Inquire within

Whenever I read an article, statement, blog, or post I tend to look at the content and then analyze the authors idea. If that idea is founded on well known facts, then I can be a passive reader and just read for the sake of reading. However, there do come times when what I am reading strikes me as odd, controversial, absurd, ridiculous, or just plain loony. In these cases I tend to hone in on the subject like a hawk seeking prey.

First, I find if what the author is writing about falls into any category that I am familiar with. Next I look into the material as closely as possible to see if there is an opening in the logic which will allow me to confirm or throw out the information I just read. Typically, there is just enough information to give the writing some credibility, but not enough to manage to convince me. Most common are the politically charged writings and articles which call my attention. These are so common, and everyone has an opinion, that the material is endless. A good example of what I am talking about happened a few days ago. I received an email petition explaining an issue with a bill that is about to pass the Senate and go to the President. In this bill is language which may forever rob the citizens of this country of their right to Habeus Corpus. Well, I just had to put on my Social Studies mind. Immediately my Political Science mind stood up and said "I got this one!"

The petition called for immediate action and demanded that I sign right away.

I was skeptical about the immediacy of the claim, so I began to think on it, hoping that the bill wouldn't pass while I was in thought!

What I did was contact my Representative in Congress. He responded the next day. Two things happened - 1. He confirmed that the issue was real.
2. He also confirmed that there was more time than I thought there was before the bill was signed.

My Social Studies mind was proud of itself. And it should be. I knew where a more reliable source of information might be found and I found it. So instead of falling prey to the fear factor the petition creators wanted me to fall prey to, I just did what I knew to do.

That leads me to my point - a Social Studies mind will help you to inquire within the facts given, process the information, synthesize an alternative plan of action, and help you to find out what might really be going on. There are a lot of people in this world who will use tidbits of information, couple it with words that trigger an emotional response, and get you to do something that you might not have done. I used the knowledge I gained of how  the system works, knowing that a petition signed two days before a bill would be signed would not have enough time to make an impact, and used it to gain truth and avoid a knee-jerk response.

A Social Studies mind will help you live a life based on your terms. It will motivate you to help others, Most importantly, it may help you to make the right decision - more on that later.