans do. When change is slow and predictable, our assumptions give us answers, and reality confirms our beliefs. When change is fast and unpredictable, assumptions can lead us astray. Only questions give us the power to see, understand, and influence change that is radically unpredictable. Inquiry becomes the primary survival strategy in times of chaos and uncertainty.
In chaotic environments we cannot predict what will happen, so we have to ask. Boundaries are shifting, so we ask about the range of influence. Unknowable factors influence the path of change, so we ask about what differences make a difference. Relationships are complicated and transient, so we ask what networks need to be created or destroyed. It is impossible to know what will happen with any degree of certainty, so we stand in inquiry and prepare to adapt.
Ed Olson has provided here a map to guide inquiry for personal growth and development in uncertain times. The models and methods he shares inspire wise individual action and collaborative efforts. He presents tools for thought and action to support us all as we ask: What do I know and how do I know it? So what choices do I create for myself and others? Now what will I do to fulfill my personal purpose?
Drawing from a wide range of human systems dynamics, scientific, psychological, philosophical, and religious sources, Ed builds a map that is both practical and inspiring. The stories he shares bring the ways of knowing to life. The reflective questions and assessments connect the ways of knowing to personal choices and decision making. The frames he builds inform Adaptive Action and support the emerging patterns of thought, relationship, and action.
Ed’s map is a powerful guide, but it is not an answer. Like any useful tool in an emergent reality, it is a source of ever more stimulating questions. As I read it, I was inspired by questions that can last a lifetime, even while I know that today’s answers will be obsolete tomorrow. I expect that others will find here confirmation of their experience and inspiration to inquire into a future they can create.
Glenda H. Eoyang, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Human Systems Dynamics Institute
Preface
Why Read This Book?
Few people think about how they know things. The “obvious” is not always true. But how do we know? How do we find out the reality about what matters most to us? How do we know what actions to take?
Much of the time we are under great pressure to find simple answers to complex issues. We are asked to choose – Democrat or Republican, pro-life or pro-choice, union or right-to-work, etc. The way the issues are framed and the words and metaphors chosen on each side of the argument are designed to structure our reality (Dowd, 2008). Talk radio show hosts often favor one way of thinking or acting without considering and often ridiculing any other possibilities.
We all have our preferred ways of knowing things. This is fine, unless we become locked into only one way to view reality. The truth that emerges from multiple ways of knowing helps us to be more resilient, see meaning in seemingly unrelated events, and gain a greater measure of certainty about our purpose, serving our own interests and those of humanity and the planet.
This book is a guide for creative inquiry into perplexing problems and important issues. By accessing four ways of knowing, the reader can overcome one-sided thinking about knowing reality and what is the truth.
Who Should Read This Book?
The concepts, methods, and models in this book should be useful to four groups of potential readers:
1. Persons who want to expand their worldview will profit from a deeper understanding and application of the four ways of knowing.
2. Students and book discussion groups can use the Model to broaden their perspective about the topics they are studying.
3. Teams and groups faced with complex issues will find the Model a helpful problem-solving and decision-making tool for both unpacking their own thinking and discerning how others view the issues.
4. Anyone who wishes to explore hidden aspects of significant religious, philosophical, ethical, organization, and global issues
How the Book is Organized
Self-Assessment: Readers are encouraged to complete the self-assessment at the end of this Introduction as an approximate guide to their preferred ways of knowing before proceeding. Suggestions for interpreting the self-assessment are in Chapter 3.
Chapter 1 WHAT We Know. There are two dimensions of knowing: (1) Our PERCEPTION abilities of Intuition and Sensing and (2) Our capacity to make MEANING of what we have personally Experienced or what has been Ascribed by others. A story about mining for gold (an analogy to searching for reality) is used to illustrate how both dimensions, when combined, yield four ways (modes) of knowing.
Chapter 2 HOW We Know. The four ways (modes) of knowing are described using the Apollo 13 Mission as an example. (1) Insight is the experienced meaning an individual has, based on their intuition about reality. (2) External Authority is the meaning that is ascribed by others based on their intuition of what is true and important. Over time, we internalize much of this authority. (3) Empiricism is the meaning that is ascribed to what the senses detect about reality. (4) Praxis is experienced meaning based on what individuals have perceived by their own senses. The four modes each contribute a different aspect of our understanding of reality and our judgments about the truth of a situation.
Chapter 3 Avoiding One-sidedness. The use of all four modes helps us to avoid the problem of being certain and self-righteous based on only one way of knowing. Exemplars and persons we admire likely draw upon all four ways of knowing. Specific steps are suggested to ensure a fruitful interaction of the modes.
Chapter 4 Creative Interaction. The interaction of all four of the ways of knowing leads to the emergence of new knowledge and surprising, novel, and transformative awareness in a process of creative emergence. The interaction during an improvisational theater performance and the parable of the Good Samaritan illustrate the point.
Chapter 5 Taking Adaptive Action. The Ways of Knowing Model helps to answer the questions necessary for taking action that is adaptive to present circumstances. A daily life example of developing a diet and exercise plan and a more esoteric topic of “What is the meaning of ‘the sacred’” illustrate how the four ways of knowing amplify the questions of WHAT is the situation?, SO WHAT is significant?, and NOW WHAT d
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
How do we know something for sure? How do we decide what’s true? In Finding Reality, author Dr. Edwin E. Olson shows how the best answers to these questions emerge from the interaction of four ways of knowing:
Insights: what we imagine based on experience
Authority: what others have taught us based on their beliefs
Empiricism: what others have discovered based on evidence
Praxis: what we learn through our senses
Drawing from a range of human systems dynamics and scientific, psychological, philosophical, and religious sources, this guide discusses how each way of knowing provides a different approach to reality. When the four ways of knowing interact, creative outcomes for personal development and exploration of important issues come to fruition.
Praise for Finding Reality
“This is a wisdom book for twenty-first century seekers of truth and for organizations that need to change. … Here is a book that identifies and honors multiple ways of knowing reality. Using down-to-earth examples, the reader is skillfully and expertly guided through ways of knowing which, when brought to bear on our personal and corporate life situations, results in creative emergence—the surprising solution that is born when intuition, facts, inherited wisdom, and practice converge. I highly recommend this book.”
— Bruce Sanguin, Author of Darwin, Divinity, and the Dance of the Cosmos
“Ed Olson has provided a practical and inspiring map to guide inquiry for personal growth and development in uncertain times.”
— Glenda H. Eoyang, Executive Director, Human Systems Dynamics Institute
About the Author
Edwin E. Olson, PhD, earned a master’s degree in pastoral counseling and a PhD in government. He teaches organization behavior at the University of Maryland, University College. Olson is the coauthor of Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity Science. His workshops apply complexity theory to science, spirituality, religion, and organizations.