“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle
This is something that we are lacking today. The mental ability to think about something and understand it and then be able to move on from it. To be able to find the truth and move past lies, deceit, and out right buffoonery. Well, to be honest, I just don’t know what to call the monkey business of political movements like Global Warming, Gay Marriage, Anti-Self Defense, and Big Government. It takes an educated and well read person to be able to think and reason. I will be honest, I have not read most of the material written by great thinkers like John Locke, William Blackstone, Cesare Becarria, Theodore Mommsen, Baron de Montesquieu, Charles Carleton Coffin, Niccolo Machiavelli, David Hume, Thomas More, and Adam Smith (which I will have to rectify). What I have done, is read and think and ponder on the material presented by our Founding Fathers. I have read scientific material both supporting and opposing Global Warming.
My parents also taught me to think for myself. Similar to Sonya Carson’s advice to Ben, you have a brain think your way out of the problem. It seems to me that many of the Millennial Generation has been taught to feel instead of think. I know a few of them and yeah, they feel first and think second. Personally, I prefer to think first and reason or to meditate and ponder. Then, once I have spent time on the information and think I have it sorted out; that is when I pull our the BS detector and go with my gut. No, I am not talking about food.
It takes time, experience, failure, success, and failure for wisdom to mature. It is true that we can gain wisdom from sitting at the feet of great mentor(s). Honestly, at this point in my life I can’t count how many mentors I have had. That includes high school teachers, college professors, writers and thinkers (dead and alive). I still keep an eye out for new mentors, and read or listen to them. I strive to learn something everyday. I strive to think and understand my environment (both ecological, political, and social).
Get educated and a degree, a degree doesn’t’ prove you are educated. It proves you can navigate the university system. To be educated is to learn … which should never stop!
iron wil