ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we refer to reflectivity as representing both a contemplative stance and an intentional activity. The contemplative stance indicates a basic curiosity, a need to know, to understand. The intentional activity indicates an active search for differentness – the quest for what Bateson (1979) has termed "a difference that makes a difference." In this chapter, based on our understanding of the dialectical construction of knowledge we posit different ways in which an active search for a sense of differentness may occur. Those ways of searching for differentness are all directed at creating dialectical tensions geared towards noticing differences that make a difference. For example, they include taking different perspectives on the same phenomenon, using the "figure-ground" dialectic of Gestalt psychology, searching for apparent contradictions, searching for "knowledge holes" and "missing information," to name a few.
