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(From previous article): Finally, the practice of using sound logic boosts our confidence in our own abilities. Working with others becomes easier. We’ve spent time learning and getting to know ourselves. We understand how we think and what our strengths and weaknesses are. Working in groups and meeting new people is no longer intimidating. We are confident because we know how we fit in and where we can provide solutions.

Our personalities are still the same. There won’t be much change there. But where we need help we gain confidence to look for it. If we are introverted we overcome any fear factor by using tools we learned to deal with others. Likewise, if we are outgoing, then we know where, when, and if we should dial it back a bit.

Either way we are no longer the outsider looking in, or the individual not sure where they fit in. We remain confident in our ability to determine fact from fiction. We are eager to be with others who share the same values. We also want to be with those who desire to learn and experience what we’ve learned.

And we gladly pay-it-forward.

Shut Up And Think

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Aristotle

As an educator I have found Aristotle’s admonishment some of the most profound words ever uttered for students.

I have used it to help students decide the best way to approach a difficult subject matter.

Most of the advice that students get amounts to nothing more than sentimental tripe.

• You only get out what you put in.
• Pull yourselves up by the bootstraps.
• Visualize and succeed.
• The world is your oyster.
• It’s more than just yada, yada, yada.

Forget all of them and remember only this one.

Learn how to consider and examine what others have to say without internalizing it.

It seems that something happens to students somewhere between high school and the time they get to college. Somewhere in between trust in authority begins to wane at best. At worse, it’s teenage anarchy, baby.

I get it. I was one myself.

What “cured” me was being exposed to a liberal arts education. For some, those three words together, liberal arts education, is a scary prospect.

In reality it is far less.

Liberal arts is a teaching method developed by the Greeks. It emphasizes the study of language, logic, public speaking, math, music, and astronomy. It was adopted by many European universities during the Renaissance and today continues to influence universities worldwide.

A core principle to a liberal arts education is to teach students how to learn. The ultimate goal is to produce well-informed citizens by turning them into life-long students.

Life long students. We never stop learning.

Students are given enough knowledge to explore their careers and the world. They are also equipped with the skills necessary to think critically.

These skills help them solve everyday personal and professional problems.

Period. Full stop.

Despite the accusations by some uninformed corners of the world, it is not a brainwashing system.

Learn how to consider and examine what others have to say without internalizing it.

Liberal arts students are taught to consider and examine what others have to say. They do this without internalizing it. I think this life lesson transcends the liberal arts. Everyone could learn from this.

As a beginning student one has to learn not to feel threatened by knowledge. Our first scandal usually comes in a philosophy class when we are introduced to all those thinkers.

“The bastards are trying to change us!”

It takes us a while to realize that they are not. They are paid to teach us these things. We are expected to observe and consider these ideas. Like being handed an apple and expected to look at it and describe it in detail.

Nothing more.

Once we accept that fact things come a lot easier. We no longer feel assaulted (we never were in the first place).

I suppose that’s a scary prospect for some. Freedom of ideas does threat some corners.

Speaking of which, something that has been observed.

By the time students get to higher education their bullshit detector is working overtime. Everything and everyone is suspect. This resistance is the first “real power” a teenager experiences.

For the first time they may be experiencing their autonomous nature naturally emerging. They are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. They are trying to figure out who they are. They are also figuring out what they’ll become.

Parents who have experienced living with teenagers get it.

Introducing and daily reinforcing the notion of suspending judgment takes some time. Wannabe adults need to consider concepts unfamiliar to them. But once they catch on they’re able to get out of their own way and allow an education to happen.

The number one piece of advice for students, and anyone else who is a lifetime student, is simple. When someone presents to you an idea, thought, philosophy, creed, or tenet, take it. Hold it. Look at it. Dispassionately, without any sense of attachment, observe it the same way as if someone handed you an object. Try not to internalize it just yet.

At this point we are not asking, “How does that make you feel?” We are only interested in, “Do you understand it?”

That’s an interesting apple, ball, spoon, etc.

I don’t know why, but that analogy has always worked for me.

“It’s just someone else’s thought, idea, belief. I can look at it. Inspect it. Not have to internalize it. No one has asked me to change.”

The mark of an educated mind is to entertain a thought. There should be no internal pressure to accept it as truth.

The Minefield

On a daily basis we are bombarded with news and information. As we’ve seen, some of it is accurate, valid, misleading, deceptive, and/or fraudulent.

Our ancestors have handed down to us the components of a logical, rational, and reasonable mind. Nevertheless, it is fraught with pitfalls and traps along the way (the stick snake in a previous article, for example).

We need to use it more effectively. We have to reject the lazy aspects of it. Establishing fact from fiction by using reason is a determined, deliberate, and learned behavior. We have to want to use it, learn how to exercise it, and be deliberate when doing so.

One of the most freeing aspects of being a life-long student is the idea that we can’t possibly know everything. In fact, we readily admit that we don’t have all the answers.

We know how to ask the questions we need. We know where to look and who to ask. This helps us come up with solutions to the professional and personal problems we face daily.

The Space Between – From Listening To Understanding

To consider that entertaining foreign ideas is good practice, we should remember that “everyone has the right to be understood.”

The right to be understood doesn’t mean we have to agree with the idea.

But before we disagree we need to fully understand what that idea is and why someone thinks it is important.

Obviously, not all ideas are equal.

Someone tells me that the world is flat or that the moon landing was a hoax. Knowing that I am an educator, I know right away their understanding is limited. They may be misguided at best. Personally, I find those ideas dumb. Professionally they make no sense to me. Personally I find it hard to imagine people being sincere when they argue for them.

But it’s the idea that is dumb. Not the person.

Unfortunately, in our society, we judge the ideas and the person as one and the same. You are your ideas. It is sometimes hard to separate the difference between the two. So, the first natural reaction is to judge the idea (some ideas deserve a snap judgment). It’s only after much discussion can I determine if the individual is lacking in mental dexterity.

“Understanding is an intentional act of emphatic comprehension.”

That’s a fancy way of saying to strive at comprehending the idea being presented. It takes a great deal of mental energy to uphold the virtue that everyone deserves to be understood.

The flat-earther noted above or the moon landing denier? Those are absolutely very foreign and wrong ideas. However, it’s equally important to try and understand why people choose to go against conventional wisdom. They do this despite the mounting contrary evidence.

Their tenacity ought to be admired at least.

There are a number of reasons why people choose to go in that direction.

Perhaps a topic for a future article?

Read Pt. 7 of Decoding Lies