What is Normal Thinking?

Here she goes again! I know you are groaning but today I am actually going to ask a profound question. How do you make people intelligent? Forget DNA and IQs, what I am asking is how do you boost the average person from being average to informed?

Is it a question of education only or does example play a role? Does exposure to experiences need to be added? How do you teach one to analyze what is being taught, shown or experienced? What tools are needed and how do they get them? Mental tools, educational tools, experiential tools where do they come from.

In other words, is it even possible to make an average person MORE?

Now why am I asking this question? It is really very simple, when one feels that she is the lone voice in a wilderness it can be very worrying. One questions her own thoughts, ideas, values and principles only to shake her head and say “no, I am sure I am on the right path so why aren’t others with me?” That leads one to ask the next question “what is normal thinking”? Who sets the benchmark for what is “normal” and “acceptable”? We can pose this question on anything from politics, social issues or science issues (yes, I am thinking about climate change).

Lastly, is it important to have everyone “on side”? To this question I do have an answer; while it is nice to have everyone on board it would be dull if we didn’t have varying opinions on certain topics. However, on certain issues I do think that we humans should be of one mind because it is my unwavering belief that we humans are capable of so much more than what we currently are. In that regard I believe that our parenting and our education system are letting us down. We should not be looking for “achievement” as the goal for our children; rather we should be helping them to build their character, their values, their principles to a level aspired to in the societies and philosophies of yore.

It’s not important to get into Yale, it’s important to understand the true meaning of Life.