The Believing Game Essay

Taylor Bowling
Professor Willard
Writing Composition 1023
13 September 2009
The Art of Believing
To play the Believing and Doubting games you must follow a set of rules and every player should play both games. While you are playing there should be no division in the group. In other words, everyone should either be playing the Believing Game or the Doubting Game at the same time so as to not turn the situation into a debate.
The Queen had it right in Alice in Wonderland when she spoke to Alice about believing:
“I can’t believe that,” said Alice.
“Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again; draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.”
Alice laughed. “There’s no use in trying.” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
Being able to look at both sides of an issue—playing the Believing or Doubting Game—is not as hard as people might think. The benefits of being able to think critically are so plentiful; it’s worth the extra effort. The Believing and Doubting Games provide us with a way to practice those critical thinking skills in a way that will broaden our horizons. If we can keep an open mind we will be able to believe the impossible.
Works Cited
Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. London: Macmillan, 1865.
Elbow, Peter. "Methodological Doubting and Believing: Contraries in Inquiry." Elbow, Peter. Embracing Contraries:Explorations in Learning and Teaching. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
—. "The Believing Game and How to Make Conflicting Opinions More
Fruitful." Nurturing the Peacemakers in Our Students: A Guide to Teaching Peace, Empathy, and Understanding. Ed. Chris Weber. 2006.
Grayson, Randall. The Believing and Doubting Game. 2002. 11 September 2009.
Ramage, John D. Writing Arguements: A Rhetoric with Readings. New York:
Longman, 2010.
Shapiro, Alan....