Books as Keystones by Ms. Carmen Welsh

Years ago, before I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism "Grave's Disease", I had to undergo a series of tests.

At the medical center that had the proper equipment to scan me for goiter, my nervous mother beside me in the waiting room, I currently read "See Jane Win", ground-breaking book by Dr. Sylvia Rimm. In this brilliantly-written study over a course of 1,000 successful women, Dr. Rimm, who co-wrote the book with her two daughters, also 'Dr.s' in their own right, posed several scenarios that a young girl raised under such conditions becomes successful in life regardless of socio-economic, ethnicity, or even by family education status.

The more I read, the more I agreed with the cases of 1,000 women. From all walks of life, women who grew to prominence in their chosen path, or a career that became theirs, began as curious girls, often  thirsty for knowledge, versed in certain math- or science-related fields, had taken music lessons, had several interests, hobbies, etc.

Finally, I was called to the reception area, where sat a young woman who shared my ethnicity. We greeted one another, and after I answered her questions related to my impending examination, she asked me what I was reading.  I explained, quite enthusiastically, what the book was about in a nutshell. She looked at me and quite dismissively shrugged and said, "Well, I only read books written by Black people."

That stopped me cold. That made me upset. And then infuriated me.
Was she not a woman? Did she not care, as a woman, what MADE a successful woman, and what evidence there was to support the reasons these 1,000 Women became successful?

No, she must've believed that such subject matter or topic could only come from someone Non-Black, and therefore, refuse its wisdom or knowledge.

Now I love many of the Black writers of the past.   I love my Black writers now, and I am a future Black writer myself. However, how could she say such a thing? How could she, in her race-loyal ways, belittle the sum of human knowledge to only reading topics EXCLUSIVE to one race? And if she only reads Black writings, would that be only Black-American, Black-Caribbean, or Blacks from Africa or other overseas places? And if this is the case, does she read writings from Black professionals, regular Joes, or only those that work in a medical office? 

 

If she is Christian, then she cannot read the Bible, since many of its writers were not 'Nubian'. And she probably does not know that the famous movie about race and the all-consuming fight among Blacks of 'Light vs. Dark' "Imitation of Life", was actually written by Fannie Hurst, a young, Jewish woman?

We learn to be writers by having something to say. But first, we must read widely to have something in our head in order to write. I hate to think of how little this medical office employee knows, or how limited and narrow is her experience. Most frightening to think still: she's college educated, or, at least received certification in her field. How did she bypass this prejudiced view when digesting her own textbooks? 

 

We owe it to ourselves as human beings to read widely, to take in as much of human wisdom as is available to us. It's been seven years since this conversation and it still burns me. I only hope this young woman has grown a little from having such childish views.

An Intelligent Decision by Professor Bert Lorenzo

We live in an ever increasingly sophisticated society. I’ve written before about this and about the consequences that those who do not prepare for complexity will suffer.

You can find a lot of writing about the current economic climate and its causes. Joe Cardona recently summed it well in The Miami Herald. “What is the new American reality? The answer lies in the overwhelming financial burdens most Americans face. Technology, outsourcing and an alarming rate of poorly educated, unemployable workers have led to a stagnant, no longer upwardly mobile middle class.”

I haven’t read anyone write about the economy with Cardona’s honesty. Many can’t find work because they have nothing to offer employers. This includes unemployable PhD’s. I’ve met many people with extensive schooling who I wouldn’t trust to do even the most basic work.
What does Cardona mean by “poorly educated”? What does well educated mean? What should a college education supply a graduate?

I remind my student they must answer these types of questions and take responsibility for their education. They must make sure they get what they need. To sit in a classroom doesn’t guarantee anything. Only what students do to educate themselves not what teachers do will guarantee the type of knowledge and ability to function happily in the 21^st century. We spend very little time in a classroom and with professors so we have much to do outside of class to develop the skills, brain power and attitude to succeed in a complex world. We’ve created a world similar to the one Herbert Spencer described 150 years ago. In our case we can call it survival of the intellectually fittest. The least fit will survive but only in the lowest rung of the economic food chain.

Consider this. In a recent commentary in the scientific journal Nature a group of psychologists found the average teenager gets smarter with each generation based on IQ tests. The tests when constantly adjusted to keep the average at 100 helped them conclude that the same teenager would have scored 118 in 1950 and 130 in 1910. The teenager with an average score today would’ve scored at near genius level a century ago. More importantly this means a near genius 100 years ago would have only average intelligence in our complex world. What the average could do 100 years ago now takes 30 more IQ points.

Sadly our current president has sent young people the wrong message. He should explain to the young about the type of education and intellectual development needed to make it to the White House or to develop great wealth. Instead of instruction on the type of education he received and his own intellectual preparation we get speeches about how the most intelligent among us cause our problems. We don’t need to increase our intelligence to solve the problems we face. We need to confiscate more from the most productive. Ayn Rand had it right in Atlas Shrugged. We don’t deserve what the creative class does for us.

With all this said I rank increasing their intelligence as the most intelligent decision students should make. Neuroscientists have put to rest the old debate about whether humans have fixed intelligence and brains. We now know we can change our brains throughout our lives. Neuroscientists call this natural ability brain plasticity. This means that through the appropriate exercises, activities and habits individuals can increase their intelligence.

I define intelligence as the ability to think abstractly. Those with the most of this ability move humanity forward. The more intelligent the easier individuals can learn, the better they can reason and the more self-awareness they develop. More intelligence leads to more emotional knowledge or empathy, better ability to plan and solve problems and most importantly to superior memory.

Through superior memory we develop and make ours that all important ingredient to superior intelligence-general knowledge or what psychologists call crystallized intelligence. General knowledge differs from specialized knowledge, skill or the things a technician may have the ability to do.

In part two of my essay I’ll discuss things we can all do to take advantage of brain plasticity and increase our intelligence for as essayist Charley Reese once wrote, “If there’s anything this world needs it’s more brainpower”.

Copyright Bert Lorenzo, 2012