Insight Its one thing to make a judgement like “ I think that nurses are underpaid”. Its another thing to analyze the process that leads to that judgement. In other words what elements happen in the process of knowing that leads us to come to a definitive judgement that “nurses are underpaid”

Insight  Bernard Lonergan analyzes this process in his work called “Insight”. I believe that it is worth taking a look at because if we analyze the steps that it takes to make a judgement then we can observe our errors in the manner of thinking that we may have.

The Steps in the Process of Knowing There are various steps according to Lonergan, these steps are analyzed individually for academic purposes, yet in real life they do not always happen in any necessary order. They will be presented in an order, however, the reality of living experience shows that they may happen quickly, mixed together and in an unconscious manner.

External Experience  The first step in the knowing process according to B.L is the External Experience.  What is external experience - a fancy word for encountering our living environment.  Ex. Touching an apple, eating a fig, seeing a vivid picture, hearing music, smelling a rose in other words experiencing the world.

Internal Experience  This is the internal experience of the external. You may see and hear the sound of the crash of two cars. But your experience of the situation does not end after you experience. You can remember the crash two days after, you can remember the sound of the crash and the vision or imagination of the crash. This is your internal experience of the external world.

Internal Experience  Sometimes the more intense the external experience, the more intense the memory. Think of some childhood experience that you can still recall as if it were yesterday. That is your internal experience. That data you can use to analyze, reflect upon, draw conclusions and it influences your entire life.

I. E = sense images  Sense images are your imaginations, but they can also be the sounds, the feelings, the taste. They are the memory of our senses as opposed to our mind. They are an integral part of your internal experience.

The Process  Step 1. The encounter with the external world.  Step 2 The encounter with the internal experience. Ie. sense images  Step 3 Insight – the intellectual understanding of the external world.

Insight  More specifically, insight is the mental activity by which the mind grasps patterns between things that before were disorganized. The insight was the awakening that made you say “aha, now I understand.” This is the third step in the process of understanding. It is based on the other two according to L. First you, have external experiences, then internalization of these experiences, then upon thinking upon them you come to a new understanding or an insight.

Insight Continued  Insight is properly of the mind and not the senses (vision, sound, touch etc) it is an understanding which makes sense of the sense images and turns them into something meaningful. A pattern may be observed or a new meaning may be observed.

Characteristics of the Insight  Insight may happen quickly or take a long time - even years.  Insight puts things together, piecing information together. The detective scenario.  Insight involves memory. A good memory are the building blocks for intelligence.  Insight grasps a pattern. Out of things that seem disarrayed and disorganized the person who has an insight sees a pattern.

Characteristics of Insight  Insight builds upon prior information and other insights to construct new insights. Old experiences help new experiences.  Once an insight occurs it is usually a permanent insight which may be beneficial for the whole human race.  The before and after the insight are like night and day, why didn’t I see it before.

Characteristics Continued  An environment where a person has a good memory, prior insights, willingness to experiment and ask questions lead to the acquisition of insights, the opposite is also true. A bad memory, lack of prior knowledge, failure to ask questions may lead to a lack of insights.

Insight Answers the Question What is it?  Insight answers the question what is it?  You see an object in the bush and you are not sure what it is, so you ask yourself the question, what is it? As you get closer you can see now, it is a deer.” The insight is the answer to a question, and many times is preceded by the question, “What is it?”

Reflection – Is it really that?  Reflection is an analysis of the insight and asks the question, is it really that?  You see an animal in the bush and your insight tells you it is a deer. In the process of reflection you analyze and ask yourself, is it really a deer or is it something else. You question your own insight.

Reflection  Reflection solidifies your insight and makes you reanalyze the data.  Well I see that it has a white tail, it looks brown, now I can see a small rack, it must be a deer.  More data is accumulated that further solidifies your initial insight that it was a deer in the bush.

Reflection - characteristics  The more data accumulated in reflection, the stronger the insight becomes.  The less data accumulated in reflection the weaker the insight becomes. Weaker in the sense that the insight may be wrong.  Reflection may take long periods of time where as insight may be sudden and quick.  Reflection is like the scientist who is researching a theory. The theory is the insight and the reflection determines whether the insight is correct.

Judgment – the conclusion  After sufficient reflection a judgment is made that definitively says what you think. It really is a deer in the bush.  You had an initial insight that a deer was in the bush, you thought about it and after further reflection you are now convinced that truly a deer is in the bush and you make a judgment which is definitive.

Judgment - definitive  The judgment is definitive in the sense that you are staking the fruit of your refection and analysis on it.  You are committing yourself to a position and you are defending it. You are saying that I think it is this and not a hundred other things.  People do not like to be wrong with their judgments because they can be ridiculed. Yet why does a person make such flimsy judgments and risk embarrassment?

Judgment – Cautiousness  Because a judgment can be so definitive. People may tend to cautious about their judgments, because they know they have such a definitive nature.  Think of various professions where a final judgment is definitive and the consequences are grave.  Some people are willy nilly with their judgments what does that do to their credibility?

Consciousness  This step in the process of knowing can not be found in any one step, it is through out the whole process.  Consciousness is an awareness of knowledge.  Awareness of external knowledge, awareness of sense images, awareness of your insight, awareness of your reflection and awareness of your judgment. It is a step that is continuous and throughout the entire process of knowledge.

Knowing the Process  After understanding the process – where now can we find mistakes in the process of knowing. Where do they happen frequently?  What mistakes happen in:  External experience  Internal experience  Insight  Reflection  Judgment  Consciousness

In our own knowing process  Think about your own thinking process.  What type of person are you in the thinking process?  What are the mistakes that you make in the thinking process that detain you from acquiring true knowledge?