Thought literacy is the process of gaining consciousness of why we think the way we do.
Thought is not necessarily an accidental event that just happens randomly – rather, thought is a complex system constructed through “internal” and “external” interactions.
We are surrounded by thought, in the media, in our built environments, in our interactions with other people. Ideas, values, perspectives are exchanged freely. But most of the time we don’t stop to analyze where these ideas we interact with are coming from.
This may be due partially to the tremendous cognitive load this would create for us. Imagine yourself reading this blog posting and analyzing the fact that I have taken the time to put quotations around the words “internal” and “external”- Naturally, your next question is: “why’d you do that dude?” or the fancier: “what informed that decision?” – (Sounds like homework doesn’t it?)
But I think this is how we teach ourselves some degree of cognitive literacy. If you’re like me, you will find yourself forgetting everything that is really important to your functional life as your memory becomes filled with a bunch of useless mental notes reminding yourself to look “x” up in the dictionary/encyclopedia. To read upon the history of “y” and to understand the social roots of “z”.
And since we are talking about the history of public relations, and how Freudian psychology was used as the framework for P.R. in the 20th century: I found a good video documentary called The Century of the Self. I recommend all four episodes but if you’re busy, then watch at least part one.
Not related at all
(but recommended) ( interesting and relevant to our times): The fog of war eleven lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara. Morris, E., Williams, M., Ahlberg, J. B., McNamara, R. S., & Glass, P. (2004). Culver City, Calif: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
Keyword: Daniel Montano, Dan Montano, user experience design, information architect