Thinking in Whole Words

Check out this setence:

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe."

Pretty amazing, isn't it? These kinds of efforts help us understand how the brain works as a sophisticated pattern-matching system, coupled to a powerful linking system so that one idea leaps to another (and usually many others).

Now why I am writing about this to Bible teachers?

Because you want to encourage learning, and that means encouraging pattern recognition, and encouraging people to jump to related thoughts. Don't work too hard to control the flow of thoughts in a discussion, because you're working against the way the mind operates.

Ask questions, tell stories, and don't surprised (or frustrated) when it leads someplace you didn't expect. What counts is learning. That's teaching to change lives!