Glossary (A–Z)
Transdisciplinarian Glossary (A–Z)
A
Aspirational Goals
Objectives that go beyond feasibility and immediate needs, inspiring long-term transformation.
Refresher: What future is worth striving for, even if it feels out of reach?
Assumptions
Beliefs we take for granted in reasoning, often unexamined but shaping conclusions.
Refresher: What am I assuming, and why?
B
Belbin Team Roles
Nine archetypes describing preferred team behaviors (e.g., Plant, Coordinator, Implementer).
Refresher: What role do I naturally take in collaboration?
Breadth (Critical Thinking Standard)
Considering multiple perspectives or contexts.
Refresher: Whose voice is missing?
C
Clarity (Critical Thinking Standard)
The quality of being easily understood, free from confusion or vagueness.
Refresher: Could I state this more simply?
Collaboration Readiness
An individual’s or group’s capacity to engage in fair, transparent, effective partnership.
Refresher: Am I ready to build trust before outcomes?
Critical Change Paths
Strategic workflows aligning aspirational goals with practical steps and societal benefits.
Refresher: Does this path lead to impact, or just motion?
Critical Thinking (Paul–Elder Model)
The art of analyzing and evaluating reasoning with intellectual standards (clarity, accuracy, etc.) applied to elements of thought.
Refresher: The quality-control system for thought.
D
Decision-Making Apparatus
The cognitive and social structures shaping how individuals or groups make choices.
Refresher: Are we aware of what guides our “yes” or “no”?
Design Thinking
A human-centered approach to innovation emphasizing empathy, ideation, and prototyping.
Refresher: Have we stepped into their shoes?
Design–Launch–Manage (DLM)
A cycle of innovation: design ideas, launch prototypes, manage outcomes and iterations.
Refresher: Innovation is a verb, not a noun.
Depth (Critical Thinking Standard)
Exploring the underlying complexities of an issue.
Refresher: Have I gone beneath the surface?
E
Elements of Thought
Core components of reasoning (purpose, question, information, interpretation, assumptions, concepts, implications, point of view).
Refresher: Which element am I overlooking?
Epistemological Audit
A process for evaluating the reliability, fairness, and completeness of knowledge claims.
Refresher: Do our conclusions rest on solid ground?
F
FASA (Feasible, Acceptable, Suitable, Aspirational)
A framework for evaluating options across practical, ethical, contextual, and visionary dimensions.
Refresher: What’s possible, permissible, appropriate — and worth striving for?
Fairmindedness
A disposition to treat all perspectives with respect, free of bias or self-interest.
Refresher: Am I applying standards to my own thinking?
G
Generational Enlightenment
Positive contributions of a generation toward resolving systemic problems.
Refresher: How can one generation leave wisdom, not burdens?
Generational Stupidity
Patterns of systemic errors, biases, or short-termism perpetuated across a generation.
Refresher: What mistakes are we repeating without noticing?
H
Homo Opportunist
A framing of humans as beings who constantly evaluate opportunities, not just rational utility.
Refresher: What opportunities drive our choices — survival, status, or meaning?
I
Interdisciplinarity
Engagement across disciplines where tools and methods are shared but boundaries remain.
Refresher: Crossing lines, but keeping the map.
Intellectual Standards
Universal criteria (clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, fairness) applied to reasoning.
Refresher: Which standard strengthens this idea?
J
Justice (Systemic)
The expectation that institutions act fairly across individuals and groups.
Refresher: What happens when faith in fairness erodes?
K
Kairos
The opportune moment for action or decision, as distinct from chronological time (Chronos).
Refresher: Are we acting at the right moment, not just any moment?
Knowledge (Paul’s usage)
The integration of skill and knowledge into applied “know-how.”
Refresher: Do I just know it, or can I use it?
L
Logic (Critical Thinking Standard)
The internal consistency of reasoning, free from contradictions.
Refresher: Does this follow, or am I forcing it?
Learning by Co-Development
An approach where learners are engaged in ideation, design, and execution alongside instructors.
Refresher: Did we build this knowledge together?
M
Manage Phase (DLM)
Evaluating outcomes, iterating, and sustaining momentum after a launch.
Refresher: Are we learning from what happened, not just moving forward?
Metacognition
Thinking about one’s own thinking — awareness of biases, strategies, and habits of mind.
Refresher: Am I watching how I think, as I think?
Multidisciplinarity
Parallel work by multiple disciplines without deep integration.
Refresher: Cooperation, not yet integration.
N
Noetic Critical Thinking
A form of reasoning that integrates intuition, values, and deep reflection alongside analysis.
Refresher: What truths are felt as much as reasoned?
O
Outcome-Driven Innovation
Evaluating success based on achieved impact and stakeholder alignment, not just activity.
Refresher: Did we make a difference — or just make progress?
Ostrom’s Principles
Design principles for managing commons sustainably, emphasizing collective governance.
Refresher: Who sets the rules for shared resources?
P
Potentiology
The study of potentialities — speculative reasoning about futures and unrealized possibilities.
Refresher: The science of maybe.
Precision (Critical Thinking Standard)
Exactness and specificity in reasoning.
Refresher: Could I be more exact here?
Purpose (Element of Thought)
The reason why thinking or action is undertaken.
Refresher: Why am I doing this?
Q
Quality of Reasoning
Measured by applying intellectual standards to the elements of thought.
Refresher: Does this thinking deserve my trust?
Questions (Driving)
The inquiries that guide reasoning and shape its depth.
Refresher: Am I asking the most important question?
R
Relevance (Critical Thinking Standard)
The degree to which information or ideas relate directly to the issue.
Refresher: Am I on point, or drifting?
Rent-Seeking
Extracting value without creating value, often by exploiting rules or positions of power.
Refresher: Who gains without giving?
S
Suitability (FASA)
How well an option aligns with the broader context and goals.
Refresher: Is this the right fit for this situation?
Systems Thinking
Understanding wholes by examining connections, feedback loops, and emergence.
Refresher: The pattern is the message.
T
Transdisciplinarity
Approach that transcends disciplinary boundaries to integrate methods, theories, and perspectives into holistic problem-solving.
Refresher: What assumptions dissolve when we step beyond a single discipline?
Tragedy of the Commons
A situation where individuals overuse a shared resource to the detriment of all.
Refresher: How do we prevent collective self-destruction?
U
Unintended Consequences
Outcomes not anticipated when decisions are made, often undermining original intentions.
Refresher: What ripple effects am I missing?
V
Values Alignment
The degree to which collaborators’ motivations, ethics, and purposes coincide.
Refresher: Do we want the same kind of good?
Visioning
A forward-looking practice of imagining and articulating desirable futures.
Refresher: Can we see beyond the present horizon?
W
WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic)
A critique of narrow cultural bias in psychology and social science research.
Refresher: Whose worldview dominates the data?
X
XAI (Explainable AI)
Artificial intelligence designed to provide human-understandable explanations for decisions.
Refresher: If the machine can’t explain itself, should we trust it?
Y
Yin–Yang Thinking
An Eastern philosophical approach emphasizing complementary opposites and dynamic balance.
Refresher: What tension produces harmony?
Z
Zero-Sum Thinking
Belief that one party’s gain automatically equals another’s loss.
Refresher: Must every win come with a loss?
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