“Imagination is the only key to the future. With it, all things are possible.” Teach Different with Ida Tarbell

Transcript

Dan Fouts (00:10)

Hey everybody, welcome to the Teach Different podcast. Great to have you here again with us. Our listenership is growing exponentially. This is five and a half years since we have done this podcast. I can’t believe it when I think about how many quotes we’ve been through. We have to be through at least 200, I think at this point. So cool. Today we have Ida Tarbell, a muckraker from the 19th and early 20th century and a very interesting quote on imagination that we’re gonna take a look at. Before we do though, just for the, you know, the method itself, we’re getting such great feedback from the method and the different projects that we’re doing. We have a couple projects going on in the state of Illinois where we’re teaching teachers in our certification program on the conversation method over a six to eight week period. And we’re getting such good feedback on how it’s actually landing in the classroom. And by the way, we have elementary school teachers, middle school teachers, and high school teachers using this in our certification programs in addition to community members and I mean, Steve Fouts, we’re gonna be working with parents soon, right? That’s gonna be one of our focuses. I don’t know if you wanted to say anything about that.

 

Steve Fouts (01:41)

Yeah, we’re going to pilot a parent, kind of a parent slash homeschooling curriculum. And I’m really excited about it because I just think that. Parents are in such a good position to benefit from a method like this. You know if they’re looking for ways to get, you know, more authentic and better truthful interactions with their kid, depending on how old the kid is that becomes very challenging, you know, at different points. So the method’s gonna help with that and we’re gonna, you know, test it out and then come up with kind of a product for homeschool curriculum that we’re excited about.

 

Dan Fouts (02:28)

And I see that we have a guest today, Remy the cat. If you’re seeing, well, if you’re listening to this, if you’re seeing a video clip of this, you’ll see Remy resting unapologetically on Steve’s upper chest. So he’s gonna be maybe participating in this one.

 

Steve Fouts (02:29)

Yeah, he’s been doing it since he’s been five weeks old.

 

Dan Fouts (02:50)

Okay, Ida Tarbell. Well, again, the method, real quick, right? Quote, claim, counterclaim and question. That’s the heart and soul of it, right? We agree with the author, we disagree with the author, we tell stories and we ask questions and through that we connect with one another. This is so good for our wellbeing and it’s also academically rigorous. It’s got a little bit of everything.

It’s philosophy in a box is what Steve Fouts and I sometimes say to sum it all up. Ida Tarbell, I’ll read it twice, here we go. Imagination is the only key to the future. With it, all things are possible. Imagination is the only key to the future. With it, all things are possible. And this was said in her 1904 text, the history of the Standard Oil Company in a modern version. This was the quote that was put in. Well, what do you think?

 

Steve Fouts (03:58)

Imagination all things are possible. It’s a nice sentiment. The claim is that you have to dream something into existence and as long as you have it in your mind it is possible if you can imagine it and well, given the time of where she was living and when that was the time of the flight, the air flight was ⁓ fairly around that time when a lot of people said it was impossible to do that, but some people imagined it and it is possible. I mean, it’s a hopeful sentiment. That’s all I got.

 

Dan Fouts (04:33)

20th century.

 

Steve Fouts (04:48)

If you think it up, it’s possible.

 

Dan Fouts (04:51)

It’s the only key to the future. With it, all things are possible. that’s a kind of a bold statement there, the only key to the future. So whatever the future looks like, imagination is the key. You have to dream something into existence. It’s a very powerful, optimistic, some would say maybe naive sentiment, but we’ll think of Ida Tarbell.

 

Steve Fouts (05:02)

Yeah, you gotta be careful of those words.

 

Dan Fouts (05:20)

She dreamed of a day where people were treated more equally. This was the era of the robber barons, the captains of industry, Rockefeller and JP Morgan, who were creating a society of pretty dramatic inequality. So she imagined a world where reform was possible and where the playing field was leveled a little bit. So that was probably an inspiring sentiment behind her reforms. And, you know, imagination does, there’s a lot of things that are possible if you imagine it. In fact, I don’t know, as a teacher, just to go right there, I mean, I have to sometimes imagine my lessons unfolding in my head before I’m able to motivate myself to create them. I try to picture what it’s like when it’s successful. And that actually generates my passion and will to create it. It doesn’t always work out, but it definitely makes things possible.

 

Steve Fouts (06:31)

Yeah, I’m trying to think of the way I think about it. I’m thinking of Teach Different and, you know, we’re coming up on our eight-year birthday and yeah, there is some imagining. It’s the way you want the world to be. I’ll give you a quick thought here. For the first three or four years, we just did workshops, live workshops, and shared the method with teachers and, you know, with anyone who wanted to listen, really. And we got really good feedback. People loved it. but we sensed that it wasn’t enough as far as would they really go home and use it? And a one and done workshop isn’t enough to really, really teach this. And then we started imagining, well, what would an experience look like that would give someone enough practice, enough structure and routine to not only like learn what it is, cause you can learn quote, claim, counterclaim essential question in about 10 seconds, but to actually try it with people and stick to it when it doesn’t work perfectly the first time. So did we have to imagine this certificate program that we’ve come up with? We did. That did not exist, you know, say two years ago, but we wanted something that dealt with the things we knew we needed to take care of to get people to learn this and really use it. So there’s my example, Teach Different.

 

Dan Fouts (08:13)

Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. That makes a lot of sense just in the development of the conversation method and how we’re sharing it with people. Just to more relatable examples, sports maybe, you know, a coach helps players imagine success and then it’s possible to do that. Or you’re talking to a high school senior and they’re getting into a college. Where do they want to imagine doing that? What’s their… What’s their imagination doing when they’re considering the job or the profession that they wanna get into? It’s an important thing to the future. Now she’s saying imagination is the only key to the future it, all things are possible. So let’s, I’m right. Are you ready for the counterclaim here? Yeah, I mean.

 

Steve Fouts (09:01)

Go for it.

 

Dan Fouts (09:04)

My first thought is… Luck sometimes is a key to your future. You might timing, things might come together at a certain time where you didn’t imagine it, you actually came upon it. And the circumstances around you created your opportunity, not your brain thinking about it beforehand.

 

Steve Fouts (09:12)

which is kind of like timing. I think a good way to say the counterclaim is, some things you don’t imagine, you discover. They’re already in you, for instance, like some ability or skill, and you get put into a situation where you have to learn it or show it. And that’s the future when you realize, boy, I was really good at that. Or maybe I wasn’t good at it, but you discovered it and it, it informs the future. It’s something that was already here, but you didn’t realize it. That’s a different thing than imagine. And I think that it’s probably more common where people are ignorant of themselves or the situation.

 

Dan Fouts (10:18)

Yeah, maybe.

 

Steve Fouts (10:22)

And they need education, need learning, they need to discover something, that’s the future too.

 

Dan Fouts (10:30)

And taking what, this is kind of maybe a spin off of what you’re saying is that when you have an opportunity that presents itself and you take advantage of it, that is your key to your future. Acting upon things that are put in your lap. You know, if you meet somebody who suggests that you apply for a job, for instance, or say that you’re really good at something and you have the opportunity to go after an opportunity of some sort. Well then, it’s not really your imagination, you’re just getting something put to you and you’re like, you know what, I’m motivated and I’m gonna try this. And that’s when all things are possible. It’s kind of related to, think what you’re saying. 

 

Steve Fouts (11:18)

Yeah, you take advantage of something that’s put in your lap. In fact, I don’t think there’s many people that…

 

Dan Fouts (11:22)

Yeah.

 

Steve Fouts (11:27)

Do imagine, well, it depends on the situation. If you think about your career and you’re an entrepreneur, of course you have to imagine because that’s gonna lead how you develop your company, right? But imagine can take a lot of different forms. So.

 

Dan Fouts (11:45)

And also, and a little deeper here, back to the claim, Ida Tarbell is definitely suggesting with this that a person’s ability to make free choices and decide for themselves what they want is the key to their future. That they have a lot of control over what happens in the world. A counterclaim to that, to go with that idea of the claim is that a lot of circumstances are out of your control and therefore, at most. And so therefore, it’s not about your imagination, it’s about your awareness of what is happening around you, which is kind of what you were saying earlier.

 

Steve Fouts (12:20)

Yeah, discover awareness. Your eyes are clouded. It’s being clear-eyed about something, whereas before you weren’t. That’s the counterclaim. Now I’m thinking about a question.

 

Dan Fouts (12:44)

And then, yeah, what role does the imagination play in our success?

 

Steve Fouts (12:55)

I mean, that’s general. Yeah.

 

Dan Fouts (12:56)

Yeah.

 

Steve Fouts (12:58)

Do we have to imagine things in the future to be successful? or what role does imagination play in your own success?

 

Dan Fouts (13:15)

How can I use imagination to build my own success? What’s more important to my success, imagination or discovery? and why, you know, there’s a lot of things that can flow from this. Yeah, this would be a, a young child could deal with this one. Imagine a young child is imagining things all the time. You could get a really good discussion just about what people imagine and what’s possible and what’s not possible.

 

Steve Fouts (14:02)

This is almost a psychological self-help type guide because when your life isn’t going the way you want…

 

Dan Fouts (14:04)

Yeah.

 

Steve Fouts (14:12)

You know, it really is sad when you stop imagining what it could be and you start giving up in a way.

 

Dan Fouts (14:24)

Yeah, and that’s.

 

Steve Fouts (14:25)

But you also can miss, see, you also can miss what you have if you start imagining too much. Grass is always greener, you know, and you don’t really appreciate what you have.

 

Dan Fouts (14:40)

Got another question. How much of my own success do I control through my imagination?

 

Steve Fouts (14:49)

Yeah.

 

Dan Fouts (14:52)

That really gets to, whatever you just said, which I can’t repeat, made me think of that question. It would really tap into the, what, the extent to which people believe that they control their own destiny, which is always an interesting conversation, I think. I think you learn so much about people when they start pontificating on what they can control, what they can’t control, because you really get a sense for what’s going on in their life and what kind of ⁓ confidence they have. Okay, this is really good. It is kind of like a self-help quote in many ways. Imagination is the only key to the future. With it, all things are possible. Ita Tarbell, Muckraker from the early 20th century, fantastic quote. All right, well thanks everybody and we’ll see you in the next ⁓ episode with a new quote and some brand new ideas. Take care.

 

Steve Fouts (15:53)

Bye.