issue47

king888UID: 2285811

TOPIC: ISSUE47 - "Society does not place enough emphasis on the intellect-that is, on reasoning and other cognitive skills."
WORDS: 424          TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2007-2-1

During the last decade, the discussion of the high controversial issue about intellect has come into vogue among people all over the world. Just what is dangerous about the anti-intellectual? Judgment should be dispersed. In recognition to this, I think mastering the reasoning and other cognitive skills are insofar as the most significant emphasis as motivation of the developing of society.

Though nowadays, lots of people pursuing the utilitarian and the most unfortunate is that they ignore the emphasis on the intellect and they may be having the sense of anti-intellectual to some extent. However, Russell once said that (and I paraphrase):" Pursuing knowledge only may lead to harmful unless it is combined with wisdom."  Intellectual are the leaders of society as the leavening of improving, evaluating the progress of the procedure, realizing the potential of progress, directing the improving of society, and defending the traditional culture. Without the intellectual who has learned reasoning and other cognitive skills, our society will bog down in the pitfall of no purpose or disintegrate into multitudes of fragment or become an anthill.

Simply put, in the current education system, the significant aspect of university should be the contribution for society of providing intellectual, creating equality of opportunity and imparting the truth of knowledge. Unlike the training school which generates a multitude of working machine and like a well-trained dog as the Einstein said, the purpose of the education is self-improving. We can learn the skills of reasoning and other cognitive skills from the pure education and will realize the ending of life and the deep insight of direction of society developing. As the backup of education, the teachers and educationalists should realize the significant potential importance of imparting intellect.

Admittedly, on the capitalism path, pursuing the sake of survival, we all fall into the Sargasso Sea of the sense of utilitarian. The life of pursuing intellect will be long. The intellectual must exalt their emotions and ideals, neither of which are defined in the terms of dollar and the commercial merit. The intellectuals have been challenging the status in quo and they are labeled by the utilitarian the "blockhead".  But the real blockhead is no one but the people pursuing dollars only.

All in all, it's likely that not all the people will reach the same point as I discussed above. Nevertheless realizing the emphasis on the intellect must be the most important for our society developing.  We should learn the reasoning and other cognitive skills。