House of Eratosthenes

Practical thinking, broadly, is divided into two phases. You figure out what’s going on based on the evidence you manage to collect or that finds its way to you; then, you figure out what to do (or avoid doing) about it.

Maturity means you noodle these things out based on the expected outcome. Soon after we’re born, we have what it takes to recognize we need to get those questions answered, and a little while after that we develop the methods for answering them. The obstacle to maturity is that, in childhood, “outcome” is indistinguishable from “gratification of self.”

It is only in the later years that a conflict arises: Should I win more privileges for myself, or my peer group, or elevate the social stature of myself & my peer group; or, should I pursue an agenda (and evaluate the success and failures of previous efforts) based on concern about the eventual outcome? See, a baby bawling for a tit in his mouth doesn’t have to worry about that conflict. In his world it’s all the same.

The Isla Vista shooter never had to cross that barrier into maturity, that rite-of-passage wherein one has to consciously decide to accept criticism, admit to mistakes, revise strategies, in order to achieve a defined beneficial outcome. And as we see from the VA mess, which our current President inherited unfairly but about which He nevertheless learned for the first time from watching the news — neither has Barack Obama.

Not exactly a fresh or brilliant insight, and it could be criticized for being overly obvious as far as observations go. But recent events make it clear that it’s not nearly obvious enough; pointing it out has become a necessity.

Mulling it over a bit more, I see what we’re looking at is really a triangle of primal forces, and those who fail to achieve this rite of passage aren’t quite so much failing to surmount an obstacle, as taking an errant path. The baby who has the luxury of ignoring these meaningful distinctions due to living in a simple world not yet complex enough to require them, yammering for his momma’s tit in his mouth, is acting on 1) self-gratification, 2) a defined (instinctive) process and 3) fulfillment of an objective. When he enters school, the teachers will educate him in processes he’ll only follow because he’s being told to follow them, and there will be a gap between #1 and #2. When he is expected to solve problems, there will be a division between #2 and #3, and when he begins to work to serve others there will be a gap between #1 and #3.

It takes a certain level of maturity to say “Hey wait, that isn’t going to achieve the defined goal” and then come up with an effective and viable alternative sequence of steps likely to yield success. Our society still values it; we still want our leaders to have this ability. What we are losing is the ability to encourage it. Our education system lately doesn’t seem to be doing much to challenge it and develop it.

There emerges the question about whether it can. Certainly, it’s possible, but there has to be an effort to shape the curricula. In a job, especially a job that produces material wealth, it will be a natural and unavoidable development in any successful employee.

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The Thinking Rite of PassageSunday, June 1st, 2014

The Thinking Rite of Passage
Sunday, June 1st, 2014