Having a thinking brain is unsettling. Our thoughts turn to mysteries - how does the world work? How did we get here? What is death - is it the end or a new beginning? Why do some people hate other people? What are the rules - of nature, of behavior, of society? How can we live well? What is valuable to life and what is damaging to it? Why are some people healthy and some sickly? Why are there rich and poor, strong and weak? Why are some people survivors and some not? How can we make things better? What makes them worse?
In the absence of absolute answers, we supply our own theories or adopt those of others. To supply our own takes work. Adopting others' should also take work. Easy explanations are seductive, but often too simplistic. To accept them uncritically is a betrayal of our gift - a thinking brain.
Education should stretch the capacity of the thinking brain, not stifle it.
Here's what I think...
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//Easy explanations are seductive, but often too simplistic. To accept them uncritically is a betrayal of our gift - a thinking brain.//
ReplyDeleteVery well said. :)