Where are we going, how can we change?

an investigation into the motivations for human action
as applicable to a sustainable future

The Purpose of Education

There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good; it can destroy bad principles and recreate good ones; it can lift men to angelship.

Mark Twain

What is the purpose of education? Why does one attend school and learn subject matter? How is the subject matter chosen?

Humans understand that without the means of passing on information to the newly born, their likelihood for survival greatly diminishes and their chance of living with greater degrees of suffering increases. Animals also understand this. The young learn from the more experienced the means of providing for food, water, and protection.

The better adapted the body is to survive the elements of its environment, the less education is needed. For example, the amount of education needed for a cockroach to live out its normal lifespan is miniscule. The process of natural selection at the level of the cockroach selects little for the brain. The human body, on the other hand, is the least adapted to survive in its surroundings. The brain fostered by its system of education has allowed the human to survive in climates inhospitable to the naked unsheltered body.

The human being is naked and is physically unsuited for survival in most climates of the Earth without an array of societal protections. The knowledge of these protections is passed along through systems of education.

Because humans continue to populate areas of greater climactic incompatibility with their physical body, they are required to establish and maintain vast amounts of knowledge for the upkeep and expansion of societal safeguards. This knowledge must be continuously protected and passed along to new generations.

Additionally, as the overall human population continues to expand and the individual’s desire for greater comfort of life increases, the sustaining network must grow more complex. Full understanding of society’s network is no longer capable of being understood by any individual and specialization has been created. Each individual does not need to know more than their specialty. This, by necessity, forces a compartmentalized understanding of the overall network and a limited viewpoint of the whole. The education system is ever-increasing to keep up with the increased knowledge which must be imparted to an also ever-increasing number of specialties.

As the society becomes more layered and complex, the specialized learning also becomes more abstract in its relation to providing for the necessities of human existence. One can imagine that in a hunter/gatherer society, the education given to the young is quite directly related to providing for basic needs of survival. In such a primitive culture, one learns firsthand how to acquire food, water, and shelter. A person taught in such a way has learned information which helps it survive the elements of its environment without a complex societal network. This is relatively non-abstract.

In the most primitive human societies, food was available in adequate quantity to support a given population without agriculture, and the naked body was well suited to an arid and warm climate. However, as humans have ventured into regions to which the body is poory adapted, the brain's ability for learning has needed to be employed to a greater degree to compensate. Extensive education is necessary to gain greater control over negative future outcomes which would be otherwise guaranteed by an inhospitable habitat.

Learning occurs whether intended or not. Subject matter is accurately named subjective. Anything capable of being taught can be taught and anything capable of being learned can be learned.

The differing value of that which is learned will be classified as either education or mis-education. That which is learned, and helps to minimize the suffering of the individual is education. That which is learned and promotes the suffering of the individual is mis-education. Regardless, or in spite of deliberate instruction, one will be either educated or mis-educated to some level merely through life experience. Learning occurs then at all times during consciousness and is not necessarily dependent on a formal school system. It could be agreed that a good measure of a society's education system can be indicated by its success in lessening its citizens' suffering and providing for greater life expectancy.

It has been stated that learning occurs at all times of individual consciousness and that it will be called education, when referencing what is useful in lessening individual suffering, and mis-education when referencing what leads to greater suffering.

At the most basic level, learning occurs by imitation. At some later stage, knowing occurs. This is an important distinction. Knowing is defined here as the stage where understanding takes place and something unique, and valued by others, can be formed. This is a higher and more stringent level of understanding than may be usually accepted. It is necessary to differentiate and recognize the point at which real knowing becomes present because, prior to this point, critical thinking is not possible and the full value of education is not realized.

Commonly, people will use the verb ‘to know’ to express lesser degrees of understanding. This makes it confusing to ascertain whether true knowing has really been achieved. Statements of agreement as in “yes, I know”, or recognition of something as in “I know this restaurant”, or in the ability to perform something simply by rote memorization as in “I know how to play the saxophone” are examples of something less than knowing, as defined here. The last example, “I know how to play the saxophone” for instance, when it is only meant that I am able to play my part of a song, may seem like enough evidence for a member of the school band to maintain they know their instrument. However, it does not indicate what level of understanding has been achieved.

In the case of a musician, it is certainly possible that a person can acquire through rote memorization and practice the ability to play a song. This is commendable, and it is perfectly understandable and not in dispute, that one has every right to say, I know how to play my part. However, a real knowing of the instrument, (an achievement of a higher degree of understanding) only occurs when the player exhibits the ability to improvise or reformulate, that which has been acquired through initial memorization, into something unique and valued by others. The last part of the preceding sentence, valued by others, can not be emphasized enough. For without this quality, there is no evidence that knowing has occurred. For instance, A person could surely pick up a saxophone, having had no schooling, and blow into it creating sounds. However, because this is not understood by others, and because the person blowing into the horn is not in control over the pattern of sounds coming out, any appreciated pairing of notes will only be created by chance. Appreciated patterning of notes will have little chance of replication by those who know less. It is, in fact, a distinct sign of having achieved a higher degree of knowing, that consistency of skillful application is evidenced.

It is possible that someone could achieve knowing in a subject that due to its difficulty of finding fruition in application may not have had the possibility of being fully evidenced. For example, an architect may know how to design a house and this can be evidenced by his practice in the creation of abstract drawings and models. Whether the actual house is built or not, is limited by factors often beyond the control of the architect. His full measure of knowing can unfortunately not be recognized until this real work is achieved. However, it can be assumed, if the abstract drawings and models produced are of a consistently recognized quality, that he does in fact know in some degree how to design a house.

The current education systems places a value on simple recognition over knowing. This is evidenced by the popularity of using true/false, multiple choice, and fill in the blank questions to evaluate competency in a subject. These types of questions only test for the most basic form of recognition. Knowing, even if a student achieves a perfect grade, is impossible to prove. If the teacher truly wanted to grade the student’s level of understanding, an oral examination or written essay would better achieve this end. The student must be forced to show the ability to reformulate the knowledge that he or she has accumulated and present it in a manner which makes it understandable and valued by the instructor.

The instructor here takes the place of the general public and thus must also be competent in knowing and critical thinking to make the distinction of value. The current lack of appreciation of real knowing in the typical American educational system, results in a belief, among students, that they fully understand things which in actuality they have only gained perhaps the most simplistic ability to recognize. This retards the ability to achieve critical thinking skills which will be of utmost importance for current and future generations.

Returning to the initial stages of learning, one can see through the example of speech how degrees of learning can be appreciated. A child first learns to speak by imitation. Speech patterns, accents and dialects are retained through imitation of the adult. Pure imitation does not indicate at what level knowing has been achieved. A parrot for instance, may be able to mimic words and phrases but is unable to form novel phrases out of the words it can speak. Similarly, a baby will begin speaking by mimicking simple words, (like mom or dad) with an understanding of what the words represent. We do not say that a child has learned to talk before this, as when it is first speaking gibberish. It is only when the words are recognized by others to mean something that the child has learned to speak.

True knowledge of speaking, however, differs in degree from mimicry and the most basic initial representational understanding. In another example of ability that is less than knowing, a traveler to a foreign country may be capable of saying a few words in a foreign tongue, but would not maintain that they can speak the language until enough mastery of grammar and vocabulary has been achieved allowing for novel thoughts to be expressed. The same is true of the child. The child knows how to speak when she can express something never before presented to her. To achieve knowing, reformulation of the building blocks occurs, and creativity enters in. A novel thought is presented in a manner that can be understood by others.

Once knowing has first been established, higher degrees of knowing can follow. For speech, we recognize the extent of knowing that has been achieved, and may acknowledge this by saying an individual speaks well or eloquently. Degrees of knowing are capable of being added through education. This is the purpose of formalized schools.

A school’s goal is to focus the attention on education and to deemphasize mis-education. Without focus, education cannot be guaranteed, and mis-education, resultant simply from environmental influence, will most likely occur. We, of course, recognize an individual who knows how to talk but is not well-educated. It can be readily acknowledged when someone, either through lack of education or poor schooling, has not learned a higher level of speech. Ineloquent speech will normally be disadvantageous to the individual encountering the global economic system and for this reason that it is an indicator of mis-education. However generally this is true, it should be emphasized that typical eloquent grammar, most normally exemplified by those with higher levels of college degrees, is not always the most useful. For instance, in the case of a hip-hop artist or someone needing to portray the language of the street, more eloquent speech would not be valued, and speech emblematic of the lesser-schooled will be better adapted. At this time, however, there is still a lower established demand for street language within the overall global economic system.

It should not be understood that one type of speech pattern is of greater or lesser value for any preferential reason, only that it should be recognized which is suited for success. It can also be understood that high-fallutin’, or overly loquacious, speech is of a lesser value in the current culture than in former times. Someone speaking in such a manner may be considered snobbish and less appreciated by the culture as a whole, and his success (as evidenced by the appreciation of recent presidential candidates), may be compromised.

Speaking of politicians, it is a common platform of candidates to maintain a high value for education and that it will be a top priority for their administration. It is yet unknown how a candidate would fair espousing little or no value on education and proposing an administration which will not support it. Perhaps a platform with this message should be tried for novelty sake, and if proven a successful vote-getter, can be adopted by the party. In any regard, ‘education’ promoted by a pro-education platform, refers to the common usage of the word, generally meaning only formal public schooling, and does not do us the service to clarify which percentage may be composed of elements leading to education and which will be composed of elements leading to mis-education. Indeed, many subjects and elements of teaching within formal schooling lead to mis-education.

Anything capable of being taught can be taught and anything capable of being learned can be learned. Subject matter is accurately named subjective. Emblematic of the worst and most egregious cases of systematically taught and government supported mis-education, can be seen in the case of the teaching of the Hitler youth during Nazi Germany. Young boys were selected at an early and most impressionable age. Hatred for other races of human beings and the over-stimulation of the barbaric nature was cultivated to the extreme. That this teaching, although counter to the sympathetic nature intrinsic to humans, was learned, evidenced itself in the barbaric and horrific deeds of those schooled. This is an extreme case of mis-education were the suffering, resultant in both physical and emotional ways by the victims as well as the pupils, was easily seen. Former students of this systematic mis-education attest to the ability of teaching to overwhelm their sympathetic nature. For the survivors, this mis-education was normally only successful in subduing their sympathetic underpinnings for a time and their true character, when re-educated or left to its own processes ended up making itself evident. Those who survived, through guilt, regret, or in some cases denial, make clear the power of the sympathetic core and the difficulty of suppressing it, (even in the face of the most oppositional, strict, and systematic teaching.)

What does a student learn today? To reemphasize that which was stated earlier, students are currently being rewarded for achieving competency in subjects at a level less than knowing. Because knowing is generally undervalued, critical thinking is not adequately supported. The ability for critical thinking is formed by the strengthening of the ability to use common-sense and an appreciation and proper application of good science and mythology. It results in the maximum freedom for the individual to choose based on an understanding of cause and affect and devoid of prejudice and superstition. It should be stated that even though an individual can fully cultivate critical thinking and have it available for use, it may still sometimes be made unavailable due to addiction, chemical stimulation, or snap reactions which are directed by the most primitive instincts including those of the barbaric violent nature. Critical thinking has the ability to achieve more successful choice making but also requires an element of time to willfully implement its use in order to temper impulse-action.

Perpetuated in societies all over the globe, we are being taught that humans have evolved beyond the restrictions of the natural world. Today, the majority of students learns that the human being is at a position somehow above and separated from the natural world. Students are being mis-educated under the ideology that the human species is now better protected from the forces of mother-nature and that they have achieved a state of dominance over natural forces ensuring protection from negative outcomes. As it has been previously discussed, in reference to faith in science, progress is believed to be guaranteed and this is a factor leading to the cult of over-optimism. In a time when data and evidence based on good science and common-sense show that humans are now in an extremely vulnerable position in relation to their environment, the cult of over-optimism maintains the opposite to be true.

Over-optimism, one of the most insidious and arrogant of human traits, is a chief foe of common-sense, destroying the necessary component of critical thinking. It can be noticed, if one travels throughout the world, that over-optimism of the quality referenced here, is seemingly most prevalent in the American culture. Over-optimism is a state beyond simple optimism or having a sunny disposition. Looking forward to the day is an admirable trait. However, over-optimism is radically beyond this and is recognized as a state of almost non-reality where the ability for critical judgment is so impaired by idelologies, based on faith, that a successful outcome is believed guaranteed, even in the face of feedback that would only be implying the opposite.

Part of the mis-education problem stems from the delusional belief in progress by default, an ideology supported by faith in science and now ingrained in the culture. The everything-is-fine-in-the-end belief has its beginnings here. Cause and effect are not emphasized because the effects of poor judgment are no longer seen to be of much concern. It is generally true, that even the lesser-educated, and those who have not achieved basic cause and effect understanding in the United States, still have the ability to provide for basic sustenance and even achieve comforts of life. Much has been made of some impoverished lower classes of Americans struggling for survival. However, even within these groups, luxuries such as: large screen TV sets, electronics, automobiles, and leisure time, are evident in addition to the basic necessities for sustenance. These people may be suffering in emotional ways due to a limited ability to choose, resultant from mis-education, but they are generally not in great degree suffering physically.

The American lower class would neither be considered a true case of suffering in reference to historic levels nor compared to current societies where basic sustenance and protection of life and liberty are not adequately available. Because of the ease of sustenance currently afforded in America, it is somewhat true that, regardless of what course of action is taken, everything is indeed fine-in-the-end. Even if an individual is incarcerated in prison, he or she will still be afforded the necessities of sustenance along with some luxury items. The lack of consequence for poor decision making is now especially true as recognition of quality has been deemphasized. Without appreciation of quality, truly, there is little way to evaluate which outcome is better once sustenance and basic comfort has been achieved. However, this will not be the case in the future as bad decisions will have more extreme consequences for all of society, without regard to class.

A typical westernized education involves: language, reading, writing, mathematics, history, science, sport, and some minimal artistic learning. Vocational training may be offered to those so inclined. The majority of the subject matter, except the vocational, and to some degree sport, stress mainly abstract concepts. Algebra, 19^th century American Literature, the French Revolution, and Calculus are all valuable subjects that should be taught, however their realities are not readily sensed. They are abstractions representing nature and a step removed from what is perceived. One can not see these things in the world around and often little connection is made with their effect on the current reality outside the classroom. The student must enter the school building, take his or her place at a desk and be introduced to these topics. The worth of these subjects only becomes apparent when the application to the real world is understood. However, this is usually not sufficiently done.

It is a common question of a math student, who does not plan to be a mathematician, to ask, “Why do I need to learn this?” This is in no way intended to discount the value of learning abstract thinking. Abstract concepts are the principle of higher levels of thought, without which they could not be applied to science and art. However, the net effect, that is currently evident, especially in reference to the United States, is that students do not achieve even the most limited appreciation for those things which make up the physical, immediately accessible, and readily sensed fabric of their lives. A student may graduate from the highest levels of education, having achieved profound knowledge of abstract concepts, while at the same time having the most naïve understanding of things commonly available to the senses. What is lacking is basic education as to what really exists. These are subjects of the non-abstract nature.

If a typical high school student was posed the following questions, the majority could not answer effectively: How is your house built and why is it configured like it is? Where does your water come from? Where does your food come from? Where does the clothing you wear come from? What are the waste products of human activity and where do they go? How is your community configured and why does it look like it does? Once students can achieve basic understanding of subjects like this, they can then ponder questions, such as how is quality distinguished?, what is art?, how do people make decisions?, and how can sustainability be achieved?

A good lesson for a student could be begun around the question: How many real people do you know to have been alive and came from somewhere other than the Earth? Confronting this question will shatter ideologies based on faith and superstition and cause students to think about reality. The building of common-sense must be established prior to the useful application of abstract concepts. Without this, the safeguard for how abstract thinking should be ethically applied cannot be established.

Subject matter changes depending on what is valued by the society. Latin and etiquette classes were once required for those considered well-educated. These classes have been largely discontinued as they now have lesser value in application. New subjects need to be taught. It has already been stressed that education and mis-education do not happen just within the walls of a school building, but at all times during an individual’s consciousness. Presently, few teachers exist capable of teaching the new subjects that will need to be included. One can not expect institutions to rapidly adapt. However, individuals are free to learn and teach, as they are apt to do, outside of formalized school systems. One can witness the amount of time parents devote to the teaching of sports to their children to see how much learning is achieved outside of school. Children’s sports and extracurricular activities are, in fact, often the most stressed and important part of the current American education even though the majority of its instruction goes on independent, and sometimes in spite, of the school’s curriculum.

As new subjects are added to make up for current deficiencies they should not be compartmentalized. Even if specialization may by necessity occur later (dependent on the individual’s preferred career path), basic understanding of each subject and how they influence each other is needed. The prevalence of compartmentalizing students based on left and right brain theory should also be done away with. Of course, students will gravitate towards subject they are naturally inclined towards, but, the forced ideology that an artist should not also be a scientist is ludicrous. All humans have emotional feelings so they all appreciate art. One can witness the importance students place on popular music if unconvinced.

History’s most appreciated individuals excelled in both art and science. Einstein and Franklin were lovely writers and appreciators of the arts, DaVinci, of course, was equally interested in science and art. A complete discussion of the value of both art and science to the human is beyond the scope of this writing. However, it can be said that art is equally important for the human as any subject and is the natural expression of feelings and emotions which are most effectively expressed in means not of the scientific nature. Art will naturally appear as people will be compelled to leave evidence of their feelings whether supported by an institution or not. Every human mind has the capacity and need to contemplate both the rational and irrational and the greatest teaching will not limit the useful application of either of these. Subjects that have virtually no practical use for the non-specialist, such as math higher than the level of geometry, could make way for more useful subject to the education of the individual. However, it is not incumbent to wait for the school system to offer these subjects as parents and the society at large are, in any regard, the most effective teachers.

The new subjects will be taught to strengthen the individual’s capacity for common-sense. Common-sense is a skill which is cultivated. It is supported by the sharpening of the senses and by the appreciation of quality. These factors enhance critical thinking. The following are three suggested subjects to add to the student’s basic curriculum which will assist in regard to increasing the ability for critical thinking.

Class 1: The Teaching of Nature

This course will focus on the two parts of the natural world: the man-made environment and the world outside human civilization. This course will begin with field trips that can begin in the pupil’s house, yard, neighborhood, and town and will focus first on the ability to thoroughly describe what is available to be sensed. The emphasis should initially be primarily in accurately describing what is sensed. The recognition of the existence of those things that make up the environment must first be recognized by the senses prior to any value judgment being placed on them. Field trips are now commonly taken to museums of natural history, science, or health. Nothing is wrong with this. However, these deal with more abstract concepts than simply what is the reality of your community. A student may know something of the anatomy of the body or types of dinosaurs while not being able to describe accurately his own physical environment and the factors that influenced its creation. A student does not need to be bussed to far away locations and does not need to pay an entrance fee to be introduced to reality. Museums are good for teaching subjects that cannot be easily sensed, but more attention must be paid to the reality which must be better understood to avoid future unnecessary suffering. The fate of dinosaurs has already been sealed. Whether or not the student has a clear understanding of their different species is not specifically useful to planning a more sustainable livelihood, except to reinforce that the fate of living things is ultimately at the mercy of mother-nature. It is more critical for students to achieve an understanding of where their water and food come from and how civilization deals with the complication imposed by ever-expanding populations and sacrifice zones on a finite Earth.

Once the student can fully recognize and describe his environment, he or she will gain more understanding of the physical quality of the environment and the affect it imparts on his or her well-being. History, and decision making factors that went into the creation of the environment, whether man-made or not, can be then described and discussed. This class does not need to be limited in any way from where the investigation may naturally lead, and an element of improvisation should be encouraged to enter in, for this is when true knowing can come to fruition. For instance, a student may ask about the means for heating the house and can proceed from this point, or perhaps they may ask about when the road was built, etc. Further field trips may be taken to parts of the environment less directly affected by the processes of the realm of human civilization. All is fair game. An emphasis should be placed on what is being actually sensed prior to any value judgment or prejudice entering in. Without crossing this initial hurdle, critical judgment can not take place.

Class 2: The Exploration of Quality

In addition to strengthening the ability to sense the environment, there needs to be an increased in the emphasis on appreciating and distinguishing of levels of quality. As discussed previously, quality, which comprises the components of skill, craftsmanship, and care is inherently recognized by the human species. It is a most primitive trait for humans to distinguish and appreciate relative levels of quality. Through the influence of the global economic system, the importance of: quantity, size, speed of production, price, newness, and waste, in the valuation of that which is better, has superseded other more primary aspects of quality such as: craftsmanship, care, skill, longevity of use, aesthetic affect, and sustainable impact. These more primary components of quality are of course still highly valued by the more discriminating. However, for those with a lesser cultivated appreciation of quality, the characteristics promoted by the needs of the predatory global economic system, will take priority.

Whether thoroughly contemplated or not, the influence of that which is by nature ugly and of a low quality will be felt. It should be understood that humans can reach a general consensus for that which is naturally agreed to be of a more valued aesthetic nature. This is perhaps most evident in regard to common attractions to certain human body and facial characteristics regardless of cultural influence or bias of teaching. In the previously described case of a chain-link fence, its absence or its replacement by a design of higher intrinsic quality will also be felt. If the individual is in a neighborhood whose construction represents a higher level of quality, he will recognize this as a pleasantness of feeling whether the cause can be articulated or not. However, this class will help the student to accurately understand and articulate the environmental factors that contribute to what is being felt.

The interpretation of quality is to some degree influenced by the cultural taste and what is placed in a position of importance by education. However, even accepting these subjective influences, it is still possible for a group of people to come to a consensus on rank of quality. In reference to a course which would strengthen this ability, the teacher must have cultivated a knowledge and appreciation of the factors leading to quality in a specific subject, in order to sharpen the student’s awareness to these points. Because the instruction normally is imparted by only one teacher rather than a panel of judges, the likelihood for bias of opinion to unfairly weigh the judgment presented in any one class is almost guaranteed. The valuation of quality is most successful when delivered on an average by a number of well-educated judges. The effect of bias in teaching, as to what are the salient points of quality, can be addressed by access to multiple critical points of view and through the fostering of the open-mindedness of the student. Fostering the open-mindedness of the student will translate into the greater availability in the future of open-minded teachers. In any regard, students normally encounter numerous teachers during their time in school, in addition to their teachers outside of school, so bias in judgment will be assimilated into the impression of overall information imparted to the student and will be assimilated appropriately into the individual’s viewpoint. The student will notice redundancies in the same points appearing time and again in all the critically thinking teachers and can deduce that there is likelihood to be some universal acceptance of these value traits. She will also be able to apply her own individual check, the capacity to recognize quality, which is contained within the genetic make-up. Once aware, the individual will be able to filter erroneous information imparted simply through bias.

Class 3: The Motivations for Choice-action

The last of the three new subjects to be added to current curriculum, is geared at imparting the pupil with an understanding of the motivating factors at play in choice making. Currently, no class as such exists in a comprehensive form but only in snippets presented in health, science, economics, history etc. However, these discussions are normally presented, at grade levels below college, only as required in relation to the isolated subject at hand. Philosophy, psychology, and sociology may be offered to some students at the University level, but not all students will attend these classes, nor is the subject matter concerning the motivations for action presented as a comprehensive overview.

It is common that the typical high school graduate does not understand the basic motivations for his or her actions. This is the case irregardless of economic class. It is not always easy to predict what subjects may be of value to the student within a quickly changing economic system and given the aptitudes and inclinations of the population. However, it is guaranteed, that the matriculating student, whether successful or not, will be forced to make decisions. It is a well-known frustration for a person of authority when inquiring as to why a person decided on a course of action to be presented with the answer, “I don’t know.” This was the answer used by a single mother of six, in an underclass neighborhood of Chicago when asked why she chose to have six children although unmarried. This was the answer supplied by an individual caught for vandalizing private property in a suburban community of Ohio. This was also the answer supplied by a designer when asked why he chose to develop a building form in architecture study at a University of higher learning.

The predominance of not knowing the motivations for choice, amongst individuals, who by necessity must choose, seems to clearly ague for better instruction in the recognition of the factors employed in influencing choice. The objectives of the class will be to highlight those factors which have already been discussed in earlier sections of this writing and will involve an initial understanding of basic desire, the motivations for tempering impulse-action, and the understanding of the inherent sympathetic and predatory nature of human beings. The class will have at its goal the empowerment of the individual to have greater control over their choice with an understanding that the maximum ability to choose maximizes the freedom of the individual.

Currently offered subjects will also be made more useful when the application of a non-compartmentalized method is employed. The emphasis will be on building the critical thinking of the student. In order for such a system to be of worth, teachers must also have developed critical thinking ability. This, unfortunately, can not be guaranteed now as established teachers without open-minds will resist any new mode of thinking that confronts their own. Non-critical thinking is so engrained in our current culture it will be a monumental struggle to provide adequate teachers. To remedy the problem of bad teaching, all teachers’ salaries should be tripled while protections for bad and disinterested teachers should be eliminated. In reference to the United States, we might supply funding for this emphasis on education by limiting our desire for military conquests throughout the world while placing a higher priority on initiatives which have more probability of positive outcomes and can be controlled within our own borders. Once teachers are offered more money, the supply of good and willing teachers will increase. With more talent available, and through competition, a pool of good teachers can be had. When such teachers become available, then application of critical thinking in concert with subject matter can commence.

In the realm of science, the teacher may explain how a space station can be created or about the known nature of the solar system. They may also present a common notion of solving human population expansion by having humans live on space stations or building colonies on the Moon. However, because of a focus on critical thinking, the teacher will also now be able to point out that the materials needed to build and sustain a space station will come from a finite supply on the Earth. They will also be able to point out by application of common-sense that mechanical things are guaranteed to break and require constant maintenance. Because of this, sustaining human life in an unsuited atmosphere will increase the probable occurrence of catastrophic consequences. They will also be able to educate, that even if all the technical problems could be solved, who would want to live on a space station for their entire life? The teacher and students could contemplate how this would truly be an ominous and desolate existence for the cooped-up inhabitant. Most likely, virtual reality portraying the natural environment on Earth would be needed to make living mentally feasible. However, even with this possibility, the student will be educated to understand that the reality of the perfect habitat already exists for humans on the Earth and it is a better long term solution to use the means of science to help recognize population pressure and to explore the possibility for achieving sustainability of humans on the Earth. The science teacher with critical-thinking will be of the greatest value when capable of explaining that, although it may be possible for science to do something this does not mean that it should be done.

The same critical thinking could be applied to the teacher of history to discuss current conflicts in the world and their development over history. The difficulties in the Middle East, or in formerly colonized areas of the world, would be better understood if the history behind these places is thoroughly presented. Because history is typically presented in compartmentalized classes, each separated into discreet periods of time, the student is not given the opportunity to trace the cause and affect relationship of past events through to the current grievances existent in different societies around the world.

As well, history could be made more useful by placing greater emphasis on the non-barbaric events of human history. Currently, the vast majority of history lesson, focus on violent barbaric events when the society’s predatory nature has overwhelmed the sympathetic. However, this is not the most normal case for human interaction nor is it the goal. It is more common to see two people conversing pleasantly with one another than beating each other. As well, even in the most violent parts of the world, times of peace are much more common than violence and war. When one teaches a class in science, one does not merely present all the cases of scientific theory that were proven wrong or illogical, rather they concentrate on the most successful examples. The effect of history classes emphasizing, almost exclusively, the barbaric violent events of human nature supports the revered position of the predatory nature. Paradoxically, the more recent of these violent periods of the human condition, are seen in some measure, to be failures in the overall cultural objective for peace. These barbaric events may be seen as a conflict of good over evil, such as in the outcome of the World Wars, but it is always with an emphasis of the need for violence to restore order.

Almost no importance is placed on the value that history could provide for what was happening in societies that have achieved long periods of peace. These lessons, because they are not common practice in school, do not get formalized into teaching curriculum, even though the common world citizen would find peace a much more successful outcome than war. The teaching of literature does not proceed by only reading examples of lesser quality in order to learn what not to do, but concentrates on the greatest examples of quality to be emulated. History’s current teaching places utmost emphasis on the will to power and the success of those who have attained or preserved their dominance through violent means. It is no surprise then that violent solution is the most commonly accepted means of winning and maintaining power and that those most commonly honored by the established system are those who, by means of exercising their predatory nature, have achieved advantage.

It is not possible to teach or learn all the knowledge available. Value judgments must be made as to what is important and useful. Use is often only equated with pecuniary advantage, especially in the most Capitalistic of societies. However, emphasis should be placed on the more all encompassing end-goal of lessening suffering.

The highest attainment of critical thinking is called wisdom. This is not the same as the attainment of vast quantities of knowledge. Rather, it is the ability to make good decisions and predictions. Some Eastern philosophies would call this, ‘knowing without knowing’. It is impossible to attain even a fraction of all the accumulated knowledge available. In fact, one shelf in the library could keep one occupied for an entire lifetime. With a population ever expanding and more documentation of thoughts and emotions, the ability to achieve a good sampling of knowledge becomes increasingly overwhelming. This will only continue to expand. However, just because more avenues of expression are available, does not mean more value is being added in a linear relationship. One may witness this in the hundreds of available program options on television with the sensation that nothing of interest is on. The quest for knowledge can take on the same quality as addiction. An individual out of control with the desire to attain more information may be damaging their own health. A more useful goal, and one with more value, is the attempt toward attaining wisdom. Wisdom is not based on accumulation but on sublimation and reduction. One does not need to be overly concerned with all the books in the library, which they do not have time to read in any event, when it is realized that the vast majority will not reveal anything beyond what can be outlined in just a few principles central to the human condition.

Traditional philosophy would say that a positive action will be balanced by a negative reaction. Over-optimism does not prescribe to this belief system. It consistently maintains that any action has effect only unto itself, so that it can be wholly good or bad. Additionally, Western decision making, supported by the global economy, is applied only to short term planning. This is not the characteristic of the wise who think of time not merely in terms of one or two generations but in terms of infinite generations.

The wise are those who by experience and knowledge have a better understanding of the effect of action. They may often choose non-action if the understanding of likely or guaranteed negative effects are too great. We must act, however, or we would die. There is wise and unwise action. We must cultivate wisdom in our own self and be able to recognize wisdom in those around us and select the wisest for positions of greatest influence.