Sunday Mālama: Believe, Think, or Know?

A few days ago I shared my pre-presentation humility question with you, one I ask myself before every speech I give on Managing with Aloha;

“What do I THINK, what do I BELIEVE, and what do I KNOW about this?”

After writing my article, I remembered reading a passage about thinking and believing in a terrific book I had picked up a few months ago, and I looked it up feeling that it would fit in nicely with our Sunday Mālama reflections over the past week.

The book is The Seventeen Traditions, written by Ralph Nader (yes, the activist). It is a gem of a book; I had come across it in Barnes & Noble early in June. I remember the date because I bought it thinking it would be a great Father’s Day gift for my husband. As I was traveling at the time, the book ended up in my carry-on bag and my husband never got it. I loved Nader’s story within a few pages of my idle reading sitting at the airport and waiting for my flight, and as is my usual habit when discovering a book rich for study, I annotated and marked it up completely. It would be weeks after Father’s Day, but my husband eventually got a copy of his own, and since then I have bought more than a dozen copies for gifts: This is a book perfect for every new parent you know.

Ralph Nader wrote The Seventeen Traditions as a tribute to his parents, explaining,

“I am often asked what forces shaped me. Rather than trying to give a full answer, I often reply simply, ‘I had a lucky choice of parents.’ Among other things, my parents were responsible for passing down the traditions they had learned from the generations before them.”

My initial intrigue with the book, was in seeing what seventeen concepts Nader would think of as “traditions,” for you know of my passions with the “Language of Intention.” I relish the distinctions between concepts like values, principles, laws and virtues — I think of these kinds of discussions as debate that dances! The four distinctions of culture, ancestry, heritage and ethnicity has been another debate I’ve enjoyed; so where would Nader’s traditions fall into step?

These were The Seventeen Traditions he wrote of:

1. The Tradition of Listening
2. The Tradition of the Family Table
3. The Tradition of Health
4. The Tradition of History
5. The Tradition of Scarcity
6. The Tradition of Sibling Equality
7. The Tradition of Education and Argument
8. The Tradition of Discipline
9. The Tradition of Simple Enjoyments
10. The Tradition of Reciprocity
11. The Tradition of Independent Thinking
12. The Tradition of Charity
13. The Tradition of Work
14. The Tradition of Business
15. The Tradition of Patriotism
16. The Tradition of Solitude
17. The Tradition of Civics

Can you guess which Tradition tells this story?

“One day, when I was about ten, I came home from grade school. When my father saw me, he asked a simple question: “What did you learn today Ralph? Did you learn how to believe, or did you learn how to think?”

“For some reason, that question was like a bolt from the blue. It has stayed with me ever since as a yardstick and a guide. In my adult life, I have thought back on it countless times: is this new movement or politician trying to make us believe, by using abstractions and slogans and advertising gimmicks, or inviting us to think through the issues, using facts, experience, and judgment? It has helped me to interpret people’s styles of persuasion in normal conversation — whether they are sharing how they think, or merely what they believe. And it has helped me find weak spots in countless arguments I’ve entertained through the years  — whether in real-time debates on radio or television, or in the more thoughtful forum of the printed word.”

“This is not to discount the importance of belief, without which, after all, we couldn’t hold to the principles and ethics that shape our daily lives. Rather, my father’s point was that we should reach our beliefs by thinking them through. In public school we received instruction, which was largely a matter of belief; it was at home that we received our real education, which had more to do with thought. There was nothing wrong with this combination: Both instruction and education were the better for it.”
—Ralph Nader, on The Tradition of Education and Argument

His words do make you think about the credibility and objectivity of what we were taught while in school, don’t they. His father seemed to imply that knowing came from learning, and learning could only truly happen within thinking — whether or not we were allowed by our teachers to express our thoughts. Perhaps they could temper what was said out loud, but we ourselves are the only ones who can quiet what we say in our heads, right?

The one phrase that jumps out at me most is “inviting us to think” for it is a wonderful way to phrase it; it is a hope I hold for all teaching that is done. I love the thought of an invitation to conversation, no matter where you may be starting from. It connects back to our learning appreciation within the value of Mahalo, where we value others “justly” recognizing what they can offer us.

My parents were just like the Naders; around the dinner table at night, we kids were always asked what we had learned in school that day, and to respond, “just stuff” was not an acceptable answer. At the time we rolled our eyes (when my dad wasn’t looking) and would dread having to relive certain lessons yet again, for plowing through them at school the first time was bad enough, but today you can bet I am just as grateful as Ralph Nader writes of in his book. My only regret is that I may not have been as insistent at each night’s dinner table with my own children.

So, I invite you to think. This can be yet another way to approach the nightly ritual of our Mahalo Action Step this month! For tonight’s five minutes —or if you would like to comment here :)

• If you were to tell me of just one thing you think, another you believe, and another you know, what would those things be? How would they sort out for you?

• What are you most grateful for having been invited to think about, and who was the teacher or mentor who did that for you, extending their invitation?

• Who did you invite to think with you today? Who will you give your invitation to tomorrow?

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Sunday Mālama is a MWA Coaching Tradition! Learn how it started here: Sunday Mālama: A Beginning

Read more about Ralph Nader, consumer advocate, lawyer, and author, at his website, or click on his picture above for his page on Wikipedia.

Comments

[Jurgen Vsych]

The Seventeen Traditions is a terrific, wise little book.

My new book, "What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?" will be published February 12, 2008 (Lincoln's 199th birthday). The book is available for pre-order at http://thewomandirector.com

[Rosa Say]

Congratulations on your book Jurgen; I read the excerpt you provide at your site for the first chapter, and I do agree that Mr. Nader tends to be very misunderstood. As you can tell by my short review here, I think it would be a very good thing if the Seventeen Traditions was more widely read.