THE DENIAL OF RELEVANCE: BIOGRAPHY OF A QUEST(ION) AMIDST THE MIN(D)FIELDS—GROPING AND STUMBLING Marion Turner VanBebber, JD, MS, BS Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2014 APPROVED: Brian C. O’Connor, Major Professor James Duban, Committee Member Jodi L. Kearns, Committee Member Suliman Hawamdeh, Chair of the Department of Library and Information Science Herman Totten, Dean of the College of Information Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School VanBebber, Marion Turner. The Denial of Relevance: Biography of a Quest(ion) Amidst the Min(d)fields—Groping and Stumbling. Doctor of Philosophy (Information Science), August 2014, 251 pp., 15 figures, references, 226 titles. Early research on just why it might be the case that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” suggested that denial of relevance was a significant factor. Asking why denial of relevance would be significant and how it might be resolved began to raise issues of the very nature of questions. Pursuing the nature of questions, in light of denial of relevance and Thoreau’s “quiet desperation” provoked a journey of modeling questions and constructing a biography of the initial question of this research and its evolution. Engaging literature from philosophy, neuroscience, and retrieval then combined with deep interviews of successful lawyers to render a thick, biographical model of questioning. Copyright 2014 by Marion Turner VanBebber ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am immensely grateful to so many mentors who have influenced my life, as we “stand on the shoulders of giants,” “get by with a little help from our friends,” and benefit when “it takes a village.” This appreciation is consistent with the major themes in this paper, including that what we know or think we know is often not nearly as certain and conclusive as we may wish to believe, that our knowledge and understanding seem to best favor a holistic and interdisciplinary working-out of ideas and analyses, that these realities occasion much paradox to be found on virtually any topic and in general life, and that we therefore should seek out and reach out for personal, helpful, intelligent, and discerning mentors and guides during the entire course of an individual’s lifetime. Whether by way of deliberate seeking, gracious providence, or blind luck, my stumbling and groping granted the great gift of my life: phenomenal people crossing my life’s path, aptly described as my family, friends, and teachers. First, I am most grateful for my immediate family and particularly my wonderfully spirited parents, the small- town preacher and public-school teacher, both of whom have dedicated their lives to teaching, mentoring, and giving so much to others. Second only to my Dad, my gifted Irish preacher in New York City, the late Dr. R. Maurice Boyd, provided an almost overwhelming wave in his spiritual and literary insights for my continuing education. Third, the litany of all the great teachers, suffice it here to list those on my committee who more directly dedicated themselves to this particular consummation: committee chair Brian Clark O’Connor who quite personally and relationally chaired this 54th dissertation committee, Jim Duban who energetically advised in many endeavors, and Jodi L. Kearns who contributed valuable inputs—these amazing teachers reflect the “something more” worth living and dying for, and thankfully are “paid to think” and wrestle with ideas in their commitment to the life of the mind. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii Chapters I. INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTION ...................................................................1 II. PROCEDURAL POSTURE AND RESEARCH METHODS .................................................10 III. ENGAGING THE LITERATURE ..........................................................................................16 A. Information Science Background..................................................................................16 B. Information Science Issues, Problem, and Solution ......................................................18 1. Information and Seeking ....................................................................................18 2. Information and Avoidance ...............................................................................20 3. Importance and Paucity of Research on Information Avoidance ......................24 4. Five Information Models of Seeking, Avoiding and Nondeterministic Activity ..............................................................................................................26 a. T. Wilson Model b. Modified Wilson Model c. MLO Matrix of Information-Seeking Strategies d. Nondeterministic Model of Engineering Design Activity e. Third-Level Elaboration of Seeking Process 5. Information Science Solution ............................................................................32 C. Information Science and Neuroscience .........................................................................38 1. Processing of Information ..................................................................................38 2. Illustrative Examples of Affective Worldviews ................................................41 iv 3. Recent Literature on Brain Processes ................................................................44 a. Expansion and Update on Churchland b. Evolution to Self and Illusion of Will c. Decisional Factors and Choice d. Thinking Processes and Nudges e. A Combination to Self f. A Combination to Darwinian Consciousness g. History and Holistic View of Deciding h. Use of Doubt and Uncertainty i. Blinking and Thinking 4. Patrick Wilson on Discerning and Deciphering Meaning .................................96 D. Information Science and Religion ...............................................................................102 1. Intersection and Collaboration .........................................................................102 a. Connecting and Searching b. Spiritual, Literary, and Economic Information: The Walden Model 2. Neuroscience and Religion ..............................................................................112 a. Happiness and Morality b. God and Belief 3. Theological Constructions ...............................................................................134 4. Social and Public Policy Applications .............................................................142 IV. ANALYSIS............................................................................................................................145 A. Theoretical Framework and Philosophical Themes ...................................................145 1. Overview ..........................................................................................................146 v 2. Terminology of Information –Seeking Behaviors ...........................................147 3. Denial and Nondeterministic Approaches .......................................................149 B. Data Collection and Qualitative Compilation .............................................................166 1. Subject Interviews on Seven Topics ................................................................167 a. Decisions and Choices (relating to career/profession/job/educational paths) b. Money c. Thinking Process, Inputs, and (F)actors d. Favorites and Valued Qualities/Attributes e. Mentors, Guides, and Informational Resources f. Denial g. Ennui and Malaise 2. Robert Coles’s Interviews ................................................................................196 A. Review, Synthesis, and Emergent Constructs .............................................................206 1. Six Principal Themes .......................................................................................206 a. “Don’t Know,” Dissatisfaction, and Fear b. Egocentric Continuum c. Socially Collaborative and Integrative d. Holistic Input, Evaluation, and Assessment e. Paradox, Limits & Constraints, Trade-offs and Compromises f. Guides and Mentors 2. Illuminating the Question State .......................................................................211 a. “Quiet Desperation” and “I Don’t Know” States vi b. Clarifying the Analysis & Building the Case: Factors, Tools, and Models c. Identifying & Guiding toward Solutions: “Aha,” “Ah,” and “Oh My” Moments V. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................221 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................225 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................237 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTION The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. H.D. Thoreau (1854) Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? T.S. Eliot (1934) One sometimes imagines that most of life’s seemingly inexhaustible questions may be immediately if not adequately resolved in a static and linear fashion, from a precise question to a directly relevant answer, squarely on point. It typically does not take much further excavation to realize, however, that many of life’s ponderous questions place more intense and deeper