Houston (7)

Thursday, 19 June 2003. [Continued…] The teachings of Mortimer J. Adler will help me give order and structure to this boatbuilding research project:

“Whenever I think about all the seemingly irrelevant directions I find myself going into – all the research reading that now seems unnecessary but will prove useful later – I must make myself think of it all as DATA. Whenever some of that data proves useful (in a serendipitous kind of way) I must think of my findings as INFORMATION.

“And at critical stages in my research, when I begin to feel sure about myself and about what I can accomplish, I will know that I have acquired the KNOWLEDGE to proceed with confidence; that boatbuilding will become something I can do with great skill.

“At the end of my evolution I hope to acquire WISDOM and competent boathandling skills.”

What’s more – in addition to (1) Data, (2) Information, (3) Knowledge, and (4) Wisdom – I remember Dr. Adler’s effective “Levels of Reading” needed to synthesize all this research: (1) Elementary, (2) Inspectional, (3) Analytical, and (4) Syntopical. “Outstanding! It’s all beginning to come back to me now.”

I reckon I can have my additional research materials bought by the start of next week when I begin reading “Writing Research Papers” and “A Grammar Book For You and I… Oops, Me!”