ABSTRACT
The individual mind grows in insight and understanding by participating in dialogue, and we learn how to think through speaking and listening with others. The depth and quality of the understanding reflected in any seminar discussion is directly related to the depth and quality of the understanding that grows up in the minds of the individuals present, and vice-versa. During a successful seminar discussion, the individual mind evolves from a state of simple mental equilibrium through disequilibrium to a state of more sophisticated mental equilibrium. Learning to think means developing the ability over time to construct more sophisticated and more successful explanations, first, of texts under discussion, and later, of the world itself. Ultimately, learning to speak and listen well, just like learning to think clearly and coherently, is a lifelong endeavor. Learning to think is the process of explaining and manipulating increasingly complex texts successfully.
