Standardizing The Mind :: essays research papers

Standardizing the Mind Is it safe to assume that all people are capable of learning the same things? Should the educational system be allowed to say what is useful information and what is not for human learning and development? These questions deserve attention since the answers can determine so much about someone's future. One standard set for students is the SAT test. Most Colleges use this single test score along with GPA to determine whether or not a potential student will be allowed enrollment to their school. An SAT test is based in two subjects, mathematics and English. By placing such heavy emphasis on these areas of learning, do we plan to grant the best higher education to those who are gifted writers and mathematicians? Perhaps we don't intend to do this, but an underlying social bias affects the way we value knowledge or what we think smart people know how to do. Students are encouraged to be doctors, lawyers, mathematicians, or engineers; they are encouraged to shoot for a high status occupation that will generate wealth. In America we like money, we like jobs that make us money, not jobs that make us good people. Our society values scientists. The scope of Western thought is based on reason and logic, everything that we produce is supposed to have a direct purpose and function, production for the sake of consumption. What happened to creating something for thought? Where did our artists go? When was the last time the US won a Nobel Prize in Philosophy or any field other than Science? We don't think about things unless we get paid for it. Why is an artist not as important to us as a brain surgeon? I think both can show us great and interesting things, but for now I think that an artist can tell us more about human thought. From as early as grade school we are taught the 'Scientific Method', when maybe we should spend more time with finger paints and cooperative learning. In my mind the two most important traits an individual can develop are appreciation for individual creativity and understanding the benefits of sharing that inner individualism with others. No two people are the same, but sharing what we do is best for everyone. People can learn about themselves, their goals and what makes them happy by seeing what other people are capable of producing and realizing that they are also endowed to create.