Five Minds...Four Minds Too Much?

In this day and age, I think it is safe to say that all of us are highly susceptible to fall into the trap of becoming too enthralled with the prospects of the future. The word itself speaks of things to come, and so we spend the time between then and now thinking of the numerous possibilities that we have yet to encounter. This is most likely what Professor Gardner was doing when he was thinking about his "Five Minds for the Future".

The lecture and the point given were undoubtedly very well thought out and I could clearly see the point he was trying to make, but I feel that I must also point out that in thinking of ways to improve our future, we mustn't lose our sense of reality and become disillusioned with mere possibilities alone.

I think that we were asked to do a reflection on how to make Gardner's points a concrete reality because he himself didn't provide the necessary insight. He proposed his five minds for the future, but on all accounts he never got past the examples. And I can see why; the pen may be mightier than the sword, but this is so because things are much easier said (or in this case, written) than done.

The first two minds he presented, a Disciplined mind and a Synthesizing mind, are most likely the most prevalent type of minds in our present society. These are the ones given the most importance, and possessing either one or both can earn great esteem from peers. These are easily developed concretely, through habit, self awareness and vigilance. But I think what concerned Gardner more was not the ease in which we learned but that our idea of their real meaning is insufficient.

As for the Creative mind, I think our previous lecture on Sir Ken Robinson has given us enough knowledge to understand why it is harder now than ever to make creative thinking flourish. The root cause is fundamental, and we cannot simply try to cover up the symptoms.

But I think the hardest to concretely develop are the Respective and Ethical minds, for obvious reasons. They depend greatly on the individual, and can vary from person to person. Gardner himself said so, and I completely agree that "the issues of respect and ethics, which are hard to measure objectively, are so terribly important".

To conclude, I believe that to fully implement Gardner's five minds entails a complete overhaul of our present system, not just of education but of practically everything. Taking each of his five minds separately and developing one in an individual is easy, but integrating all of them in one person seems too optimistic and probably too much to ask of anyone.

On the Arts

“Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I think Ken Robinson’s article was the best way to start our Creativity and Problem Awareness class, mostly due to my tremendous relief at finding out that I am not as un-creative as I often think of myself. His stress on creativity being inherent in all human beings assured me that I do have hope…and that I’m not in the wrong class.

That aside, I completely agree with the points he made, most especially about the insufficient priority given to the arts. This is already an indication that society disapproves overt expressions of their definition of “creativity”. These days, we are taught that creativity is being good at drawing, painting, music and the like. But creativity can be found in all aspects of our lives, and in all the fields of study, as Mr. Robinson has pointed out. Now the problem is how we get everyone to believe it.

The best example I can think of is the one closest to home: the four Loyola Schools in the Ateneo. It’s hard for some to admit, but there exists an invisible heirarchy among the four Schools. Dominating the top is the John Gokongwei School of Management, followed by the School of Science and Engineering, then the School of Social Sciences and then the School of Humanities. As a Communication major, I have personally felt the hidden disdain that usually comes with my answering a question about what my course is. This is a clear example of what Ken Robinson said about the existence of heirarchies within the fields of study in schools, stemming from economic competitiveness and the wrong idea about the insignificance of non-business or arts related courses.

Most people are in the School of Management because logic tells them that a degree there will certainly get them employed immediately after college. Same goes for the School of Science and Engineering. The fact that the School of Humanities has the lowest student population should come as no surprise. The sad truth is that college nowadays serves simply as the stepping stone to the best, highest paying job, and the learning experience that should be the main emphasis is taken for granted. I can only hope that Ateneo does not become one of those educational institutions where the notion of creativity is limited and extremely lacking.

But we can’t take full responsibility for this, because the media also played a large role in the demise of the Arts. In most movies or television shows depicting schools (i.e., Glee), the Arts and Music programs are the most commonly cut from the school budget. They become, as Mr. Robinson put it, “collateral damage.”And although I know that these are based on real life situations, it reinforces and justifies people’s beliefs precisely because media is so powerful in affecting society. We of all people should know this.

To sum it all up, I completely agree with Dr. Luther King. True education should bestow us with not just academic intelligence but also with the right amount of character to be able to utilize that intelligence in the best way we can. And the best way to cultivate this character is if we finally give the Arts the credit and respect they so rightfully deserve.

Me, Myself and I

Well, first things first. I have one more hour left of savoring the first day of my last year as a teen. It was a remarkably fantastic day that has hopefully filled me up with enough endorphins to keep me going until the end of this school year. Awesome, awesome day :)

Anyway, moving on to more pressing matters, I believe I have certain quirks about myself that I have to come clean with to officially "baptize" my Creativity and Problem Awareness blog (Hello, classmates and Sir Mark!), and the first major one that I will disclose is this: I do not blog often. Actually, let me rephrase that, I do not blog AT ALL.

Well, now that THAT's over with, I'm just gonna go and wrap this up since we have leveled with each other about that situation.

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Just kidding. I know I'm not used to maintaining a blog, but this might seem like an incredibly fun experience so I will definitely make the time for it.

That being said, I don't think I can make enough time to talk about the entirety of my being in such a short period (and hello there, character limit) so I will just summarize the major points (and whatever other random stuff that occur to me) about myself here:

• My name is Gwenivere Alexis L. Co. I was named after King Arthur's wife, but I'm not entirely proud of it because...well, you know. (If you don't, look it up. If not, well then ok :D) My nickname is Gwen.
• I just turned 19...this morning. :)
• I am generally loud, rambunctious, an extrovert, and as one potential employer has put it: "gregarious" (I LOVE THAT WORD)
• I am a self-proclaimed 'fraidy cat. You will never catch me in one of Sir Andrew Ty's horror film classes unless you drag me there and strap me to a chair. (Although I am dreadfully curious what does on during his film viewings...)
• I am sentimental; I tend to cry over shallow things. Like movies. And puppies.
• I love food. Seriously.

That's just about all I've got for now. It's really hard to talk about oneself, you know. But I do hope I get to arrive at more "self-realizations" as the year progresses, with COM170 there to unleash it all. :) Looking forward to an awesome semester!