Learning to Think at Yale

I arrived at Yale on the Sunday before Labor Day in 1978 well equipped with the tools needed to engage in the process of learning. I had good study habits and a workable command of the mechanics of writing, so I could ably convey an argument. What I had yet to grasp, however, was how to Think. From the perspective of thirty-one years, I now understand that learning how to think is the most valuable lesson that Yale had to teach. In retrospect, I recognize that it was an incremental process, one which Georgetown's President John Degioia describes as "self-formation,"  one that started with a development of self-understanding - a recognition of the values I hold dear and an understanding of my place in the cosmos. The knowledge that was shared is called in-formation, whose roots suggest the formation of the mind. The pursuit of in-formation is a quest to understand, at deeper and deeper levels, some aspect of ourselves, of others, and of our world. The importance of self-understanding to the process of self-formation has long been known - as Socrates reminds us, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Thus, from the Humanities, I gained exposure to creativity and the basic human values of honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice. I began to form my own positions relative to those values and to react to situations in the context of those positions.  From the Social Sciences, I gained perspective of where I stand relative to others, and formulated an understanding of my role in the context of a community. From the Physical Sciences, I developed a deep appreciation for the workings of the natural world in which I exist. Inherent in this process of formation is the fundamental question of what constitutes an authentic life. While individual facts surrounding a given subject are long forgotten and are perhaps irrelevant, what remains is an ability to integrate, to synthesize, to frame a problem in a new and unique context, to ask meaningful questions, and by answering them, to create new knowledge. Equally important is the ability to challenge and critique existing knowledge, to see patterns, make connections and identify anomalies. Together, these capabilities impart a way of being, a way of engaging in the world. At its core, a "liberal" education is a "philosophical habit," a way of life. It provides skills to discern truth(s), and it paves the way to lead the good life. And if this life is to be of greater value, the it must reflect a commitment to the common good; it must be dedicated to enriching the public discourse and to responding to the needs of our community. Learning how to Think has been a life-long process, one that for me started when I first set foot on Yale's Old Campus in 1978.