First Things First: Reading, Writing, and Thinking 101

Required Materials

Textbook: Reading, Writing, Thinking: The Postformal Basics (2006) chapters by Joe L. Kincheloe

Mead Five Star 8-1/2" x 11" Wirebound Notebook, One-Subject, College Ruled in your favorite color (or equivalent)

Art Supplies (crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, colored markers, or other media)

Drawing Paper

Pens with black ink

Access to the Internet, including the capability to view YouTube videos

NOTE: Read the Introduction and Intermission presented in the Online Critical Pedagogy 101 course in order to gain an understanding of how and why this course is presented the way I’ve chosen to present it. More details will be provided in context with the course itself. And remember: I put forth many different perspectives, but it does not mean I ascribe to them…who can prove anything that’s worthwhile to know in this hell world with the state of ignorance that predominates and continues to be promoted? It just gets worse every day! (see my entry for September 3, 2016 as just one example of how formal education continues its fall into the abyss…and be forewarned to take your own education and the education of your children into your own hands). Joe promoted the idea of taking “good ideas” from wherever they might “emerge.” The point is, however, that not all ideas are equal. We keep the baby but throw out the bathwater. With the flood of information and regurgitated information it is absolutely imperative to learn to think critically and intelligently and holistically about that information. He has left us the processes to do that.

This course was initially requested because the teachers (the real teachers) are tired of and very concerned about people who cannot read, write, or think. Without developing these skills to your fullest potential, you are limiting yourself. It’s getting so bad that some people are not thinking, and they are writing in long run-on sentences with no periods or commas, and yet expecting to be understood. This is primarily due to the misuse of technology, but it’s being facilitated with formal, prescribed writing processes, and today formal education is even abandoning the teaching of cursive writing which translates into the inability to read cursive writing. Think about it. What better way to keep people from learning historical truths by preventing them from learning from the great thinker’s handwritten documents? There are many great writers whose knowledge is coming to the forefront now and we need to be able to read their writings.

Special Note: Joe used his epistemological license to change the terms he used for his conception of cognition in his 2008 works (his last works). No longer calling it postformalism, but rather incorporating this critical complex theory, he refers to it as critical complex cognition and the critical psychology of complexity (this is discussed in greater detail in the course).

Ongoing Assignment: If you fully participate in this course, you will likely be guided to teachings, maybe even with Joe, in the Higher Realms through various types of dreams. As the course continues, I will describe some of the different types of dreams I’ve had and what they represent for me.  It is recommended that you write in your journal each morning upon awakening, including describing any dreams you have and what the dreams seem to mean to you. Even if it seems like the most mundane type of dream, it may hold significant meaning, which you will discover as you write. A kind of magic happens when you start writing like this—the cosmos will begin flowing knowledge and wisdom to you; you will connect to your higher knowing, to who you really are.

These writings have multiple benefits: they jump-start your writing, they are an activity that is critical for releasing your imagination and connecting with your teachers and soul family in the higher realms, and they can serve as useful background for more formal writings.

Your teachers and family members will give you more creative ideas than you can implement from which you can choose or develop further with your own ideas. In fact, pay attention throughout the day as they hand down these ideas, and keep a notebook with you to jot them down so that you don’t forget them. With practice, it gets easier to remember and you will automatically synthesize the knowledge in creative applications.

If you need more understanding as to how this works, here’s a video that describes how Emanuel Swedenborg describes the process (and you can do more research for other perspectives about this):

Where Thoughts Come From - Swedenborg and Life

We are taught that all thoughts are our own. This is not true. This is especially not true as we move into a new era (which is described later in this course and in various places on this website). With lots of practice, you will learn that the cosmos is teeming with life—people, places, flora, fauna, etc., and with lots of practice, you can learn to identify more specifically where thoughts and ideas come from even though it often seems like they are just floating around in the air (and some are). I am still learning. One cautionary note is that it’s important to reach and stay in the higher realms, for there is an abundance of spirits that will wish to affect you negatively if you allow yourself to drift too low. I have learned to shut them down, delete their bad ideas, but take what I can learn from them.

Here’s another video based on Swedenborg’s writings that provides an interesting perspective about this:

The Lies Evil Spirits Tell Us - Swedenborg and Life