Nielsen, Makayla
S00561651
BUS-1050-042
1/29/2013
Assignment 5
Standard-Six
1. The text “Thinking as a Hobby” was written by William Golding. William Golding was
an English novelist who was best known for his Lord of the Flies. Golding was awarded
the Booker Prize for his novel Rites of Passage. Later in 1988 he was dubbed by Queen
Elizabeth II. Golding also wrote the first book to the trilogy To the Ends of the Earth.
2. The text is Golding’s theory of the levels of thinking. Much like the first chapter he
discusses the ability of greater thinking and the lower standards of thinking. Golding
wrote about his understandings of the three levels through his own experiences.
3. The text was written within the year of 1961. A few of the major events that happened
during that time were: the U.S. broke its diplomatic relationship with Cuba, East
Germany erected the Berlin Wall to halt the flood of refugees, the Soviets launched
Sputnik V, and the USSR fired the 50-megaton hydrogen bomb.
4. The text was supposedly written in the United States. Some great ideas coming from the
U.S. at this time was running under John F. Kennedy as a president. Occupational therapy
was beginning to gain recognition. Also the U.S. launched the “Explorer Nine” satellite.
5. The text is relevant to modern business because it is the prior version of the critical
thinking stages. Golding called them the different grades of thinking, but the lower the
grade, the higher standard of thought was developed. By using the higher levels of
thinking, an employer would recognize an individual with critical thinking and would
highly consider hiring them. Critical thinkers provide a substantial amount of benefits
towards businesses and are greatly desired.
6. I feel that my own level of education is developed enough to understand what is being
said in this text. With full compensation on the grasp of critical thinking it was easy to
compare Golding’s grades of thinking to Engh’s mentioning of rhetoric, dialect, and
reason. This chapter is greatly appreciated to further deepen the great meaning of critical
thinking.
Questions 1-7
1. Explain “thought is often full of unconscious prejudice, ignorance, and hypocrisy.” (pg.
34 line 5)
a. The phrase “thought is often full of unconscious prejudice, ignorance, and
hypocrisy” can be explained as the understanding to that first unconscious thought
of a subject. One could say it is the thought of a gentleman walking into a room
and judging him by what he wears, how he moves, how he talks and giving
disregard to who he may actually be. Unconsciously the human race gives
prejudice, ignorance, and hypocrisy to anything that appears less than it.
2. Define and give an example of Grade 3 thinking.
a. Grade 3 thinking is the feeling rather than the thought. An example of this would
be the intent of a politician. Wanting to do whatever will benefit them the most
rather than the people whom they represent.
3. Define and give an example of Grade 2 thinking.
a. Grade 2 thinking is when the thinker can detect contradictions by destroying
without having the power to create. An example would be the game of fox
hunting. The hunters claim that the fox enjoys being hunted down and ripped to
shreds, when rather it is for their own enjoyment.
4. Define and give an example of Grade 1 thinking.
a. Grade 1 thinking is when the thinker asks the question and then sets out to find
the answer. A great example of this would be Pontius Pilate asking the question
“What is truth?” but giving no answer to that whomever may ask the question
must find the answer themselves.
5. Put them in order worst first, best last.
a. Grade 3 is the worst. It is only feeling rather than true thought.
b. Grade 2 is the second, for it causes the thinker to develop the ability to detect
contradictions.
c. Grade 1 is the best because it makes the thinker propose a question in order to set
out to find the answer.
6. Explain the need for Grade one thinking in business.
a. The need for Grade one thinking in business is great. The ability to propose a
question such as “ How can the business increase profits,” or “ How can the
business be bettered” enforces the employees to seek out the answer for the
greatest benefit of the business.
7. Compare Golding’s three Grades of thinking compared to rhetoric, dialectic, and reason
mentioned in chapter one.
a. Golding’s grade one of thinking most resonates to rhetoric. Seeing as how both
are based off of emotions rhetoric is simply the more developed version of grade
one thinking. Grade two is easily compared to dialectic because both have the
power to destroy but not the power to create. As well both have the distinguished
ability to detect contradictions. Again dialectic is more developed than grade two.
As for grade three, it is quite similar to reason. Both seek out for the truth and
both are considered the most highly exquisite form of thought. It is intriguing how
these forms of thought have been passed down throughout the history of time,
especially when one has not given much thought to them.
10 Vocabulary
1. Amiability
a. The quality of sweetness of disposition.
2. Sordidness
a. The quality or state of being unclean.
3. Libertine
a. A defamatory name for a free thinker; free from restraint or uncontrolled.
4. Skittle
a. The game of a disk or flattish ball of wood being thrown at pins.
5. Gregarious
a. Habitually living in moving in a group such as a flock or herd.
6. Impediments
a. That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or effect.
7. Clairvoyance
a. A power attributed to some persons while in a mesmeric state, of discerning
objects not perceptible by the senses in their normal condition.
8. Depravity
a. The state of being depraved or corrupted.
9. Penal
a. Of or pertaining to punishment, penalties or to crimes and offenses.
10. Heady
a. Hurried on by will or passion; ungovernable.
Works Cited

"Webster Dictionary." Webster Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

"Timeline 1961." Timeline 1961. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013

"William (Gerald) Golding Biography." BookRags. BookRags, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013

"1960 – 1969 World History." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.

Golding, William. "Thinking as A Hobby." Critical Thinking, Readings from the
Literature of Business and Society. By Edward G. Engh. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 31-38. Print.