Let There Be Light

FTLComm - Tisdale - December 5, 2000

The Christmas story features these three camel jockeys following a "Star of the East," astrology uses up a good deal of ink and paper every day in newspapers as people consider some sign from the heavens will direct their lives. The alignment of planets in our sky have upon many occasions resulted in dire predictions from those who claim they know, so it seems only fitting to consider the world in the light of this auspicious alignment of a street light, a light on a tower and the early evening moon hovering a scant two hundred thousand miles away, half of it always buried in eternal darkness. Darkness comes in a huge range of forms, we have the kind that is merely the lack of light, this is the simple physical darkness we find in deep mine or even one of those inky overcast nights. Yet given close to an hour in total darkness and it is surprising the capabilities of our eyes as we adjust to the gloom and begin to make out some things. In the decades I spent a night each week in the photo dark room it seemed just minutes after getting to work that I would discover how bright it was in the darkroom and begin to worry about my film or exposed paper. Essentially I am telling you that physical darkness is relevant, it is a gradient of obscurity but even at the darkest level there are still glimmers. Darkness that is more depressing is the form of darkness that descends on the minds of people. As tension and confusion build the individual literally shuts out the light as well as the sound. A terrified individual is almost completely deaf and their ability to see and perceive what they are seeing is even more limited. The anxious individual worried about the affairs of his or her life, filled with anger or frustration experiences a dramatic narrowing of their field of view. The brain using as much processor power as it can, reduces the amount of brain power allocated to visualisation and devotes more workspace to the individual's disturbed state of mind. The result is what is often described as "tunnel vision" they actual lose their peripheral visual capabilities and their chance of being involved in a motor accident are dramatically increased. It is interesting that the same problem occurs with people who are listening or talking on their cell phone as they attempt to drive, they too experience a narrowed field of view and hence are a danger to all others on the road with them. The third and much more damning form of darkness is intellectual. The awareness of the present and perhaps only a limited awareness of reality is the most dangerous form of darkness known. Each of us have inordinate intellectual ability and yet so often we shun our cognitive capabilities and head for the easy, the simple and the least complex. About ten years ago I was working as an educational psychologist and had the opportunity to interview a pair of young men who had indulged in solvent and gasoline sniffing for many many years. From their first responses to my questions it was clear that both had suffered irrevocable brain damage. When you talk to a three to six year old you understand that they are merely passing through a period of development and that in time their abilities to understand and formulate thoughts will improve and extend themselves almost limitlessly but the two boys who had sniffed out their brain's capabilities, they would forever have only a limited form of life available to them. Unable to grasp the subtitles of language, trapped in the literal meanings of words and unable to quickly combine thoughts into meaningful self reflecting ideas they were prisoners of darkness. Alcohol and marijuana give the average person a glimpse at this black hole as these chemicals perform the task of nullifying awareness and temporary deliberation Robert Sternberg(1) and Reuven Feuerstein(2) are two most prominent leaders in the world of intellectual development in the past decade as both of them developed theories and actual instructional methods to enhance intellectual capacity. Yes, indeed they have discovered means to improve the intelligence of people. Feuerstein works with retarded learners and has been routinely able to move children with limitations into the "normal" range of intelligence while at Yale Robert Sternberg has developed systems and actual learning materials to accelerate and advance intelligence in normal and above normal people. The concept had always been that people either have it or they don't. Intelligence is given out to each individual at birth and there is a speed limit. The evidence that this is not the case became conclusive two decades ago and since then we have had a building awareness that the abilities we attribute to intelligence or intellectual capabilities are, almost all things will improve with practice and can be taught. Among the break throughs in understanding the development of the brain's capability was a study in Tokyo where some Japanese psychologists borrowed some European children for some work from the embassy area and discovered how noisy these no-Japanese children were. Careful examination of behaviour revealed that the oriental child tended to be calmer, less excitable and the result was they were able to grasp and develop themselves significantly faster than the excitable non-oriental. What had been consider a cultural thing was in fact a genetic disposition and had a direct affect on learning capacity. Though we are happy with the exuberance of our North American child and our primary teachers decorate their rooms in bright exciting colours, toning things down would improve performance. There are things you can do about intellectual darkness the most obvious and purposeful is to read. Reading has a profound and developmental affect on everyone and you will discover that people who read are more aware, seem to have greater confidence in themselves and are growing intellectually. Indeed many people are darkness addicts and they pick up the remote control and hammer away their evenings in the pursuit of sensation, but go to the library regularly and spend time with paper and print, and you will not only get smarter, you will experience everything better. The second prescription for intellectual lightening is to ask meaningful and important questions, then listen intently for meaningful and important answers. Conversation is an important mental workout and by elevating it to important issues you will elevate your understanding and personal development. The most important part of conversation is what you hear yourself saying. As you respond to the moment your mind is forced to qualify, evaluate and compress your thoughts in a way you would not do unless engages in a discussion. Then when you say those words you will hear your thoughts as they have developed then and there. The exercise is important and this was the method used by the ancient Greeks to develop the philosophies that have occupied thinkers ever since Socrates said that his thoughts made him exist. "Cogito Ergo So" - " I think therefore I am." Its time, to look for the light. Timothy W. Shire

1. Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence, Robert J. Sternberg, Cambridge University Press, 1985

2. The Dynamic assessment of Retarded Performers, the learning Potential Assessment Device, Theory, Instruments, and Techiques, Reuven Feurestein, University Park Press, 1979