Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is epistemology, and what are some examples of epistemological categories?

Teaching Suggestion: Grant’s book argues that people should make a habit of re-examining their own ways of knowing—their epistemologies. Learning about the idea of epistemologies will offer students a valuable context for thinking about Grant’s argument. If your students are wholly unfamiliar with the term, you might offer them these or similar resources before they attempt to respond to this prompt. After they have had a chance to consider the information, students might list additional epistemological categories and discuss whether some “ways of knowing” seem to them to be more valid than others in particular contexts.

• This entry from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy thoroughly defines and explains epistemology.
• This chart from the University of Pennsylvania defines and discusses four common epistemological categories.
• This article explores an expanded way of looking at epistemological categories.

2. What is metacognition? How might metacognition relate to epistemology and epistemological categories?

Teaching Suggestion: Many students may already be familiar with the concept of metacognition; these or similar resources may be helpful in boosting or reviewing knowledge on the topic. Students may enjoy hearing one another’s ideas about how the terms “metacognition” and “epistemology” relate to one another during small-group or whole-class discussion, as there are a variety of possible answers to this question. Students might consider whether there are some epistemological categories for which metacognition is irrelevant and explain their rationale to peers.

• This graphic offers a brief introduction to the idea of metacognition.
• This nine-minute video by a cognitive science researcher explains why metacognition is a critical skill.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Consider your personal beliefs that are based in a “way of knowing.” Do you think other people might say one or more of your beliefs should be based in a different epistemological system? Do you think most people have beliefs whose epistemological system may be challenged or questioned by others? What would be an example of this—either a belief that pertains to you, personally, or one that you think is true for most people?

Teaching Suggestion: If students are struggling to understand how to approach this prompt, you might offer an example of people “inheriting” a particular belief from their parents or family members. Beliefs one adopts from their parents might be based in the “authority” epistemological category. A more appropriate way to formulate a belief, however, might be through logic and observation. After students have responded to this prompt, they might extend the conversation by considering whether people have a right to critique one another’s basis for “knowing” certain things—or whether this is an entirely personal matter.