The Rational Mind: Is It Crazy?

Dear Reader,

I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking (Albert Einstein)

Yet, despite Einstein's honesty, and despite all the clamour about man's superior intelligence over the years, and the supposed superiority of science, what has rationalism brought us to? What certainties does it posite? The only ones I can see are masked in illusion.

So-called rationality has helped to lead us into continual wars - including two massive World Wars within 50 years - and that, plus our unthinking war against our own planet, has latterly brought the world to the brink of collapse.

To quote author Vincenzo Belmonte:

The rationalist skeptic... has no conclusive evidence in his hands to have faith in his parents, in his partner, in his children, in his friends, in his nation, in science, in history, in progress, in mankind, in today's world, in tomorrow's world and above all in himself. 

All beliefs in this regard stand on brittle stilts, falling into the category of easily dismantlable myths.

When I was growing up, the world was recovering from the second of the two World Wars, and people in the UK seemed content that peace had (apparently) been restored. War seemed to have brought people closer together in the UK, or re-affirmed old ties. People still walked into unlocked neighbours' front doors, announcing their arrival with a "coo-ee!". But though I did not realise it then, rationalist thought had become so well ingrained amongst those that had power in the world, that they (those powers that be) were not long in drawing people out of their natural contentment. 

A British prime minister, Harold MacMillan, said in 1959: "We've never had it so good", referring to the material prosperity that was then emerging after the waste of war. His call, in reality, was rather equivalent to that of an officer as he might summon his platoon over the top to face the enemy: despite the dangers ahead, go forward regardless of your doubts. Was such forced obedience an example of rationality, or was it just stubbornness? 

And so people got sucked, more and more, into the drive for more: the magnet of material prosperity. This despite any doubts they may have had (and many did have doubts, but did not wish to seem out of step) about its sustainability. Neither did people think too much about the waste problem as a result of that prosperity, let alone the rape of the Earth's resources.

People in Asian and African countries, hitherto way down in the prosperity table, also became hooked onto western rationalism. Many from those regions migrated; if they didn't go to the UK, they went to the USA. And while the better qualified prospered in the West, the rest increasingly went away from their traditional neighbourly lifestyle towards elite-ism. 

Malaysia is a case in point. After independence was gained (1957), it was for some years successful in maintaining unity amongst its multi-ethnic population and was seen as a place of harmony. Over the years, however, different factions took over and, wanting to have economic status equivalent to the West, went down a route of increasing division amongst its people in providing 'jobs for the boys' - meaning those it regarded as its indigenous peoples. And the country's history was re-written.

Further, Malaysia made a huge investment into palm olive production, which had a deleterious effect on wildlife and mangrove swamps, and for what purpose? Palm oil is now derided.

Communism and socialism had raised their heads in certain parts of the world, having. in part, genuine claims against the privileged. These movements gradually fell by the wayside as they, also, proved to be driven by rationality but with a sense of repression. Not that the privileged had not cleverly exercised repression in a different form (and still do in a variety of ways), but communism (in particular) was eventually seen to be largely without a heart. At least, that was the verdict of the Margaret Thatchers of this world.

Christian religion also (in the West at least) became looked down upon by many. However, alternative forms of spirituality have, in recent decades, become more to the fore for those seeking palatable answers to life's issues.

As the years went by, however, the major topic of conversation amongst families and friends drifted towards questions of how well Ravi, Tommy or Ahmed was doing at school, university, or in his profession, while Margaret Thatcher cleverly broke down the influence of the trades and their unions in the UK. Apprenticeships began to be known as a second class method of training, ignoring the needs of technology and crafts - and, indeed, the fact that everyone is not best suited in academia.

The provision of higher education became pre-eminent (wonderful!), but whether the systems of education met the needs of true human values has become the prominent question since we have found how science and technology have led us down the garden path, so to speak. Higher education has become increasingly geared up as a mechanism towards increasing wealth rather than wisdom. 

No one seems to question so much, now, why Ravi, Tommy or Ahmed are more concerned about messages on their I-phones while knocking other people out of their path! But reliance on gadgets is only part of the problem.

Over many years there has been a substantially increasing mental health problem, particularly in western culture. The UK's health service has been called on to care for the nation in a way that was never foreseen, much brought on by the fixation on material progress and sophisticated ways of living rather than addressing the issue of what is a proper civilisation supposed to be all about. Included in that issue is how we should properly address society's problems.

Now, however, there are institutions established - initially in India, but being expanded elsewhere, plus others such as the Schumacher Institute in the UK - where the primary approach in their higher education courses is toward wisdom teaching (e.g. how to manage the ecology of the world, or how to apply medicine with wisdom) but integrated with purely physical-fact forms of teaching.  

This is a key issue. Real intelligence is about being able to evaluate between what is of true value against what is not - the traditional choice of harmless versus harmful - and using one's inherent (often dormant) intelligence in the process of such discrimination. Furthermore, real intelligence understands that everything in the universe is inter-connected, so reality should tell us that there is no room for selfishness that puts oneself, colour or community first over others.

Such 'wisdom teaching' is of increasing need in the world to counter the educational systems that have failed humanity.

It is not that 'facts' based on science do not still have to be learned: they do, but they need to be applied with conscience, which is what the new schools of education are endeavouring to encourage. Without that approach, how are the world and its occupants going to survive?

Anyhow, wisdom teaching is here and it will not be long before it knocks at everyone's door.

Thank you for reading this.

For further discussion on this topic and links to various organisations of change, please click here.