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| Intellectual health |
Intellectual health
Our capacity for advanced thought is the characteristic that defines us as humans and separates us from all other life on Earth. Intellectual health includes an open mind and a joy for learning.
Joy for learning
A joy for learning is fostered by curiosity and a determination to understand why things are the way they are. A joy for learning brings satisfaction when a new understanding is reached, and it initiates a quest for patterns and answers when a new unknown is encountered.
A joy for learning also involves a love of books. There are millions of books in the great libraries of the world, and thousands more are published every year. Books bring you in contact with the best minds of the past and contain a detailed record of our history and culture. Books contain a wealth of knowledge of our present world and provide a window on possible futures. While not every book is a masterpiece, the creation of books provides one of the best means for individuals to organize and record their own thoughts and adventures. Most books are only published after an author has spent thousands of hours planning, writing, and editing.
A willingness to change
Intellectual health includes a willingness to adopt new ideas and approaches for dealing with everyday events. Even when your current knowledge has been hard won, new information and new theories can add insight and explain inconsistencies.
Intellectual health involves accepting that learning is a challenging but worthwhile endeavour, and that errors and failure are learning experiences.
To cultivate intellectual health, you should develop interests and relationships that support, stimulate, and challenge your standard thought processes. You should actively seek new learning opportunities, and develop habits of thought that demand clear thinking and critical judgement.
Learning in early childhood
Adaptability is one of the key features of a human baby’s intellect. The same baby can adapt to life as a Peruvian in the Andes or as a Bedouin in the desert. Without taking any formal lessons, a child in China can learn to speak Mandarin while a child in Spain can learn to speak Spanish. A child in an urban setting learns to negotiate city traffic, ride elevators, and manage home security systems. A child in a rural setting learns to play in the woods, distinguish between crops and weeds, and how to care for animals. When younger children suffer serious brain injuries, they are often able to recover much faster than older persons with similar injuries.
Early childhood learning involves establishing the basic neural pathways that are likely to be of value during the child’s entire lifetime. Early physical and social environments determine what those needs are likely to be. In his book, First Three Years of Life (1995), Burton White emphasizes the importance of early childhood learning, and argues that we should provide an enriched environment for our young children. An enriched environment helps to establish a broad collection of neural pathways. A broad collection of neural pathways lays the foundation for a lifetime of learning and clear thinking.
Our capacity for advanced thought is the characteristic that defines us as humans and separates us from all other life on Earth. Intellectual health includes an open mind and a joy for learning.
Joy for learning
A joy for learning is fostered by curiosity and a determination to understand why things are the way they are. A joy for learning brings satisfaction when a new understanding is reached, and it initiates a quest for patterns and answers when a new unknown is encountered.
A joy for learning also involves a love of books. There are millions of books in the great libraries of the world, and thousands more are published every year. Books bring you in contact with the best minds of the past and contain a detailed record of our history and culture. Books contain a wealth of knowledge of our present world and provide a window on possible futures. While not every book is a masterpiece, the creation of books provides one of the best means for individuals to organize and record their own thoughts and adventures. Most books are only published after an author has spent thousands of hours planning, writing, and editing.
A willingness to change
Intellectual health includes a willingness to adopt new ideas and approaches for dealing with everyday events. Even when your current knowledge has been hard won, new information and new theories can add insight and explain inconsistencies.
Intellectual health involves accepting that learning is a challenging but worthwhile endeavour, and that errors and failure are learning experiences.
To cultivate intellectual health, you should develop interests and relationships that support, stimulate, and challenge your standard thought processes. You should actively seek new learning opportunities, and develop habits of thought that demand clear thinking and critical judgement.
Learning in early childhood
Adaptability is one of the key features of a human baby’s intellect. The same baby can adapt to life as a Peruvian in the Andes or as a Bedouin in the desert. Without taking any formal lessons, a child in China can learn to speak Mandarin while a child in Spain can learn to speak Spanish. A child in an urban setting learns to negotiate city traffic, ride elevators, and manage home security systems. A child in a rural setting learns to play in the woods, distinguish between crops and weeds, and how to care for animals. When younger children suffer serious brain injuries, they are often able to recover much faster than older persons with similar injuries.
Early childhood learning involves establishing the basic neural pathways that are likely to be of value during the child’s entire lifetime. Early physical and social environments determine what those needs are likely to be. In his book, First Three Years of Life (1995), Burton White emphasizes the importance of early childhood learning, and argues that we should provide an enriched environment for our young children. An enriched environment helps to establish a broad collection of neural pathways. A broad collection of neural pathways lays the foundation for a lifetime of learning and clear thinking.
