TED Community » Bob Van Oosterhout

More About Me

I'm passionate about

living with heart, understanding and exploring the potential of human nature, and working to solve problems that prevent us from living life to its fullest

People don't know that I'm good at

continuing my daily meditation practice since 1972.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +25 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

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  A comment on Conversation: What's one lesson you find super compelling?

  Apr 21 2012: I would teach the value of humility. Humility helps us see more clearly, enlarges our view of reality, and is the basis for true freedom.
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  A reply on Conversation: How do you move beyond why, when someone takes their own life? How do we get beyond the shame?

  Apr 21 2012: Thank you Sarah, Yes please use it anytime it may be appropriate. I have found it extremely helpful in dealing with post and threatened suicide situations. It is a natural response to narrow our field of vision when there is a perceived threat (I use a story about a deer spotting me through our living room window and then intensifying her focus when I moved. My dog came trotting around the side of the house and got closer to a deer than he ever had in his life because she was focused on me. I have found that a build up of tension has the same effect. I have made a number of videos for a class I teach and have posted them to my website www.bobvanoosterhout.com You are welcome to view them and share them with anyone who may benefit from them. There are 4 videos on what I refer to as "balance techniques" as well as video on understanding emotion, dealing with loss and chronic pain. These videos explain how and why this approach works.
  
  The key in managing chronic pain is not to resist it. When we resist or fight pain, we build tension which actually makes the pain worse while narrowing our focus on the pain. Narrowing one's focus on the pain increases tension further which in turn makes it worse and narrows the focus still more setting up an ever escalating cycle that leads to what I call emotional blindness.
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  A comment on Conversation: How do you move beyond why, when someone takes their own life? How do we get beyond the shame?

  Apr 20 2012: Dealing with the loss of loved ones to suicide is one of the most confusing and difficult issues I have seen in 36 years of counseling. Your question, Sarah, is very helpful one. The key to recovery and integration, in my experience, is in moving beyond questions, fear, and shame.
  
  It is helpful to understand that a person who commits suicide is blind. As pain and fear increase our field of vision, the frame through which view and interpret our world, becomes smaller as it focuses more and more on the pain. At some point , the pain fills the whole picture. One may be blinded by physical or emotional pain, by hopelessness, mental illness, substance abuse, or other issues, but the bottom line is that all one sees is pain, and the only end to the pain they see is death. At that moment, they were blind to the love of those around them and could not see or feel any sense of hope or help. (Helping a person move away from suicide, in my experience, is most easily done by helping them to recognize that they are blind, accept the pain as a natural part of the human condition to some degree and to see a slightly larger picture.)
  
  The question “why do they do it” can be answered truthfully in all cases with a simple response “because they were blind.” It is not much different than a blind person unknowingly stepping off a cliff. They simply did not fully understand their situation and the options available to them.
  
  Every time questions regarding how or why it happened come into our minds, it is helpful to develop the habit of answering each one with a statement, “because they were blind at the moment.”

• A reply on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 17 2012: Mary wrote "You are disagreeing with the horse's mouth.....in other words, the people who say what critical thinking is and isn't. You are not disagreeing with me"
  
  I don't have a problem disagreeing with the horses mouth. I often disagree with people at the other end of the horse as well.
  
  Mary wrote "Because critical thinking happens naturally, some learn to maneuver it for their advantage.
  You cannot tell me that when people ask insightful questions it is only for a common good."
  
  Asking clear questions gets one to the truth. Any deviation or manipulation is revealed through the process of questioning. If critical thinking promotes something other than that, I have no interest in it.
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  A reply on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 17 2012: Mary wrote: "
  "Critical thinking........when grounded in selfish motives, is often manifested in the skillful MANIPULATION of ideas in service of one’s own, or one's groups’ vested interest."
  
  I disagree with this statement. Clarifying and asking helpful questions leads to the truth. If critical thinking is simply skillful use of language to achieve a potentially selfish goal, it is best not to teach it.

• A reply on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 17 2012: Mary wrote "But I don't think that people in general need to know the definition of critical thinking to put it into practice. Do you?" I think the definition and the term itself interfere with people putting it into practice. Why not simply talk in terms of clarifying or asking questions that help one understand and see a larger picture more clearly.
  
  Mary asked: "Do you feel there is a lack of critical thinking in adults?
  If yes, which adults do you feel lack this skill the most?" I believe that the lack of ability to ask good questions is one of the most pressing problems facing our world today. The adults who seem to lack the skill the most in my opinion are politicians and the journalists who Interview them and never never seem to follow up with questions that actually get to the truth.
  
  Mary asked: And secondly, have you helped someone to overcome critical thinking problems/issues? -- I've worked as a teacher and counselor for 36 years with the goal of helping students and clients to see and think more clearly. I facilitated and empowerment program for people in poverty, called the Hard Times Café, for nine years. A major thrust of my work there was ensuring that the consensus decision-making process was clear and inclusive. Patrons formed self managing teams that operated all facets of the program, including office management, accounting, starting and operating businesses, strategic planning, and overall management of the program and weekly meetings. In my opinion, mostly all of the 1200+ people who participated in the program demonstrated an ability to clarify and ask helpful questions that allowed them to see a larger picture more clearly from various perspectives. It was the most efficient operation I have ever seen. The training manual for this program is available on my website www.bobvanoosterhout.com under empowerment.
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  A reply on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 16 2012: Mary, I agree that the "official" definition of critical thinking is clear and concise to anyone who has completed a few years of college. I am not sure it is helpful in helping people to clarify what is true and relevant.

• A reply on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 16 2012: Hi Jaime, I have not read either of those authors. Thanks for the suggestion. My belief is that the frames that we use to define our reality are defined and passed down to us without much questioning. My work involves helping people see larger, clearer frames that allow us to work together to recognize and realize our potential.

• A reply on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 16 2012: Mary wrote “.we teachers are taught in college to develop the "skill" of critical thinking in children.......most kids come to school after 4 years of being told by parents..........."now Billy, don't ask too many questions!!"...............I have to turn around and tell Billy "Please ask questions, please!!"”
  
  So let’s clarify. Billy does not seem to be aware that there are some situations where it is helpful to ask questions and others where it’s not. (Many of my previous supervisors would likely say I had the same problem.). That leads to the question how does one know when it is helpful to ask questions. Billy can probably tell us when it is not helpful to ask questions, ie when his parents are stressed, tired, frustrated, or preoccupied. So one key in asking questions is a learning to assess whether the person we are asking is receptive to the questions (the main reason I left jobs where my supervisors didn’t like questions). What about how and when questions are asked and what kinds of questions are asked? These would seem to be important considerations. Asking a complicated, abstract question is different than a question to be answered yes or no. There are lots of wonderful learning opportunities here for both Billy and his teacher.
  
  The term “teacher” does not include mutual exploration in its definition. A good mountain guide is exploring the mountain anew each time he or she “teaches” a group how to navigate the trails. An effective guide adapts each trip to the individual needs, interests, and concerns of the travelers. Sadly, our system of education does not leave much room for this kind of guided exploration. We remove children and young adults from life to teach them about life. The very fact that we have a concept of “critical thinking” is in some respects, evidence of our failure to develop an educational system that helps people to live effective and fulfilling lives.

• A comment on Conversation: Critical thinking versus opinion.

  Apr 16 2012: Re: Mary’s quote:
  
  “Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking: ‘Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.’”
  
  I find the term “critical thinking” potentially misleading. A common understanding of “critical” implies to criticize or judge. People not exposed to the academic meaning are excluded from the discussion.
  
  Our State’s mental health system decided it was important that clients had input into their treatment, and that all of their rights were respected. They engaged in an “intellectually disciplined process of actively (and so they thought) skillfully conceptualizing applying analyzing and evaluating” how to ensure this would accomplished. A client came to me after three visits to a Community Mental Health Center, and I asked what she worked on. She said “Nothing, we just filled out a bunch of paperwork.” I asked her some questions about her concerns and experiences and encouraged her to pose questions so that our discussion became a mutual exploration of understanding and clarifying what was bothering her and what she could do about it. After three sessions her problems were resolved. I later received a 23 page report from her previous therapist, which verified that my client had input into her treatment and that her rights were respected.
  
  The academization of critical thinking has turned it into something you need to take a course in order to learn. I would recommend dropping the term “critical thinking” and simply emphasizing the importance of asking helpful questions to get a clearer picture from a variety of perspectives. Every child does this naturally.