Self Reliance And Ralph Waldo Emerson Summary

In the James Harvey Robinson story “On Various Kinds of Thinking” and the Ralph Waldo Emerson story “Self Reliance” both of the authors talk about the different ways people process information. Along with this, the two authors address how people pursue knowledge in different ways. For Robinson, he proves that people do not only apply their minds to work ideas out, but also the persuasion of others. On the other hand, Emerson states that we have learned to follow since it is all we have ever known and do not wish to risk stepping out of our comfort zones. Both of these authors write about similar ways of learning, but their ways also differentiate from each other.

From Robinson’s point of view, he states that people learn in different ways. In his writing, he describes two exotic techniques for learning, real and good reasonings. One of the reasonings that he talks about is that we utilize our minds to choose what to believe is real also known as good reasoning. However, we do this whether the belief is right or missing tentative details or has evidence to prove it. Another method for learning that Robinson uses is real reasoning which requires beneficial facts to compensate and validate for your knowledge. With these reasonings, the learners are able to understand why they apply such processes as a method of gathering knowledge.

In a different light, Emerson describes a system of learning that we have been using for perpetual years without even realizing it. This system is